(box score)
Junior Brendan Curran (Sinking Spring, PA) rushed for four touchdowns in a game Widener had 417 yards of total offense, but time simply ran out on the visitors in a wild 42-38 Middle Atlantic Conference loss at Lebanon Valley in Annville, PA.
Curran's total was one shy of the school record set by the great Billy “White Shoes” Johnson, who had five touchdown runs against Swarthmore on November 10, 1973. This came one week after Curran notched three touchdown runs against Albright and he has nine on the year.
Widener (3-5, 2-3 MAC) ended with 220 yards rushing and 197 yards passing. Lebanon Valley (4-4, 3-2) finished with 323 yards of offense, but just 130 on the ground.
Lebanon Valley struck on the game's first possession. Caleb Fick completed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Ed Tobin just 2:28 in, ending a six-play, 65-yard drive for a 7-0 contest.
Things did not improve for Widener when Zach Bleiler sacked sophomore quarterback Chris Haupt (Bloomsburg, PA) and jarred the ball loose. Bleiler scooped it and ran 15 yards for a score with 6:04 to go in the first for a 14-0 Dutchmen lead.
Freshman Tevin Campbell (Brookhaven, PA) was inserted at quarterback and made a huge impact. He ended his first drive on a 34-yard burst in which he dove inside the left pylon for a touchdown and a 14-7 deficit with 3:47 to play in the first.
Campbell continued to be a force on the next drive, rushing for 30 yards to go with a four-yard completion. The 70-yard drive ended on the 12th play, when Curran powered in from four yards and a 14-14 tie with 10:07 to go the first half.
The Dutchmen gave it right back on the ensuing kickoff. Jake Ziegler was stripped by junior Gary Fish (Easton, PA) and freshman Courtland Bragg (Sicklerville, NJ) recovered for the Pride at the Dutchmen 38 yard line.
Widener capitalized on that drive which featured a fourth-down conversion and only nine plays. Curran finished it on a one-yard plunge with 6:53 to play in the half. That gave the Pride their first lead at 21-14, which included the extra point from junior Matt Breslin (Sugarloaf, PA).
Lebanon Valley came back on the next drive, marching down to the one before Fick hooked up with Brendan Riley on a scoring pass. The conversion from Sean Fakete with 2:47 to go in the half made it a 21-21 tie.
The Pride came right back on their next drive, getting Curran to run in from one yard for his third touchdown of the half that completed a 13-play, 70-yard drive. Breslin's extra point with 15 seconds remaining gave Widener a 28-21 lead.
The second half began in a bizarre way as Lebanon Valley tried an on-side that the home team thought they recovered. But the officials huddled and correctly ruled that the Dutchmen illegally touched it before it went 10 yards, thus giving the Pride possession just 39 yards from pay dirt.
The reliable Curran did his thing again, capping the drive with another one-yard touchdown run just three minutes into the half for a 35-21 Widener lead.
Lebanon Valley got a big break when Jur'ey Fowles intercepted Haupt, returning it to the Widener 31 yard line. The Dutchmen ended that drive as Fick threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Yahya McIntyre, making it a 35-28 Pride lead with 4:47 left in the third.
The Dutchmen completed their comeback from a 14-yard comeback, getting a two-yard scoring pass from Fick to Tobin just 10 seconds into the fourth quarter for a 35-35 deadlock.
Widener on its next possession got the lead right back. The Pride completed two third-down conversions before Breslin booted a 27-yard field goal with 9:26 remaining for a 38-35 cushion.
The game of never-ending swings went back to the Dutchmen when Nic Shirey intercepted Haupt and returned it to their own 44 yard line. Fick this time did it himself, scoring on a four-yard sweep to the left with 2:26 remaining and, with Fakete's extra point, gave LVC a 42-38 lead.
Widener on its final drive converted a third down and 30 when Haupt hit junior Adam Smith (Littlestown, PA) on a 15-yard pass to the LVC 27 yard line. But an offensive pass interference penalty on the Pride moved them back to the 43 yard line and things more difficult for the visitors.
The comeback eventually went to waste as Haupt's desperation pass was intercepted by Dane Eichelberger in the final minute to end the game.
Haupt completed 22-of-34 passes for 169 yards, but was sacked four times. Campbell did a solid job in his time under center, rushing for 102 yards on 14 carries and completing 4-of-5 passes for 28 yards.
Sophomore Joe Wojceichowski (Riverside, NJ) closed with nine tackles, Fish had two forced fumbles and senior Kevin Franklin (Baltimore, MD) intercepted a pass for Widener.
Fick completed 17-of-32 passes for 193 yards and four touchdowns. Tobin hauled in seven receptions for 100 yards and Ben Guiles had 83 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Widener next Saturday hosts Wilkes, beginning at 1:00 pm.
