Week three of the New Jersey Athletic Conference football season was a quiet one as only two of the conference’s eight teams were in action. Those two teams were William Paterson and Vermont State Castleton, who both lost this week. Without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s NJAC football action.
Pioneers Comeback Bid Falls Short
The William Paterson Pioneers football team played its home opener at Wightman Stadium in Wayne against Salve Regina University and lost 24-12.
The Pioneers went down 3-0 just under 5 minutes into the game. Then, a 60-yard pass from Pioneers quarterback Nigel Jennings set up a 27-yard field goal from Matt Davidson to tie it up.
In the second quarter, Salve Regina punched in a five-yard rushing touchdown to make it 10-3. The visitors would score seven two more times after that, bringing their lead to 24-3, but the Pioneers didn’t just go away.
Jennings would break off a 60-yard run for the touchdown early in the fourth quarter and the Pioneers were back in the game 24-10 with 13 minutes left.
However, despite the momentum, Salve Regina’s defense came up big stopping Willy P’s offense at their 31-yard line on two successive drives late in the fourth quarter. Salve Regina then elected to run out the back of the endzone on fourth-and-five, incurring a safety with 30 seconds left in the game.
For the home team, Jennings ran for 87 yards and a touchdown but threw three interceptions in the second half which stymied his team’s momentum. Meanwhile, sophomore linebacker Terrill Yankson led the Pioneer defense with nine tackles (2.0 for a loss).
William Paterson football falls to 0-2 and will be back in action next week when they visit Moravian September 27 at 1 p.m.
Castleton’s Undefeated Run Comes to Close
On Saturday, Vermont State Castleton’s undefeated 2-0 start to the season suffered its first blemish when they were dismantled 30-8 by the University of New England. The Spartans homecoming went sour early when the Nor’Easters scored a touchdown and successfully went for two on their opening drive.
The Nor’Easters tacked on 13 points in the second quarter to take a 25-0 lead and never looked back. Castleton scored its eight points in the fourth quarter, when third-string quarterback Reese Rotella threw a touchdown pass to Gavin McCabe. The Spartans converted the two point conversion after that to make the score 35-8.
The bright spots for Castleton were surprisingly on defense, as Tyler Buxton led the Spartans with 12 tackles and Josh Cormier had 11. Mitch Chaves who relieved starting quarterback Jhai Vellon, led the Spartans in passing yardage with 146 through the air and 11 on the ground.
Castleton will regroup next week with their BYE before they visit William Paterson on Oct. 4 with a 2-1 record.
Kean BYE (1-1)
HOME vs Western Connecticut State September 27 at 1 p.m.
TCNJ BYE (2-0)
Home vs Juniata College September 27 at 3 p.m.
Montclair State BYE (1-1)
HOMECOMING vs Wilkes University September 27 at 5 pm
Salisbury BYE (2-0)
ROAD vs Catholic September 27 at 2 p.m.
Rowan BYE (1-0-1)
ROAD at Lycoming College September 27 at 12 p.m.
Christopher Newport BYE (2-0)
HOME vs No. 4 Susquehanna University at 1 p.m.
