By Maximillian C. Burgos
Sports Editor
The College’s football team spoiled Rowan University’s Homecoming game and won its first game of the season, 20-14, on Saturday, Oct. 14.
On Oct. 7, the Lions fell at home against Montclair State University, 21-17, in a game where they held their first lead of the season going into halftime. During the game, senior quarterback Trevor Osler set a career high passing yardage total with 308 yards against the Red Hawks only to shatter it the very next game.
Senior quarterback Trevor Osler earned the New Jersey Athletic Conference offensive player of the week honor for his performance against the Profs, where he threw a career high 340 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 25 out of 32 passes while the Lions marched to their first victory of the season.
The Lions passing attack came to life in the game against the Red Hawks, but turnovers and a stagnant rushing attack ultimately hindered them. The Lions rushed for -28 yards and Osler threw three interceptions that hurt the Lions’ offensive progress.
Coming into last Saturday’s game against Rowan University, the Lions hoped to pull off a win for the first time this season.
Junior offensive lineman Ryan Signora commented on the game plan and how it differed from the previous week.
“Between last week and this week we put an emphasis on finishing,” Signora said. “Our defense played phenomenally and Trevor (Osler) really took command and led our offense. We just wanted to make sure we were playing the game the way that we wanted to.”
The Lions did play their brand of football against the Profs. They struggled with their ground attack for a second straight week as a team only tallied six total yards, due to several tackles for losses. But Osler took command of the Lions offense as he totaled 340 yards through the air, a career high for Osler.
Senior running back Khani Glover managed to have a productive day with 58 yards on 14 carries, despite the rest of team’s struggles in the backfield.
Koenig played a large part in the Lions offensive attack for the second straight week. He also totaled 131 yards with four receptions and a touchdown. For the second straight week, Koenig broke off a huge 79-yard touchdown play to help the Lions go off to an early lead. The game marked Koenig’s third-straight 100-yard game.
But the play wouldn’t have happened if not for a stout defense stop by senior linebacker Troy Domenick. Profs running back Anthony Diorio tried to power the ball forward on the fourth down, but he was stopped by Domenick. The Lions offense then capitalized on the defense stop.
Sophomore receiver Jack Clevenger made his mark with three catches for 68 yards. Senior tight end Chase Vena caught five catches for 46 yards.
The Profs did have a chance to come back in the fourth quarter, but Busca tackled their quarterback for a huge sack that would force them to punt the ball one last time. The Lions received the punt and ran out the clock, winning the game 20-14.
This week the Lions will face off against the Kean University Cougars on Saturday, Oct. 21 at noon at the annual Homecoming game.
The Lions will be ready to keep the momentum going after their win last week. Signora expressed the Lions confidence going into Homecoming.
“The team feels much more confident in ourselves after this win,” Signora said. “We have a big matchup this week and we are going to do everything possible to make sure we continue to ride the momentum and win this week.”
Busca agreed.
“We feel great,” he said. “We feel real confident. We have been feeling really confident coming into a lot of the games recently. It’s been a different process with a new coach but as soon as we bought in and starting trusting the system, we started seeing the things that we can do and accomplish. There is a lot more to come from us.”
