FDU Football Beaten by Wilkes in Championship Game, 27-6



MADISON, NJ -- On an cool, rainy day, the FDU Devils made eight sacks and held the Wilkes Colonels to 87 yards rushing, but couldn't outscore their opponent in the ECAC Southeast Championship game, losing 27-6.

Following an FDU fumble at their own 13 yardline, Wilkes opened up the scoring just 1:41 into the game, as freshman quarterback Jeff Marshman hit senior running back Don Hindmarsh with a seven-yard touchdown pass.

FDU's junior quarterback Mark Pollifrone (Manalapan, NJ) hit junior wide receiver Colin Grenon (Hackettstown, NJ) with a 21-yard pass for a touchdown with 3:45 left in the first quarter. The Devils missed the extra point attempt, but closed their deficit to one point as they trailed 7-6.

In the second quarter, Marshman hit Junior wide receiver Ryan James with an eight-yard TD pass with 9:03 left. After three penalties on consectutive third downs, Mashman followed it up with an eight yard TD pass to sophomore wide receiver Brian Miller with just 17 seconds left, taking a 20-6 lead into halftime.

Wilkes scored in the third quarter as running back senior Mike Hankins ran in a 15-yard TD to go up 27-6.

For FDU, freshman running back Ed Cracchiolo (Marlboro, NJ) ran for 112 yards on 19 carries. Junior quarterback Pollifrone threw for 108 yards on 11 of 21 passing including FDU's only TD. Junior wide receiver Mike Quigley (Manalapan, NJ) led the Devils with five catches for 44 yards.

Senior linebacker Erik Stanislawczyk (Monroe, NJ) led the Devils with 14 tackles, four of them solo. He posted 1.5 tackles for losses of four yards and one sack for six yards. Senior linebacker Mike Ortiz (Weehawkin, NJ) made 14 tackles, three solo to go with one interception. Senior cornerback Greg Brandis (Lacey, NJ) made nine tackles. Jon Roman (Wayne, NJ) made three sacks for 27 yards and seven total tackles. FDU had eight sacks on the day.