Photo Courtesy of Michael Longo, Jr.
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University football team clinched its first winning season since 2010 Saturday with a 16-14 victory over Sacred Heart at Joe Walton Stadium. The Colonials conclude their 2019 season with an overall record of 7-5 (.583), including a mark of 6-1 (.857) in the Northeast Conference.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trailing, 16-14, Sacred Heart (7-5 / 4-3 NEC) marched 58 yards on 17 plays to set up a 39-yard field goal attempt from Dane Borges with three seconds to play. The attempt from Borges, however, was wide left, sealing the victory for RMU.
QUOTABLE
"We're excited to send these seniors out as winners," head coach
Bernard Clark, Jr., said. "They've been a special bunch for us. They've set the standard, as the freshmen and the younger guys know what to expect coming back next year."
SPECIAL TEAMS
Junior
Nick Bisceglia was a key component for the Colonials in the second half. He connected for three field goals, including a 35-yarder that gave Robert Morris a 16-14 advantage. The eventual game-winning field goal came on another perfectly place on-side kick courtesy of Bisceglia. The Colonials closed their deficit to 14-13 with 14:49 to play with a 21-yard field goal from Bisceglia, and on the ensuing kickoff, he placed it perfectly at the RMU 49-yard line.
Eric Sherkel came up with the ball for RMU.
QUOTABLE
"Special teams is huge for us," Clark said. "When I was in college coach Jimmy Johnson always reminded us there are three phases to every game. Offense, defense and then there's the kicking game. It's something you have to take extremely seriously. We hired an unbelievable special teams coach in (Jacob) Bronowski. He does a great job with these guys. They're excited about special teams. The great thing about that play is (Bronowski) came to me before and said "It's there." He studies the film and knows when it's time."
BIG STRIKE
Sacred Heart grabbed the early lead with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown run from Julius Chestnut. Robert Morris tied the game in the second quarter when quarterback
George Martin hooked up with wide receiver
Garrett Houser for another long touchdown pass, this one for 79 yards at the 11:55 mark. Houser recorded the second 100-yard receiving effort of his young career with five catches for 103 yards and a score.
A NEW RECORD
Linebacker
Aniello Buzzacco capped a stellar year on defense for Robert Morris, registering 14 tackles in the win over the Pioneers. It pushed his season total to 131, a new single-season record. He finishes the campaign with an average of 10.9 tackles per contest in 2019, which ranks second in the RMU single-season record book to linebacker Alex DiMichele (2008-10), who averaged 11.6 stops per game in 2008. Buzzacco also registered a sack and a forced fumble in the win over Sacred Heart.
SENIORS
In his final game in an RMU uniform, tight end
Matthew Gonzalez finished with three receptions for 39 yards. He also returned a punt 20 yards. Wide receiver
Tim Vecchio also played in his final Robert Morris contest, recording two catches for 52 yards, including an acrobatic 41-yard reception that set up Bisceglia's first field goal of the contest. Running back
Terence Stephens, Jr., meanwhile rushed for 36 yards on 10 carries, an average of 3.6 yards per attempt. Gonzalez finishes his career ranked fifth all-time in program history in both receptions (96) and receiving yards (1,473).
BLOCK PARTY
Senior defensive lineman
Chris Stanford came up big for Robert Morris at the end of the first half, getting a hand on a 29-yard field goal attempt by Borges. The ball ended up hitting the crossbar and kept the game tied, 7-7, heading into the break. Stanford finished with six tackles against the Pioneers.
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