Keystone Drops Tight Contest at WPU 27-20

Keystone Drops Tight Contest at WPU 27-20

WAYNE, N.J. - Despite leading 20-7 at halftime, the Keystone College football team fell just short of the program's first-ever victory, falling at William Paterson University 27-20 in the final road non-conference contest of the year on Saturday afternoon.

The Giants (0-3) will host Hobart College (2-1) on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 1:30 p.m. The Pioneers improve to 2-1 and head to SUNY Maritime (1-2) next Saturday at 1 p.m.

Keystone had three huge scoring plays in the first half. Tom Roach (Burlington City, N.J./Burlington City) found Richie Crews (Cuddebackville, N.Y./Port Jervis) down the sideline for a 67-yard receiving touchdown to tie the contest up at 7-7. In the second quarter, Donald Leach broke through the line and blocked the Pioneers' punt, scooped it up, and scored for a 22-yard touchdown to give Keystone a 14-7 lead.

With 2:22 left in the opening half, Sean Pettway (Ellenville, N.Y./Ellenville) intercepted WP's quarterback and returned it 45 yards for the pick six to give the Giants a 20-7 advantage at intermission.

However, the Pioneers outscored Keystone 20-0 in the second half, thanks to a pair of rushing scores by Nazir Dale, to secure the come-from-behind win.

Roach finished the day 13-for-30 with 166 yards and three interceptions while being sacked three times. Nine different receivers caught a pass, as Chanz Stevens (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) hauled in three catches for 28 yards.

Kevin Lewis (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter) rattled off 41 rushing yards while Damir Green (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep) chipped in 29 yards on the ground. Defensively, Pettway had 10 tackles (8 solo) with 2.5 tackles for loss, including the pick-six. 

Tyshaun McClain (Jersey City, N.J./Hoboken) contributed 10 tackles while Joe Manfredo (Levittown, N.Y./General Douglas MacArthur) and Quentin Tibbs (New Brunswick, N.J./New Brunswick) each tallied eight stops. Carlos Perez (Reading, Pa./Reading) and Elijah Washington (Lawrence, N.Y./Lawrence) each enjoyed a sack on the day.

For WPU, the Pioneers rushed for 323 yards as Dale had 206 yards on 33 carries. Rasheed Woods had 126 yards on the ground.