Stonehill Tailgating Information
Southern Connecticut State Game Notes
Tickets (Available game day at ticket booth):
$7.00 Adults
$4.00 (students & senior citizens)
12 and under are free
| Meet Stonehill WR John Gomes |
| Coaches' Corner with Robert Talley |
The Game: Stonehill College opens its Northeast-10 Conference schedule as it hosts Southern Connecticut State University at Timothy J. Coughlin (COG-lin) Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon. Both squads are looking to bounce back from opening week defeats to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) members. The Skyhawks were dealt a 44-28 setback here at W.B. Mason Stadium to No. 21/25 Bloomsburg University, while the Owls were on the road for a 33-6 setback to an Indiana (Pa.) University squad among teams receiving votes nationally.
Media Info: Live video of today's game is available on a pay-per-view basis ($6.99) via www.stonehillskyhawks.tv. Charlie Bergeron, the voice of the Skyhawks, begins his 15th season of broadcasting the action powered by Pack Network. WSHL 91.3 FM will also be broadcasting the game with Craig Riotto and Tim Culverhouse calling the action for the radio broadcast. www.sportingnewsct.com has an audio broadcast for Southern Connecticut State with Don Boyle and Mike Kobylanski on the microphones.
Week One for the Skyhawks: Bloomsburg, ranked No. 21 in the D2football.com preseason poll and 25th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II preseason rankings, took advantage of big running plays and forced seven turnovers to key a season-opening 44-28 victory over Stonehill before a sellout crowd of 2,400 here at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium last Friday. Bloomsburg racked up 566 yards of total offense, including 369 on the ground, scoring three times on plays of 40 or more yards. The Huskies took full advantage of seven Stonehill turnovers by turning them into 24 points at the other end, including a 28 yard interception return for a score. Junior quarterback Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) set a school record with 370 passing yards as he completed 24-of-45 attempts with three touchdowns, but was intercepted five times. Senior preseason All-America wide receiver John Gomes (Hyannis, Mass.) caught six passes for 126 yards. He also returned three kickoffs for 72 yards and three punts for 25 to finish with a game-high 223 all-purpose yards on the night. Senior Kevin Anderson (Topsfield, Mass.) returned six kickoffs for 214 yards, including the opening kickoff for a 92 yard touchdown. He also chipped in with seven tackles (five solo) on defense with a pass breakup. Senior preseason All-America defensive back Jareed Gaines (Lumberton, Mass.)led the Stonehill defense with a game-high 12 tackles (nine solo), including 1.0 for a loss of two yards, and two forced fumbles and pass breakup.
Scouting the Owls: Southern Connecticut State was defeated by Indiana (Pa.) in the season opener for both teams last Saturday, 33-6. Jacob Jablonski (Gales Ferry, Conn.) completed 9-of-12 passes for 62 yards and a touchdown and also rushed five times for 20 yards in the contest. Bobby Lippincott (Barkhamsted, Conn.) was 5-of-10 for 83 yards. Carlton Staggars (West Haven, Conn.) had three catches, including a touchdown, for 46 yards, to pace the wideouts. Jerome Cunningham (Waterbury, Conn.) also had three catches for 19 yards. Jayson Holt (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) added two catches for 30 yards, while Willie Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) had one catch for 36 yards.
Against the Owls: This afternoon marks the 16th meeting all-time between these two programs. Southern Connecticut State has won each of the previous 15 encounters, including a 16-6 victory in a snowy matchup in New Haven, Conn., last October. The Owls are 8-0 all-time here in Easton, including a 3-0 clip at W.B. Mason Stadium having rallied for a 45-21 triumph here in 2010. Stonehill coach Robert Talley is 0-5 over his career against Southern.
Anderson |
Special Teams Player of the Week: Senior cornerback/kick returner Kevin Anderson (Topsfield, Mass.) has been selected as the Northeast-10 Conference Special Teams Player of the Week as well as as well as Beyond Sports College Network's Division II Kick Returner of the Week. Anderson racked up a career-high 214 yards on six kickoff returns, including a 92 yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff of the game against Bloomsburg. He averaged 35.67 yards per return, adding returns of 17, 13, 22, 11 and 59 yards. The 59 yard return in the third quarter set up the Skyhawks third touchdown of the game. Anderson also contributed on defense with seven tackles (five solo) and a pass breakup from the cornerback position.
McLeod |
Rookie of the Week: Freshman wide receiver Gordon McLeod (Weymouth, Mass.) was named the Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Week following his debut performance against Bloomsburg in week one. McLeod caught five passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns, posting third quarter touchdowns of 32 and 31 yards as the Skyhawks were able to draw within ten points after trailing by 24 at the half.
They're Honored: Stonehill placed three players on the Northeast-10 Conference's weekly honor roll on Monday. Seniors Jareed Gaines (Lumberton, N.J.) and John Gomes (Hyannis, Mass.) as well as junior Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) all represented the Skyhawks. Gaines led the defense with a game-high 12 tackles (9 solo), with 1.0 for a loss of two yards and a pair of forced fumbles. Gomes posted a game-high 223 all-purpose yards as he caught six passes for a game-best 126 yards to go with a combined 97 yards on returns. Meyer broke his own school record with 370 passing yards as he completed 24-of-45 passes with three touchdowns.
Skyhawks Going National: Stonehill College and the Northeast-10 announced this summer that its October 18 game against defending NE-10 champion and preseason No. 13 University of New Haven will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. Kickoff for the contest here at W.B. Mason Stadium is just after 8 p.m. It marks the football team's first national broadcast. Stonehill will be announcing advance ticket sale information in the coming days.
Gomes |
Quite a Catch: Senior wide receiver John Gomes (Hyannis, Mass.) enters today's game just one reception shy of the school record for career catches with 124 after his six reception effort against Bloomsburg last week. He trails just Dan Cahill's (1992-95) record of 125 receptions.
Rewarding Returns: Senior cornerback/kick returner Kevin Anderson's (Topsfield, Mass.) 92-yard return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff on Friday was the first of his career, but marked the 11th kickoff return touchdown by a Skyhawk over the last five seasons. Former Stonehill All-American and current assistant coach Stephan Neville, '12, set an NCAA Division II record with ten career kickoff return touchdowns during his career.
Passing Fancy: Junior quarterback Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) broke his own school record with his 370 yards passing against Bloomsburg last week. He completed 24-of-45 passes, including three touchdowns, to break his previous mark of 315 yards set at Pace on September 10, 2011. The 370 yards are also the second-highest passing performance in the seven year history of W.B. Mason Stadium - the highest by a Stonehill quarterback. His 24 completions are tied for the fifth-highest single game total in Stonehill history with Meyer holding that record of 30 set against American International College here last season.
Movin' On Up: Several Stonehill players are marching up Stonehill's career and single-season leader lists in program history
• Junior QB Logan Meyer (Ventura, Calif.) ranks fifth on the career list with 2,816 passing yards over his two seasons - 353 shy of John Darak (1997-99) for fourth place.
• Senior Jermetrius Troy (Mattapan, Mass.) has 1,165 career rushing yards and is 74 yards shy of Anthony Palmer (1996-97) for tenth all-time.
• Troy ranks tenth in program history with 12 career rushing touchdowns, three shy of moving into the top five.
• Senior John Gomes (Hyannis, Mass.) ranks fourth on Stonehill's career receiving list with 1,722 career receiving yards - 52 shy of Kevin Adamson (1989-92) for third all-time.
• Gomes is also fifth all-time with 11 career touchdown receptions - four shy of Mike Plitchka (2004-05) for fourth place.
Coach's Corner: www.stonehillskyhawks.com, the official website of Stonehill athletics will have weekly interviews with head coach Rob Talley throughout the season. Coach Talley will recap the previous week's game every Tuesday and then there will be a preview of the coming week's game each Thursday or Friday. Each interview is approximately ten minutes long and will give fans an inside look at each game this season. There will also be regular interviews with Skyhawks student-athletes as well.
Getting Social: Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics now have two social media outlets to get updates on all 20 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @SkyhawkTalk on Twitter!
On Deck: Stonehill hits the road for the first time this season when it heads to Manchester, N.H., for the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" at Saint Anselm College on Friday at 7 p.m. It marks the first ever "Battle" under the lights and will be the first night football game in Grappone Stadium history. The Skyhawks return home the following week to host Assumption College in a Saturday evening affair here at W.B. Mason Stadium on September 22 as part of Family Weekend at the College at 6 p.m.