Wednesday, October 15, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West standings must be upside-down. That can't be Lock Haven at the top, can it? Not the Lock Haven that last had a winning record in 1981 and is 55-174-3 since then.

But, after a wild first two weeks in the West this season, Lock Haven stands alone in first place at 1-0, followed by IUP, Edinboro, Shippensburg, California and Slippery Rock at 1-1.

Lock Haven (3-3 overall) turned the PSAC West world topsy-turvy with a 30-25 victory against California last week. Senior linebacker Derrik Metz made 13 tackles and is the conference's defensive player of the week.

Lock Haven plays at Shippensburg Saturday.

While the PSAC West will remain tangled for at least another couple of weeks, Duquesne is breezing toward an unprecedented fifth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, Washington and Jefferson is in its typical spot atop the Presidents' Athletic Conference and Robert Morris is in a precarious position in the Northeast Conference.

Duquesne (4-2, 3-0) has won 27 consecutive games against league opponents and is heavily favored to make it 28 against winless St. Peter's (0-6, 0-3) Saturday at Rooney Field.

The Dukes are easily the head of the class in the MAAC, which doesn't have another team with a winning record. Marist is 3-3, followed by LaSalle (2-4), Iona (2-4), St. Peter's (0-6) and Siena (0-6).

The MAAC champion will be the host of the ECAC Classic, Nov. 22, against the NEC champion.

Teams from the NEC have won 19 of the past 20 games against MAAC opponents, including Albany's 24-0 victory against Duquesne in the 2002 ECAC Classic.

Robert Morris (5-1, 3-1), winner of four in a row since a loss to first-place Monmouth, plays host to Sacred Heart (5-1, 2-1) Saturday at Moon Stadium in a matchup that will go a long way in separating the contenders from the pretenders in the NEC.

Sacred Heart is No. 7 and Robert Morris No. 8 in the Sports Network NCAA Division I-AA mid-major poll.

Monmouth (6-0, 3-0), ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history, is a victory shy of the school record of wins in a season.

Robert Morris has constructed its win streak with a rushing defense that has allowed 85.2 yards per game to rank 11th in 1-AA and the running of senior tailback Sam Dorsett, who is ninth in rushing at 126.3 yards per game. Coach Joe Walton has settled on sophomore Drew Geyer as his starting quarterback.

W&J (5-0, 3-0) is on a roll under first-year coach Mike Sirianni and is favored to share or win the PAC championship for the 18th time in the past 19 seasons. The Presidents will play host to winless Bethany (0-6, 0-3) Saturday with a showdown at second-place Waynesburg (5-1, 2-0) Oct. 25.

Waynesburg plays at Grove City (3-3, 2-1) Saturday.

Grove City will rely on quarterback Sam Mowrey, who set school records with 334 yards passing and four touchdowns in a 36-28 loss to W&J last week.

The honor roll

St. Francis freshman quarterback Anthony Doria (Seton LaSalle) is the rookie of the week in the Northeast Conference. He set league records with 38 completions and 63 attempts for 398 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-21 loss to Albany.

*Slippery Rock kicker John Katsaouni, whose three field goals included a 52-yarder that tied a school record in a 16-14 victory against then-No. 19 Shippensburg last week, was named the D2football.com special teams player of the week.

*Geneva junior receiver Matt Nowaczynski (Shaler), who leads the league with 6.0 receptions and 81 yards per game, is the Mid-States Football Association's offensive player of the week.

A broken record

California's Gary Amos, a junior from Beth-Center, set a school record with a 49-yard field goal in the third quarter of a 30-25 loss to Lock Haven last week.

The Rankings

Duquesne (4-2) remained No.3 and Robert Morris (5-1) No. 8 in the Sports Network NCAA Division I-AA mid-major poll. The Dukes received a first-place vote for the first time this season. ... IUP (5-1) dropped seven notches to No. 11 in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll. ... Washington & Jefferson (5-0) moved up two spots to No. 11 in the AFCA Division III poll.

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