Westminster wins opener by 7 points against Allegheny

Brett Myers finished with 23 completions on 33 attempts for 228 yards .

By BILL ALBRIGHT

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

MEADVILLE, Pa. — When Westminster and Allegheny opened the 2007 collegiate football season, it was a case of deja vu all over again.

In their four previous meetings, the visiting team won the game by a margin less than 10 points.

Saturday at Frank B. Fuhrer Field, that trend continued as the Titans broke on top early and never trailed in posting a 13-6 victory.

“I thought the key to our winning this game was all phases of our team stepping up when it counted and did a solid job,” Westminster head coach Jeff Hand said.

“We also had a lot of big plays turned in by our defensive backfield.”

Key was conversions

One key in the first half was the third-down conversions and the Titans made good on five of eight tries, keeping drives moving and the Gator defensive unit on the field.

“That [converting on third down] is a big thing and today, we did a good job of that,” Hand said.

One of the most hotly contested battles in Westminster’s preseason camp was for the job of starting quarterback.

Going into the first game, the job went to Brett Myers over incumbent Kevin Franz and the senior responded in fine fashion.

After completing his first 10 passes, Myers finished with 23 completions on 33 attempts for 228 yards and the Titans’ only touchdown.

“I was just thankful to get the chance to start today,” Myers said. “For the most part, that [utilizing the short passing game] is just a part of our game plan.

Deception

“We don’t really air the ball out as much as some other teams. We run what you might call a lot of trick plays with a lot of play-action stuff,” Myers said.

“We just try to get the ball into the hands of the receivers and let them do their thing.”

Complementing Myers’ strong game was the running of Titan tailback Nick McKolosky who finished with 90 yards on 27 carries.

There were a lot of big plays turned in by the Titan defensive unit in the game, but none bigger than the one on the final play of the game by Eric Brown.

With time running out, the Gators were faced with a fourth-and-goal from the Titan 10-yard line.

Allegheny reserve quarterback T.J. Salopek threw a fade in the direction of wideout Jake Vite in the corner of the end zone.

With the game on the line and despite giving up six inches in height, Titan cornerback Eric Brown went up and knocked the pass to the ground to keep the Gators out of the end zone.

Relied on instinct

“I just had a feeling they were going to come my way,” Brown said.

“I knew it was the last play [of the possession] and when I saw the ball coming my way, I just went after it and was able to knock it down.”

The Titans got on the board on their first possession when they marched 64 yards on a half dozen plays, Myers hitting Gary Hustler with a 12-yard scoring pass.

Fred Romeo (Poland), who also nailed a pair of field goals, tacked on the PAT and the Titans never looked back.

Romeo made it 10-0 Titans with a 30-yard field goal late in the second quarter before Allegheny cut the Westminster lead to 10-6 with a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter.