SELINSGROVE, PA - Susquehanna football delivered an opening-round victory Saturday against Washington & Jefferson, delivering big plays between the offense, defense, and special teams towards a 38-32 win. The River Hawks punch their ticket to next Saturday's second round, meeting up again with Christopher Newport after playing the Captains back in week four.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
- The SU defense and special teams forced three turnovers and provided countless momentum swings. Washington & Jefferson quarterback Kellan Stahl was sacked five times, thrice by Galen Limantour, adding to his Landmark Defensive Player of the Year status with nine sacks on the season.
- Defensive backs Xavier Maple, Kayvon Waters, and Romero Lavalais Jr. seemed to be in the right place at the right time to put the River Hawks over the hump.
- One of those momentum swings came on the opening drive of the game, when Maple came up with an interception after the ball bounced off the foot of a receiver. That turnover would turn into a 15-yard touchdown grab for La Mons, thrown by Josh Ehrlich.
- Behind 14-7 to the Presidents, Ehrlich rainbowed the right sideline towards an open Daniel Growney as the first-year receiver ran in a 53-yard touchdown reception to tie the game back up at 14-14.
- Trailing 17-14 on the final play of the first half, Maple broke off the line and blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt, leading to a 70-yard return by Romero Lavalais that gave Susquehanna a lead it would never relinquish.
- "It was just like a spark," said SU running back Rahshan La Mons, who caught one touchdown pass and ran for another. "That play right there, that changed everything."
- A five-yard touchdown reception by Michael Robbins, as well as a touchdown run by La Mons and a 36-yard field goal by Dominic Bourgeois paced SU in the second half. Bourgeois' make not only gave the River Hawks a 38-24 lead, but added another feather in the cap of the junior's perfect season on field goals with a school-record 17-of-17.
- After a Washington & Jefferson touchdown and two-point conversion cut Susquehanna's lead to six, the defense remained at the ready to diffuse any hopes of a late Presidents rally.
- W&J regained possession with less than three minutes to play, prepared to put together a go-ahead drive. On the first play, however, Joey Formisano tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage, which bounced off a W&J receiver and into the hands of Waters. Susquehanna would hold onto the ball for the rest of the game.
- The River Hawks secured the win with just over a minute to play when La Mons picked up a fourth-down conversion from W&J's 43-yard line, executing a direct snap and trusting his offensive line to find an open hole to the left side.
- "On that play, the offensive line blessed me," La Mons said. "That's an electrifying feeling to put the game away."
- "I was trying to win the game right there," SU coach Tom Perkovich said. "We try to call it aggressively."
- The Presidents forced two turnovers from the River Hawks, one an interception and the other a touchdown-saving forced fumble at the one yard line. Despite these misfortunes, Susquehanna's defense made sure to keep W&J's high-octane offense at bay.
- "We've got to do the little things right," Perkovich said. "It's more mental than physical if you get to this time of the year."
- "Even when we're not successful, I know that [the defense] is still going to go out there and they're going to pick me up," La Mons said. "It's like a seesaw; when one goes down, the other goes up."
UP NEXT FOR THE RIVER HAWKS
- Susquehanna will play at Christopher Newport in the second round next Saturday in Newport News, Va. The Captains won their week-four meeting by a 41-27 score en route to their NJAC championship season.
