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St. John Fisher can't drum up enough to challenge Mount Union
By Stephanie Storm
Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Sunday, Dec 02, 2007
ALLIANCE: Somewhere it will be said that Mount Union beat St. John Fisher like a drum in the Division III playoffs Saturday at Mount Union Stadium.
The undefeated Purple Raiders did dispatch the Cardinals 52-10 in advancing to their 13th consecutive postseason final four, but it was really visiting St. John that beat the drum.
Obviously, some explaining is in order.
After a first half in which Mount Union took a 21-0 lead on two Pierre Garcon touchdown catches on passes from quarterback Greg Micheli and the first of two Nate Kmic touchdown runs, it became clear that the visiting Cardinals were going to have to find a way to spark their struggling offense in the red zone.
Several times in the first half, they marched inside the Mount Union 20, only to be frustrated by having to punt or turning the ball over on downs.
''We had three good opportunities in the first half where we came away with no points,'' said longtime St. John Fisher coach Paul Vosburgh. ''When you get down in the red zone against those guys, and they don't have much field to defend, they're even tougher than they are in the open field.''
On the other side, Mount Union's machine-like offense scored on its first three possessions, and five players scored in the game.
Trailing 38-0 in the third quarter, perhaps the Cardinals figured the game was all but over. Instead of going for it with nothing to lose on a fourth-and-goal at the 4-yard line, they settled for a 21-yard chip-shot field goal rather than push for a much-needed touchdown.
Anything to avoid a shutout.
It turned out that St. John Fisher didn't need Chris Pierri's field goal to ensure they wouldn't be held scoreless. With 5:44 remaining in the game, Cardinals quarterback Rob Kramer connected with receiver Corey Jack
son on a 34-yard touchdown pass near the right sideline.
Jackson bobbled the ball several times as he fought off the Mount Union defender, finally managing to come down with it at about the 1-yard line and falling into the end zone for the touchdown.
Jackson was so pumped to finally break through and reach the end zone against the staunch Purple Raiders defense that, as soon as he popped up from the ground, he ran to the back of the end zone, where the Mount Union band was positioned.
After a glance to his sideline on the left, Jackson snagged a pair of drum sticks lying on a base drum and banged on it several times in excitement.
Although the stunt garnered plenty of attention — and its share of applause among the Cardinals fans in attendance — his coach was none too pleased.
''Those guys (in the NFL) can do that on Sundays,'' Vosburgh said. ''That's not what college football is all about.''
Although Vosburgh refused to say more about Jackson's creative antics, he did at least promise he wouldn't make the receiver walk home to New York.
''It gave us a good laugh,'' said Micheli, who brushed the stunt aside after finishing the day 15-of-22 for 189 yards and three touchdowns. ''We got a kick out of it.''
The problem for Jackson, a junior, is that he's expected to be back in Alliance next season when Mount Union and St. John Fisher begin a regular-season home-and-away series that was finalized last year.
''But we're not going to have those drums there next year,'' Mount Union coach Larry Kehres joked.
Stephanie Storm can be reached at sstorm@thebeaconjournal.com.
ALLIANCE: Somewhere it will be said that Mount Union beat St. John Fisher like a drum in the Division III playoffs Saturday at Mount Union Stadium.
Get the full article here.
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