Thursday, November 12, 2015

Lycoming Football: Game Preview vs. Misericordia

A LycomingFootball.com Photo
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Coming off a MAC standings-flipping win over Delaware Valley, the Lycoming College football team will try to close out the year with back-to-back wins when it hosts Misericordia today at David Person Field.

The Warriors (3-6 overall, 3-5 MAC) scored nine points in the final minute to notch a 43-42 win over 19th-ranked Delaware Valley, with sophomore Devon Flynn drilling a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left to seal the win.


The Cougars (1-8 overall, 1-7 MAC) notched their first win of the season, 31-24, in their last outing against Wilkes, with senior Jeff Puckett throwing for 253 yards and running for 109.

Warrior Notes
• Lycoming is 7-0 in regular-season finales under head coach Mike Clark.

• The Warriors are 3-0 when winning the turnover battle and 3-0 when committing less than two turnovers.

• Junior Blake Bowman needs 30 more rushing yards to become the 11th player in school history to notch 1,000 in a season.

• Bowman set school records with 14 rushing touchdowns, 15  touchdowns scored and 90 points scored with a two-touchdown game against Delaware Valley.

• Senior Ryan Umpleby needs four more receptions to become the fourth receiver in program history to record back-to-back 50-catch seasons.

• Junior Chase Whiteman's 372 passing yards against Delaware Valley are eighth in program history and the 27 completions are tied for seventh.

Scouting Lycoming
Offense: Multiple/Pro-Style

Lycoming is fifth in the MAC in scoring offense (27.0), fourth in total offense (361.6), third in rushing offense (176.8) and eighth in passing offense (184.8).

The Warriors are led by a talented duo in senior wide receiver Ryan Umpleby and junior running back Blake Bowman. The duo have fought for the league lead in all-purpose yards throughout the last four weeks, with Umpleby taking it back after the Delaware Valley game, as he is now averaging 162.9 yards per game. He is second in the MAC in kickoff returns (22.4), third in receiving touchdowns (6) and third in receiving yards (82.1). Bowman is second at 145.4 all-purpose yards  and 107.8 rushing yards per game. He leads the MAC with 14 rushing touchdowns. Junior quarterback Chase Whiteman leads the MAC in passing efficiency (134.1) and he is is third with 173.7 passing yards per game.

Defense: 4-3
Lycoming is sixth in the MAC in scoring defense (33.7), sixth in total defense (389.6), fifth in rushing defense (153.4) and eighth in passing defense (236.1).

Sophomore safety Mike Ward is fifth in the league with four interceptions and second with 12 passes defended. Ward is also fourth in the league with 4.9 solo tackles per game, while senior cornerback Matt Malecki is seventh at 4.7.

Junior Jon Rummel leads the defensive line, as he is seventh in the league with 0.50 sacks per game.

Scouting Misericordia
Offense: Multiple

Misericordia is ninth in the MAC in scoring offense (17.9), ninth in total offense (314.2), fourth in rushing offense (160.3) and eighth in passing offense (153.9).

Senior quarterback Jeff Puckett is a dual threat for the Cougars, as he is third in the MAC in rushing yards (96.2) and sixth in passing yards (151.1). The quarterback leads the MAC in points responsible for (120) and he is fifth in the league with a 105.1 passing efficiency rating. He is second in the league with 247.3 yards of total offense.

Freshman wide receiver Sam Gillison set a program record in the 31-24 win over Wilkes with 11 receptions for 99 yards and junior running back Ryan Kurtz ran for 64 yards and a score in the win.  Sophomore Mark McMaster has been Puckett's favorite target, racking up 29 receptions for 302 yards this year.

Defense: 3-4
Misericordia is eighth in the MAC in scoring defense (34.2), ninth in total defense (442.3), ninth in rushing defense (214.2) and eighth in passing defense (228.1).

Sophomore safety Tyler Collins leads the defense with 60 tackles, 5.5 for loss, one sack, one interception and three pass breakups. Senior linebacker Sean Wig has added 48 tackles and senior safety Brandon Salazar has notched 46 tackles and a breakup.

Senior cornerback Kevin Bagasevich leads the team with two interceptions and senior linebacker Dom Picarillo has added 3.5 tackles for loss.

What a comeback
Lycoming scored the final 22 points of its game with No. 19 Delaware Valley to post a 43-42 win, the largest comeback in head coach Mike Clark's eight-year tenure with the team. The Warriors started the comeback with a touchdown with 1:52 left in the third quarter before adding another score with 6:49 left in the fourth to make it 42-34. The team embarked on a 99-yard drive with four minutes left that turned into an 11-yard touchdown reception by senior Ryan Umpleby with 56 seconds left. After recovering the team's first onside kick since 1998, the team drove 40 yards in 50 seconds and sophomore Devon Flynn drilled the game-winning 32-yard field goal with five seconds left.

Whiteman earns honor
After leading the Warriors to a shocking 43-42 win over 19th-ranked Delaware Valley, junior quarterbackChase Whiteman earned his first career Middle Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award. Whiteman accounted for 433 of Lycoming's 481 yards of total offense in the upset of Delaware Valley. He led the Warriors on a 99-yard, 14-play drive by going 6-of-8 for 59 yards and rushing five times for 37 yards to make it a two-point game with 56 seconds left. After Lycoming recovered an onside kick, Whiteman led the Warriors on the game-winning drive by going 2-of-4 (with one spike) and he rushed for 11 more yards to set up the game-winning field goal with five seconds left. Whiteman completed 27-of-38 passing for 372 yards. He threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another, as he scrambled 16 times for 61 yards as well.

Score!
With two rushing touchdowns against Delaware Valley, junior Blake Bowman became the school's single-season leader in rushing touchdown (14), touchdowns scored (15) and points scored (90). He broke the records with a two-yard run with 1:52 left in the third quarter of the 43-42 win, breaking the rushing touchdown record of 13 set by Tim Deasey (2001), Jason Marraccini (1997) and Craig Needhammer (2014) and the total touchdowns scored mark of 14 set by Needhammer, Deasey and Brian Thompson (1998). He also broke Deasey's record of 86 points scored in 2001 (14 touchdowns, one two-point conversion).

The Umpdate
Senior Ryan Umpleby  continues to rise in the school's career record books. The Forest Hill, Md., native appears destined to finish his career third in school history in several categories, entering today's game with 2,380 receiving yards and 157 receptions and fourth with 20 touchdowns. With 1,183 career kick return yards, he is 40 yards shy of the school record of 1,223 set by Craig Needhammer (2011-14). With 3,878 career all-purpose yards, he needs 122 more yards to become the fourth player in school history to post 4,000 in a career.