By The Daily Item
CANTON, N.Y. -- Sophomore split end Mike Ritter, a Selinsgrove High School graduate, caught two touchdown passes as Susquehanna stayed in the Liberty League title hunt with a 21-7 victory over St. Lawrence on Saturday.
Senior running back Dave Paveletz continued an amazing season for the Crusaders (6-2, 4-1 Liberty). He rushed 28 times for a game-high 144 yards to push his season total to a league-leading 1,195 yards. Paveletz is already Susquehanna's all-time leading rusher with 4,512 yards.
Sophomore quarterback Rich Palazzi completed 12 of 21 passes for a game-high 167 yards, including the two TD passes to Ritter. Palazzi had no interceptions, but Saints counterpart fared much worse. Junior JP Kearney completed just three of 17 passes for 24 yards and four picks, two of which ended up in the hands of freshman defensive back Jalon Scott.
Scott, despite a hand injury, has a Liberty-leading six interceptions this season. This was his third two-interception game this year.
Kearney did manage a 14-yard TD pass to junior tight end Tim Robinson.
Freshman defensive lineman Ken Schetroma, a Southern Columbia High grad, led the Crusaders with 10 tackles (four solo). Pete Johnsen made seven tackles, including a game-high six solo stops. Johnsen tied for the game-high with two tackles for a loss, including his league-leading ninth sack. Junior defensive back Braden Klingler, a Selinsgrove High graduate, rhad five tackles.
SU broke through in the second quarter when Greg Tellish's TD capped a seven-play, 61-yard drive. Bobby Eppleman converted the extra-point attempt for a 7--0 lead with 10:10 left in the first half. Scott's first interception on the next St. Lawrence possession set up the Crusaders at the Saints 27, and six plays later, Palazzi hit Ritter for a six-yard TD on third-and-goal for a 14--0 lead.
St. Lawrence got back in the game on the following possession by staging a 12-play, 66-yard drive that ended with Robinson's TD from Kearney on fourth-and-seven.
Late in the third quarter, on fourth-and-seven from the St. Lawrence 22, Palazzi threw up a pass in the end zone that reached Ritter, who went down on the play to make the catch. St. Lawrence then put together another long drive, this one spanning 12 plays from the end of the third quarter and into the fourth, only to have it end on Scott's second interception and a 19-yard return.Later, SU ate 4:43 off the clock on a drive before punting, leaving the Saints with little time left. St. Lawrence eventually turned the ball over on downs, and the Crusaders ran out the clock.
The Crusaders, who play Worcester Polytechnic Institute next Saturday, trail first-place Union College (5-0) by one game, but will play at Union in the regular-season finale. Union takes on Merchant Marine (2-3) on Saturday. The league champion receives an automatic invitation to the NCAA Division III championships.
Susquehanna Universit senior split end J.J. Moran caught a game-high five passes for a game-high 82 yards to help lead visiting Susquehanna to a 21--7 win over St. Lawrence University in a Liberty League football game Saturday.
Sports
Related Photos
Discussion
College football: Ritter leads Susquehann to win over St. Lawrence
- Sports
-
-
College Lacrosse: Bucknell men prepare to improve upon great season
LEWISBURG -- It started a handful of years ago, when the Bucknell men's lacrosse team put a big 'X' on the national map in Central Pennsylvania with an upset of No. 1 Maryland. From that point on Bison coach Frank Fedorjaka has had a difficult time getting big-time opponents on the schedule, even with Bucknell opting to travel under the worst of circumstances.
-
High school football: Pratt says Kutztown the right fit
SUNBURY -- When Shikellamy's Tyler Pratt joins the Kutztown University football team as a free safety next fall, he will already have a good feeling for what his position coach will expect from him. Pratt, who signed a national letter of intent this week to accept a scholarship offer to play for the Golden Bears, will be under the tutelage of his father's high school football coach.
-
Todd Stanford On high school boys basketball: Increasing the refs' workload
If two heads are better than one, does that mean six eyes are better than four? Not necessarily, according to some Heartland Athletic Conference officials. There is a move afoot in the HAC to cut the number of basketball referees from three to two for part of the season beginning next year.
-
High School Roundup: Greenwood boys complete perfect TVL season
Greenwood capped off an unbeaten 2011-12 Tri-Valley League season by crushing Halifax 61-38 on Thursday Night.
-
Shikellamy Braves pull away from Shamokin
SUNBURY — Tyler Pratt kept Shikellamy in the game in the third quarter Wednesday, scoring all seven of the Braves’ points. He then got some help in the fourth.
-
High School Roundup: Selinsgrove tops Jersey Shore
JERSEY SHORE — With the game tied at 32 at the half, the Selinsgrove boys basketball term went on a big run in the third quarter to open up the game and take a 65-56 Heartland Athletic Conference Division I win over Jersey Shore on Wednesday.
-
Shikellamy Braves rally to stay alive
SELINSGROVE — With 11 losses, the Shikellamy girls basketball team is teetering on the brink of elimination from the District 4 Class AAA playoffs. And on Wednesday night, it looked like the Braves were going to go quietly into the offseason when Selinsgrove built a 14-point lead early in the third quarter.
-
They learn to be tough young
It's difficult to recall exactly how the sequence unfolded because it happened so darn fast. Shikellamy made a couple baskets, and the crowd began to stir. It was still anybody's game, and the Braves had some momentum late in the third quarter of a recent run with Danville.
-
Motorsports: Selinsgrove, Lincoln speedways to host 360 sprint series
MECHANICSBURG -- Mach 1 Chassis of Mechanicsburg will be the title sponsor of the Mid-Atlantic 360 Sprint Car Championship Series, a $120,000 six-race tour that will include five shows at Selinsgrove Speedway and one event at Lincoln Speedway in 2012.
-
Girls basketball: Records fall, Red Tornadoes stay unbeaten
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT -- An overflow crowd zealously cheered Tierney Pfirman's pursuit of the South Williamsport scoring record throughout Tuesday's game, until their breathless faces matched the Mounties' royal blue.
- More Sports Headlines
-
