Box Score
WORCESTER, Mass. (Nov. 5) - Senior quarterback and Harlon Hill Trophy candidate Rob Blount completed 22-of-30 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns, while also running nine times for 81 yards and a score Saturday afternoon, leading the C.W. Post football team to its third Northeast-10 Conference title in the last four seasons in a 40-7 victory at host Assumption, in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Pioneers (8-2, 8-1 Northeast-10) now await Sunday afternoon's (Nov. 6) announcement of the 24-team field for the NCAA Division II Championship, which will air between 1 and 2 p.m., EST, on ESPNews. Stay tuned to the C.W. Post athletics web site, as well as to the NCAA Football web site, for the latest pairings information. First-round games begin Saturday, Nov. 12 at 12 Noon.
C.W. Post scored the first 33 points of the game, including 20 in the opening quarter against the Greyhounds (4-6, 3-6 NE-10). Freshman tailback Anthony Lazarus (15 car., 59 yds.) scored a touchdown on the Pioneers' opening drive of the contest, plunging in from one yard away to put the visitors up 6-0.
The Pioneers pushed the advantage to 13-0 less than two minutes later in a special way, as sophomore receiver/return specialist Chris Bone set a school record with a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown with 7:35 left in the frame. With 2:31 left in the quarter, senior Ryan Heller (6 rec., 59 yds.) caught a nine-yard touchdown pass from Blount.
Blount also threw 25-yard touchdown passes to Jamie Kilcullen with 9:31 left in the first half, and an identical effort to tight end Mike Moran 5:11 into the second half. The Northeast-10 MVP candidate then electrified the crowd with 8:10 left in the game, when he recovered his own fumbled snap, and ran around right-end for a career-long, 73-yard touchdown.
Assumption, which got 93 hard-earned rushing yards on 21 carries from Austin Davis (set school single-season record of 1,351 rushing yards), scored its only touchdown of the game with 13:07 left in the fourth quarter, when Jake Beers (team-high 45 yards receiving) caught a deflected, 35-yard touchdown pass from Jamie Tucker.
The C.W. Post defense has allowed just seven points in each of the last three games, and limited the Greyhounds to 231 yards of total offense. The Pioneers forced four interceptions on the day, including a career-high three picks by junior free safety Javien Eason, who now leads the Northeast-10 with six INTs on the year. Cornerback Woody Aime also notched his fifth interception of the season. Norberto Cabarcas (2.0 TFL) and Andy Noziere each had seven tackles in the victory, while Stephon Solomon made 2.5 tackles for loss (including one sack).
NOTES...
The win at Assumption was the 13th-straight NE-10 road victory for the Pioneers, dating back to a Sept. 19, 2003 loss to Bentley (32-28) in Waltham, Mass... with his four made PAT kicks on the day, freshman kicker Andrew Kroell tied the single-season record in that category, with 61; he now shares that record with Tim Wagner, who made the same amount of extra-point boots in 2001... C.W. Post won the NE-10 outright in 2002, before sharing the crown with Bentley in 2004... The Pioneers are 0-3 all-time in NCAA Championships games, including last season's 35-3 loss at West Chester; CWP also lost at Grand Valley State in 2002 (62-13), and lost in an NCAA College Division playoff game in 1976 to Towson State, 14-10... that Towson State contest is the only time that C.W. Post has hosted an NCAA postseason football game... Rob Blount now has thrown 51 touchdown passes in his career, which is two shy of Mike Ferraro's (1992-95) school record of 53... C.W. Post is now 7-0 all-time against the Greyhounds... Anthony Lazarus has now scored 17 touchdowns in his rookie campaign (16 rushing), and has scored at least once in all 10 of C.W. Post games... the Pioneers have now scored 472 points this year, which is just 16 shy of tying the 1993 C.W. Post outfit for the most points in a season (488); C.W. Post's 47.2 points per game is currently the highest scoring average in school history (41.9, in the 2001 season).