Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.--The Drake Bulldogs kept their Pioneer Football League championship hopes alive Saturday with a 23-13 victory over Marist in a snowstorm at Tenney Stadium. Drake improved to 7-2 on the season, 5-1 in the PFL, and awaits a home matchup with first-place Jacksonville (6-2, 5-0) next Saturday.
Quarterback Mike Piatkowski (Wheaton, Ill.) threw two first-half touchdown passes as Drake built a 17-0 halftime lead, and a stifling Bulldogs defensive effort featured three interceptions and four sacks, including three from linebacker Tyler Moorehead (Mason City, Iowa) among his 4.5 tackles for loss.
Marist threatened with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to narrow the margin to 17-13 with 7:05 to play, but running back Patrick Cashmore (Kansas City, Mo.) barreled in for a 19-yard touchdown with 2:13 remaining to push the Bulldogs' lead back to 10 at 23-13. Cashmore finished with 109 yards on 28 carries, his third 100-yard game of the season.
Fifth-year senior and team captain Michael Lahart (Chariton, Iowa) sealed the win with his second interception of the season and the Bulldogs ran out the clock as players jubilantly stormed the snow-covered field.
The Bulldogs scored on their first possession for the fifth time this season, and the fourth time by way of a touchdown. Piatkowski hit wide receiver Drew Blackmon (St. Louis, Mo.) with a 21-yard strike to give Drake a 7-0 lead at the 9:10 mark of the first quarter.
"We got off to a good start in the first half," said head coach Chris Creighton. "I think our football team played really well, and we needed to. (With about) five minutes left in the first quarter you could see the snow coming, and obviously getting some points on the board before it got to a point where it might change how you play the game was important."
As light flurries turned to heavy, wet snowfall early in the second quarter, Piatkowski engineered a promising 13-play, 55-yard drive going into the wind, but Billy Janssen (Round Lake Beach, Ill.) missed a 36-yard field goal attempt wide left in the tough conditions to keep the score 7-0.
Safety Nick Chenier (Hinsdale, Ill.) came up with an interception of Marist quarterback Tommy Reilly just three plays into Marist's possession, giving the Bulldogs excellent field position at the Red Foxes' 28-yard line.
Piatkowski needed just three plays to take advantage of the Marist miscue, as he found wide receiver Joey Orlando (Park Ridge, Ill.) for a 22-yard touchdown to increase Drake's lead to 14-0.
The defense halted Marist's next possession and safety Mike Ratelle (Edina, Minn.) came through with a blocked punt that was recovered by Chenier. Taking over at the Marist 13-yard line, however, Drake was unable to punch it in for a touchdown, and Janssen (Round Lake Beach, Ill.) converted a 32-yard field goal to widen the margin to 17-0.
Crews shoveled snow from the field throughout halftime to make each 5-yard stripe visible, but the two teams returned to a field completely covered in snow, which made for extremely slick conditions throughout the second half. The Bulldogs, however, seemed to embrace the elements to turn it to their advantage all day.
"I think Chuck Swindoll said that 90% of life is attitude," Creighton said. "So if it snows and you're excited about it, that's a good thing. Our team was. They were fired up about the snow."
A scoreless third quarter saw Drake punt three times, while Marist punted once and saw its other possession end when Drake linebacker Seth Hedman (Tulsa, Okla.) intercepted a Reilly pass.
"At halftime I said we can't be defensive but we have to be smart," Creighton said. "But then I think my play-calling was pretty conservative early and Marist proved that you can throw it in these conditions. We didn't want to be defensive but we wanted to be smart, so I think it did change a little bit how we did things in the second half."
The Red Foxes began their comeback march on the final play of the third quarter following a blocked punt that gave them excellent field position at the Drake 25-yard line.
Six plays later Reilly hit tight end Mark Calcagni with an 8-yard touchdown pass to narrow the gap to 17-7.
Drake responded quickly with a 35-yard Piatkowski-to-Blackmon pass to move to the Marist 25-yard line, but two incomplete passes and a sack pushed the Bulldogs out of field goal range and forced a punt.
An exchange of punts worked the clock down to 7:40 to play before Marist took possession at its own 20-yad line. The Red Foxes jumped out with a 79-yard Reilly pass to Bartley Leneghan that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Atiq Lucas. The Bulldogs' David Witkiewicz (Hales Corners, Wisc.) blocked the point-after attempt to hold the score at 17-13.
From there the Drake defense took over and stopped Marist's next possession on fourth down and its final threat with the Lahart interception.
The Bulldogs held a 356-255 advantage in total yards, including a 103-34 advantage on the ground and 253-221 through the air.
Piatkowski completed 18 of 30 pass attempts for 253 yards and the two touchdowns, and was sacked three times. Combined with his four first-half touchdowns a week ago, Piatkowski has thrown six touchdowns in the first halves of the past two games.
Tight end Kevin Marshall (Glenn Ellyn, Ill.) led the team with five receptions for 45 yards, followed by Blackmon with four catches for a game-high 83 yards.
Defensive end Brandon Coleman (Cary, Ill.) had one sack to raise his team-leading total to 10.5. He entered the game ranked second in the PFL and fifth in the nation (FCS) in that category. Linebacker Travis Merritt (Johnston, Iowa) led Drake in tackles with nine (5 solo).
"I'm really proud of our defense," said Creighton. "It's tough conditions, and you just don't know how it's going to be. They're a tough football team that didn't give up, so I'm really proud of our guys. We had a tough travel day yesterday (12 hours, two flights, one bus ride) in a lot of ways, and I'm just proud of our team to come to a tough place against a good, well-coached, tough football team, and to get a win it's been a good day for us."
The Bulldogs now have blocked eight kicks including three field goals, three punts and two PATs-on the season. The six blocks coming into the game was tied for second-most in the FCS.
Drake takes on Jacksonville next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Drake Stadium, where the Bulldogs have won eight consecutive games dating back to last season.
