By Chiwueze Chukwu, '08 | Staff Reporter

and Dan Curtis, '08 | Sports Editor

Morrisville defends against SUNY Maritime during the first half of its Homeocming game Oct. 1. The Mustangs won, 20-6, to notch their first Div. III victory.

The Morrisville State football team picked up its first victory of the season 20-6 during Homecoming Weekend against SUNY Maritime. The convincing win was the team's first victory in NCAA Division III play.

The Mustangs started off the game with the ball as they chose to receive the kick. They started the opening drive on their own 26 yard line and failed to move the ballon as they had a three-and-out and punted. Maritime started off the game with a long run by their tailback that set-up a touchdown score to take the early lead. The touchdown came off a pass play as their quarterback threw a 5-yard touchdown to their tailback for the score.  The extra point was blocked by the Mustangs as the score remained 6-0 at end the first quarter. Maritime also had another chance with a field goal attempt but failed to connect on that one, too.

The second quarter did not begin well for the Mustangs. On a punt play they were called for roughing the kicker, which gave Maritime an automatic first down. Then a couple plays later when the Mustangs recovered a fumble on defense things began to pick up as Maritime had several penalties that got the Mustangs into scoring position. Two overthrown passes by quarterback, Billy Poling, led Morrisville to a punt.

Once Maritime had the ball on offense, they were once again stopped by the Mustang defense as they forced them to punt. On the next drive the Mustangs marched down into Maritime territory with a handful of rushing plays. They finally scored on a Milestone achievement by Dante Bryant as he hit 1,500 rushing yards for his career and gave the Mustangs the lead going into the half.

Just before the half ended, there were three straight plays with turnovers. First the quarterback from Maritime threw an interception in the end zone, then the Mustangs fumbled the ball deep in their own territory. When Maritime got the ball back, they had time for one more play before the half closed out. The quarterback threw another interception in the end zone as time ran out on the clock.

In the third quarter the Mustang defense was even stronger as they gave up nothing against an average Maritime offense. They punted many times as they could not move the ball. The Mustangs first drive in the second half consisted of all runs and no pass attempts as they went into Maritime territory and scored to increase their lead to 13-6. The touchdown was a 1-yard run by fullback Eric Hill.

The Mustangs nearly took a larger lead. On a screen play by Maritime, they almost intercepted the ball and took it all the way back. The field was wide open, but they could not come up with the interception. Near the end of the quarter Maritime attempted another field goal, and once again, it was blocked by the Mustangs.

With five minutes left in the game, the Mustangs, still leading 13-6, had a crucial third-and-short and converted for the first down. They also had a third-and-long play later in the drive and also converted on that. They both were converted with long runs. With time winding down on the clock, Dante Bryant had a big run of 27-yards for a touchdown to assure the victory. The final score was 20-6 as the Mustangs picked up their first win in NCAA Division III play on Mustang and Homecoming weekend.

The Mustangs lost at Newport News College 21-13 Saturday, Oct. 7. Morrisville’s tough defensive play and strong offensive performance wasn’t enough as Newport News College squeaked past the Mustangs by a just one touchdown.

A week later, Morrisville traveled to Maryland where they lost to Salisbury State, University 65-7. The Mustangs' offense provided minimal production and coughed up three fumbles throughout the game. The team rushed for just 83 yards and passed for 50.  

The loss proved to be the most challenging game of the season for the Mustangs to this point. Morrisville was seemingly defenseless against the Sea Gull offense, giving up 309 yards rushing yards and 440 total yards.

Kicker Derek Mulson began the game for the Mustangs with a 48-yard kickoff to the Salisbury 17-yard line. Sea Gull return man Byron Westbrook ran the ball back 83 yards for Salisbury’s first touchdown of the game.

Less than 5 minutes later, the Sea Gulls scored their second touchdown of the game on a 10 yard touchdown run by senior Anthony Johnson. The Mustangs were forced to punt on the ensuing possession. Punter Bobby Mangano had his attempt blocked and recovered in the end zone by Salisbury sophomore Paul Cynewski. The score put the Sea Gulls up 21-0.

Salisbury added two more touchdowns before the end of the first half and one at the start of the second half before Morrisville scored their first points of the afternoon.  With about 13 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mustang Derric Woodard returned a Sea Gull kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, making the score, 41-7.

Late in the game, Salisbury tacked on three more touchdowns and a field goal in to win the lopsided contest by a margin of 58 points.

Morrisville (1-6) plays at Brockport State this Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing out its season Nov. 11 at Wesley College.