GLASSBORO, N.J. - Withler Marcelin rushed for 168 yards and caught a 41-yard touchdown pass as Rowan nipped Cortland, 10-9, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) contest.
With the win, Rowan improves to 4-1 in the NJAC and 6-2 overall. The Profs are tied with Brockport for first place in the league with two weeks remaining. Cortland drops to 4-4 overall and 4-2 in the league with one conference game left next week at home versus Morrisville.
Rowan took a 7-0 lead on Marcelin's TD catch from Bill McCarty with 6:48 left in the first half. The Red Dragons closed to within 7-3 early in the second quarter on
Nick Daley (Saratoga Springs) 38-yard field goal. The scoring drive was set up by the first of
Carson Lassiter's (Madison, NJ) two interceptions.
Rowan went up 10-3 on a Dan Dawson 27-yard field goal with 2:22 left in the half, but Cortland drove 58 yards on three plays, capped by a
Tyler Hughes (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) 21-yard TD pass to
John Babin (Warwick/Warwick Valley) with 1:48 left. Daley, however, missed the extra-point and Cortland trailed 10-9 at halftime.
Neither team scored in the second half. Cortland drove to the Rowan 28-yard line on the first possession of the third quarter, but Frank Ruopoli intercepted a Hughes pass at the 11-yard line. The Red Dragons' final six possessions of the game ended with punts. Cortland's best threat was when they moved to the Rowan 34-yard line before punting with less than seven minutes remaining. The Red Dragons drove to the Profs' 42-yard line on their final possession but a third-down sack forced Cortland to punt with 2:44 left. Rowan was able to gain a first down on a 5-yard run by Marcelin on 3rd-and-5 and then took a knee twice to end the game.
Hughes rushed for 55 yards on 13 carries and was 6-of-17 passing for 82 yards. He left the game, however, with an injury after being sacked late in the third quarter.
John Grassi (Oceanside) played the remainder of the game at quarterback and completed 6-of-8 passes for 33 yards. Babin caught four passes for 57 yards and has now caught a TD pass in six straight games and 15 of his last 16 contests.
McCarty finished 8-of-21 passing for 101 yards and Todd Guillaume caught three passes for 28 yards for Rowan.
Defensively for Cortland,
Matt Ambrose (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) made a team-high 12 tackles. Defensive end
Tom Hagan (Hopewell Junction/John Jay-East Fishkill), who entered the game after an injury to
Joe Kirchner (Holbrook/Sachem North), finished with 11 tackles. Hagan made three tackles for loss, including two of Cortland's six sacks.
Tristan Laurore (Jamaica/Boys & Girls) registered 11 tackles and Lassiter recorded six tackles and a pass breakup in addition to his two interceptions. His second pick came at the Cortland 2-yard line on the final play of the first half.
Andrew Tolosi (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) forced a fumble to stop a Rowan drive deep in Cortland territory early in the third quarter. Tolosi has now tied a school single-season record with five forced fumbles.
For Rowan, Dominic Caruso recorded 12 tackles with two sacks and four total tackles for losses. Josh Popper made nine tackles.
Box Score/Play-by-Play
