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Friday, October 25, 2002

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Robert Morris Coach Joe Walton has put his Colonials through basic training the past two weeks, drilling them on fundamentals.

Basically, Walton has been working on an injury-riddled offense that hasn't produced any points in consecutive losses against Sacred Heart, 34-0, and Wagner, 29-0.

Robert Morris (3-3) returns after a week off to play at Gannon (3-5) tomorrow afternoon.

The Colonials will be fortified by the return of senior quarterback Shawn Martin (shoulder injury) and 320-pound offensive lineman Scott Koncek (leg injury), both of whom missed the Wagner game.

Walton also has tinkered with the lineup, inserting Matt Daniel at fullback and moving John Williams up the depth chart to backup tailback behind Develand Campbell.

The offense never has recovered from season-ending knee injuries to its top two tailbacks, Sam Dorsett and Dante Settles.

"A young backfield doesn't pick up blitzes too good," Walton said. "You can't put all the onus on offensive line."

Freshman quarterback Drew Geyer of Deer Lakes was sacked seven times by Wagner.

"If Shawn Martin's ready to play, he'll play," Walton said of Martin, a converted wide receiver who hadn't played quarterback since high school. "We'll see how the games go to see how much Geyer will play. Geyer needs a lot of work. He's shown has some ability, but he has not yet picked things up the way we'd like him to."

Asked if he has become an offensive genius with an extra week to prepare, Walton answered with a laugh: "Most of those offensive genius coaches have genius players. We don't. We're young, and the mistake factor has hurt us. They revert back to doing it the old way, and we keep working with them to break old habits.

"It takes time."

While Robert Morris' offense has sputtered, Gannon's has sparkled behind sophomore quarterback Darmel Whitfield. He has passed for 1,480 yards and needs 54 to surpass Chris Delmonaco's school record of 1,533 in 1993. In addition to throwing eight touchdown passes, Whitfield has rushed for a team-high 841 yards and nine touchdowns.

Senior tailback Kevin Cloherty (Franklin Regional) has run for 442 yards and four touchdowns this season and is the school's second all-time rusher with 2,312 yards. He holds the school record with 27 rushing touchdowns.

Gannon's leading receivers are Sam Culberth (25 catches, 183 yards, 1 TD), Wes Whiteside (22 catches, 220 yards) and Pat Cain (21 catches, 234 yards, 2 TDs).

Duquesne (7-0, 4-0) at LaSalle (1-6, 1-4), 1 p.m. -- The Dukes, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division I-AA Mid-Major, have won 20 consecutive games against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams and are closing in on their fourth consecutive league championship and a spot in the ECAC Bowl against the champion of the Northeast Conference. ... Duquesne is one of three undefeated teams in I-AA, joining Bethune-Cookman (8-0) and Montana (7-0). ... Dukes lead I-AA in total defense (181.7 yards per game), pass defense (92.1 ypg) and scoring defense (11.6 ppg). ... Duquesne is 3-0 against LaSalle, outscoring the Explorers, 96-10.

Lock Haven (4-3, 1-1 PSAC West) at IUP (7-1, 3-0), 1:30 p.m. -- IUP, No. 10 in NCAA Division II, has beaten Lock Haven 20 consecutive times. ... Redshirt freshman Kevin Weidl (Mt. Lebanon) will replace Brian Eyerman at quarterback and make his first collegiate start. Eyerman got a concussion in the second quarter of a 20-9 victory against California last week and didn't play the second half. Eyerman (North Allegheny) holds school records with 7,402 yards passing and 70 touchdowns. ... IUP has won seven in a row after a 37-34 loss to Findlay.

Waynesburg (4-2, 2-1) at Washington and Jefferson (5-1, 4-0), 2 p.m. -- W&J, ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division III, has won 12 consecutive games against Waynesburg, seven by 40 or more points. ... Waynesburg sophomore quarterback Jeff Dumm (Charleroi) has completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,593 yards. ... W&J can clinch its 16th league title in the past 17 seasons.

Shippensburg (4-3, 2-1 PSAC West) at Clarion (5-2, 1-1), 1 p.m. -- Clarion is fifth in Division II with 295.7 yards rushing per game, led by Robert Walker's 582 yards and eight touchdowns, Kareem Shelton's 393 yards, Adam Almashy's 322 and Glenn Lovelace's 299 . ... Shippensburg's John Kuhn has rushed for 712 yards and seven touchdowns.

Allegheny (2-4, 1-2 NCAC) at Denison (1-5, 1-2), 1 p.m. -- Allegheny has beaten Denison 15 consecutive times.