Pioneers' Run In NCAA Championship Comes To A Close In 55-28 Loss At East Stroudsburg In Quarterfinals
Box Score
EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. (Nov. 26) - The C.W. Post football team, seeded fourth in the Northeast Region, saw its magical run in the NCAA Division II Championship come to an end Saturday afternoon at Eiler-Martin Stadium, as the Pioneers fell in the national quarterfinals to third-seeded host East Stroudsburg , 55-28.
C.W. Post (10-3) became the first team in school and Northeast-10 Conference history to win a game in NCAA's this year, having knocked off fifth-seeded West Chester (Nov. 5) by a 24-20 count at CWP's Hickox Field. One week later, the Pioneers scored a 28-21 decision at top-seeded and sixth-ranked Shepherd in Shepherdstown, W. Va. C.W. Post set records this year for points (552), points per game (42.5), touchdowns (77), rushing yards (3,509) and total offense (6,731).
The Pioneers brought some momentum into the second half, as a late Warriors (11-2) safety for holding in the end zone with 13 seconds left in the second quarter pulled C.W. Post to within 17-14. The visitors received the ball to start the second half, and threw a left-side screen pass on the fourth play of its drive. However, the ball bounced off the intended receiver and landed in ESU defender Noel Nation's arms, who brought the ball back untouched for a 29-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 24-14 lead.
East Stroudsburg, ranked 17th in the season-ending AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll, ran off 38 straight points in the second half, including four of Jimmy Terwilliger's (19-for-25, 384 yds.) five touchdown passes on the afternoon. C.W. Post senior Adebayo Adedapo (12 carries, 67 yds.), who was part of a backfield that ran for 317 yards in the season finale, scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 2:23 left in his final college game. Classmate Frank Kelly (six tackles) then returned a fumble for a 29-yard touchdown 13 seconds later to cap his college career with a score.
The Warriors staked itself a to a lead that it would hold for the entire game 1:54 into the contest, when a 15-yard touchdown pass from Terwilliger to Tim Strenfel (4 rec., 79 yds., 2 TD) put the hosts up 7-0.
C.W. Post marched back down the field on a season-long 13-play drive (92 yards), capping the 7:24 march with the first of two touchdown runs by redshirt freshman running back Anthony Lazarus (22 car., game-high 166 yds.) with 5:42 left in the first quarter. The point-after attempt was blocked, keeping ESU in front by a 7-6 score.
Anthony Carfagno (5 rec., 79 yds.) scored on a one-yard run 2:03 later to put the hosts up 14-6, before Mark Brubaker (2-for-2 FG, career-long 48-yd. effort) booted a 32-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. Lazarus (1,494 yards, 18 TD in rookie campaign – both school records) scored on a three-yard run with 51 seconds left in the first half, before the Pioneers picked up their safety to pull within three points before intermission.
The game marked the completion of a stellar four-year career by the C.W. Post senior class (notes listed below). The Pioneers won Northeast-10 Conference championships on three occasions during the class's stay in Brookville , N.Y. , and advanced to as many NCAA Championship tournaments. The team's appearance in the 2002 NCAA Championship was the school's first of its kind since 1976, when C.W. Post lost in the opening round of the NCAA College Division tournament to Towson State.
Among those seniors whose career ended was quarterback Rob Blount, who was injured for most of the latter half of the season. He was 9-for-19 passing for 103 yards and an interception against East Stroudsburg , and rushed 20 times for 60 yards. For his career, the Inwood, N.Y. native set C.W. Post records for career touchdown passes (56) passing yards (6,361) and total offense (8,047). Blount also finishes with the Northeast-10 Conference records for single-season (1,018) and career (1,686) rushing yards by a quarterback. On the 2005 season, he became just the third player in NCAA Division II history to rush for 1,000-plus yards and pass for 2,000-plus yards (2,995) in the same season. In fact, he was just five passing yards shy of being the first player at any NCAA level with 1,000 rushing and 3,000 passing yards in the same campaign, and his 2,995 mark is the highest of any NCAA student-athlete to gain 1,000 yards on the ground, as well.
Nine C.W. Post seniors played in their last collegiate football games Saturday afternoon:
• Adebayo Adedapo (298 car., 1,593 yds., 17 TD)
• Rob Blount (school-records with 56 TD passes, 6,361 pass yds., 8,047 total offense; 2005 NE-10 MVP)
• Jeremy Boyle (team-high eight tackles on Saturday; 38 career tackles)
• Chris Bretton (69 career tackles; five tackles and forced fumble vs. ESU)
• Steven Broecker (three-year offensive line starter; NE-10 Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2005)
• Darren Cappetta (72 car., 417 yds., 4 TD; 25 rec., 188 yds., TD; 37 special teams tkl.)
• Ryan Heller (GW-TD receptions first two weeks of NCAA's; 72 rec., 1,241 yds., 12 TD)
• Frank Kelly (79 career tackles, two fumble returns for touchdown)
• Max Rose (Returned from injury at end of '05; 3 tkl. against ESU; 82 career tkl., 6 INT, 10 PBU)