By Joe Tuscano, Staff writer

jtuscano@observer-reporter.com

That St. Vincent College's football team is struggling this season comes as no surprise. The Bearcats restarted the sport after a nearly five-decade layoff.

The Bearcats' entry in the Presidents' Athletic Conference has not been easy. They have been outscored 296-70, rushed for just 459 yards and have accumulated only 1,223 total yards.

Maybe the toughest part of the season came three weeks ago in a 64-6 loss to Washington & Jefferson. In an effort to keep the score down, the Presidents kicked field goals on first down in the second half.

But a ray of light made its way into the program in last week's 44-17 loss to Thomas More. St. Vincent held a 14-10 lead after one quarter and was tied, 17-17, heading into the fourth. Thomas More scored 27 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes but for the first time this season, the Bearcats got a taste of what a close game felt like.

"We stayed together as a team for the first time," said defensive lineman Cal Demillion, a Fort Cherry graduate. "After W&J scored all those points, we didn't stay together. We just wanted the game to get over with."

St. Vincent is on probationary status for the PAC. The Bearcats began assembling their team last year but only held practices. St. Vincent opened the season with a 32-13 loss to Gallaudet, a school for the deaf, and failed to score more than seven points in the next three games.

Against Thomas More, the Bearcats rushed for 142 yards and passed for 106.

"At halftime of that game, there was a lot of excitement in the locker room," Demillion said. "Usually when you're in there, you're pretty down."

Right now, the most recognized name on the team is that of head coach Bob Colbert, who was the offensive coordinator at Bridgewater and whose brother Kevin is the director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"This is the first time I've been part of a football practice," said Matt Houston, the Bearcats' placekicker and a graduate of Trinity High School. "I played soccer at Trinity and made football practice once a week. I'm really enjoying it here."

Houston made the team at an open tryout last year. He made his only field goal attempt and connected on seven of nine extra-point tries this season.

"Our coaches have handled this well," Houston said. "All he (Colbert) asks of us is to play the hardest we can. You can't start from scratch like we did and expect to beat teams like W&J. Thomas More was our best game but we still haven't played a full game yet."

Edinboro at Cal

Daine Williams probably earned some playing time against Edinboro this week, thanks to a sterling performance against Lock Haven last Saturday.

Williams, a junior tailback from Beaver Falls, gained 173 yards on 23 carries and scored two touchdowns after stepping in for starter Brandon Lombardy in a 27-3 win over Lock Haven. Lombardy had 45 yards on 15 carries before leaving the game.

Williams' second-half performance ignited what had been a lethargic offensive performance for the Vulcans. Cal led 10-3 against the winless Bald Eagles, thanks to his one-yard run with 27 seconds left in the half. The Vulcans outscored Lock Haven 17-0 over the final 30 minutes. Williams scored from 48 yards midway through the third quarter to make it 24-3.

Cal's defense, which leads NCAA Division II in rushing, scoring and total defense, was outstanding against Lock Haven. The Vulcans held the Bald Eagles to five first downs and 66 total yards.

Wash & Jeff at

Grove City

A win over the Wolverines, coupled with a Waynesburg victory over Thiel, would set up a great PAC showdown next week in Waynesburg. Both teams would have 7-0 records and the PAC title would be the prize.

With Kevin Mathews recovering from an injury, junior Curt Jones will get a lot more work. Jones gained 45 yards on eight carries in last week's win over Westminster. Jones bruised his leg in the third quarter and could have returned. But head coach Mike Sirianni held him out as a precaution.

The Presidents, ranked No. 8 in the country and No. 1 in the first Division III Lambert Poll, have had 24 consecutive winning seasons. The last time they fell below .500 was a 3-5-1 finish in 1983.

Quarterback Bobby Swallow is still red hot this season. His 227.3 quarterback rating leads all NCAA divisions. He has thrown 28 touchdowns and been intercepted just once in 158 attempts.

Thiel at Waynesburg

Robert Heller is on pace to shatter a 39-year record at Waynesburg. With three more touchdowns, the freshman tailback will have 21 this season. That will push Don Herrmann's total of 20 in 1968 into second place.

Heller, a Ringgold graduate, can knock Ryan Abels into that same position with 130 more rushing yards. Abels set the school mark of 1,299 two years ago. Heller, who leads the nation with 1,170 yards, is currently in fourth place behind Rich Dahar (1,186 in 1966) and Mike Martinez (1,205 in 1994) on the single-season rushing list.

With 31 rushing attempts, Heller will move past Dahar and into first place with 237.

Freshman quarterback Kyle Kyper is developing into a strong quarterback. In his last two games, Kyper completed 20 of 29 passes for 252 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. His quarterback rating was 189.79. In his first three games, Kyper completed 11 of 28 passes, had one TD and was intercepted twice.

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