By Matt Florjancic
D3sports.com
Allegheny junior strong safety Sid Facaros was a man on a mission Saturday and so were his teammates.
A week after the Gators' unbeaten streak was rudely halted in a 37-3 home loss to Co-North Coast Athletic Conference leader, Wabash College, Allegheny went on the road and defeated the Carnegie Mellon Tartans 38-35.
Facaros made the play of the game for the Gators when he forced and recovered a fumble with 6:05 remaining in the fourth quarter. One play after Facaros' fumble recovery, T.J. Salopek threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Terry Hartford, giving Allegheny a two-score lead.
"They put me in the middle and when they ran the sweep to the outside, I filled the alley," Facaros said of forcing the fumble. "I saw the ball-carrier coming toward me and saw he was carrying the ball a little loose. When I tried to tackle him, I also tried stripping the ball.
"Getting adjusted to the Wing-T (was crucial)," he added. "We never really see it. It's the first time we saw it all year. We were playing a little on our heels at first. In the second quarter, you could see the momentum was changing. They were driving on us and we couldn't really stop them. The second quarter, we changed it around."
Facaros made several other plays in the victory. He led the Gators with a career-high 13 tackles, ten of which were solo stops. Facaros also had a sack for a loss of 13 yards. He was named the NCAC Defensive Player of the Week. "It's a great honor," said Facaros. "There's a ton of hard work that goes into football other than just the 60 minutes on Saturday. It starts in the offseason. You have the spring workouts. You're practicing two to three hours a night every single day and you get an hour to showcase what you can do."
"We gave up 35 points, so there are a lot of things we didn't do well on the defensive end," said Allegheny coach Mark Matlak. "With 13 tackles and some of the things that he did, he covered a lot of mistakes for our linebacking corps in particular. His performance was huge to say the least."
Facaros underwent a position change in the off-season. Though he has moved into the secondary, the transition has been good for him.
Facaros is third on the team in tackles with 30 total stops. He has three tackles for loss, including two quarterback sacks and is tied for the team lead with three interceptions. Facaros has also defended three passes on the year.
"We had him at nickel back/outside linebacker last year and moved him back to safety," said Matlak. "I should have played him as a freshman. We were thin at the outside backer spot, so we played him a lot there. He's developed into a really good strong safety for us.
"Sid is a very good listener," Matlak added. "He prepares very well for games between studying film and knowing what the opponents are doing. He's got athletic ability and toughness. He's certainly made a big impact for us on our defensive football team."
Though the transition is producing results in the short term, Facaros is focusing on the bigger picture.
If Allegheny takes care of its own business and gets some help along the way, the Gators might be able to get in the hunt for a Pool C berth into the NCAA Tournament.
While the playoffs are considered "The Road to Salem" Facaros and the Gators plan on bringing a playoff mentality and intensity to the field each and every Saturday remaining in the regular season.
Three of their final five games are on the road, including trips to Kenyon, Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan. The Gators host Denison Saturday and The College of Wooster on Halloween afternoon.
"We haven't been playing well in the last two weeks," Facaros said. "The win at Carnegie Mellon shows us what we're capable of if we actually do the right stuff. We'll be ready for anything."
"He's a real big key," concluded Matlak. "We've got five games to go. All of them are not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. His performance is going to be huge for us. I don't have any doubt that he'll be good. He brings a lot of leadership, smarts and toughness to the game, so we'll be in good shape with him."
News and notes
Mount Union took Capital's best shots Saturday and despite being rocked a couple times, the Purple Raiders were able to score two fourth quarter touchdowns to seal the come-from-behind win in Bexley.
Capital took a 21-14 lead over Mount Union when Marty Assmann threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Dom D'Andrea. However, the lead would not last long. Mount Union's Kurt Rocco tossed a 36-yard score to Kyle Miller and Scott Panchik ran in the game-winner from five yards out with 3:10 left to play.
Rocco completed 21 of 31 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. Assmann went 17 of 31 for 249 yards and two touchdowns.
• Trine junior quarterback Eric Watt earned the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's Offensive Player of the Week award for the fourth time in his career with a five-touchdown performance in a 51-14 win over Alma. Watt threw for 209 yards and four touchdowns and added 50 yards and one touchdown on the ground.
• Westminster sophomore Shawn Lehocky was the Presidents' Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week after coming into Saturday's game and rushing for 112 yards and two touchdowns against Waynesburg. Lehocky had 235 yards and three touchdowns passing in the 49-42 overtime win.
• In Chicago's 38-17 win over Oberlin, Francis Adarkwa rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Maroons quarterback Marshall Oium threw for 236 yards and one touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Dee Brizzolara caught five passes for 129 yards, including a 64-yard score less than two minutes into the game.
Great Lakes teams in the D3football.com Top 25
No. 1: Mount Union (OAC): No change following 28-21 road win over No. 16 Capital
No. 9: Washington and Jefferson (PAC): Down one spot after bye week
No. 10: Wabash (NCAC): Up one spot after 31-12 win over Washington University in St. Louis
No. 12: Case Western Reserve (UAA): Down two spots following 53-32 road win over Wooster
No. 13: Otterbein (OAC): No change following 21-17 road win at Baldwin-Wallace
No. 16: Capital (OAC): Up five spots after 28-21 loss to No. 1 Mount Union
No. 19: Ohio Northern (OAC): Down one spot following 38-7 win over Heidelberg
No. 21: Thomas More (PAC): Up four spots after 40-13 win over St. Vincent
Others Receiving Votes: Trine (MIAA), Wittenberg (NCAC)
Games of the Week
Wittenberg at Wabash, Saturday, Oct. 17, 1 p.m.: For the last few seasons, the Wittenberg-Wabash meeting has been the consensus game of the year in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Lo and behold, both Wittenberg and Wabash come into this week's game with identical 5-0 overall records and perfect 3-0 slates in the NCAC.
Wittenberg's defense allows just 3.2 points per game, but must find a way to neutralize Wabash quarterback Matt Hudson, who has 15 touchdowns against six interceptions this fall. Wabash leads the conference in scoring (46.8 points per game), slightly ahead of Wittenberg's pace (43.0 points per game).
John Carroll (3-2, 3-1 OAC) at Capital (4-1, 3-1), Saturday, October 17th, 1:30 p.m.: Capital put quite a scare into Mount Union before a turnover gave the Purple Raiders an opportunity they turned into points and a win.
John Carroll's defense and special teams looked stellar against Marietta with freshman kicker Bradley Marchese booting five field goals, including two 40-yarders and a 39-yarder. If Capital's offense can move the ball and avoid pressure from Blue Streaks defensive end Ken Bevington, Capital could rebound from their loss to Mount Union.
