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.
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