Bobby Martinez – Sports Reporter
It’s the beginning of a new era for Owls football and new head coach Tom Godek who hosted their first home game of the season against Saint Anselm College in hopes of securing their first win of the season. But the Southern fell in overtime by the score 23-20.
Senior running back led the way for the Owls rushing for 88 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Fellow running back freshman Donald Thomas carried the ball 13 times for 65 yards. As for the Owls defense, senior captain Carlif Taylor finished with 11 tackles, while sophomore linebacker Kayjuan Bynum had seven tackles and an interception. The Owls defense forced three turnovers in the first half, all interceptions.
The Owls struck first late in the first quarter after Hayes scored the game’s first points. The Owls ran 12 plays for 66 yards during the drive. After a good extra point by junior Jeffrey Groth the Owls took a 7-0 lead.
In the opening seconds of the second quarter, St. Anselm’s wide receiver Ahkeen Williams ran past the Owls defense for a long 76-yard touchdown pass on a trick play from Justin Bernard to tie the game up at 7-7. The Owls would sneak in a field goal to take 10-7 lead heading into the half.
At halftime, with both teams would remain dead even at 7, but Owls dominated on the stat sheet. The Owls had 13 first down completions while St. Anselm had only two. Southern’s running game was also better than St. Anselm as they managed to rush for 154 yards on 37 attempts.
In the second half, the game started to get incredibly competitive between the two teams. St. Anselm scored 10 straight points in the third quarter to take a commanding 17-10 lead. The story for the Owls was their freshman quarterback Raymond Catapano, who came in for Brandon Basil early in the game and played extremely well.
Godek said his freshman really showed what he is capable of doing at quarterback. Godek said the decision to replace Basil early in the game was determined on how the game vibe was at that time.
“I have faith in all my quarterbacks,” said Godek. “But Catapano came into the game and had an immediate impact and did a real good job for a young freshman.”
As time started to tick down and the Owls were down 17-10, Catapano took the field with under seven minutes to go. Down seven, the young freshman orchestrated a 14 play drive going 85 yards, capping it off with a diving touchdown run into the end zone tying the game up at 17 apiece. Both teams ended in a tie after four quarters.
In overtime, the Owls would strike first with a field goal putting the pressure back on St. Anselm. After several big plays, the Owls defense forced a fourth and 15. However, Bernard connected with Williams for a 21-yard pass and a first down. On the next play, St. Anselm’s running back Elad Covaliu scored the game-winning touchdown after a nine yard run.
Godek said he liked the way his team played for majority of the game, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done in practice this week.
“We will review the game tape and make adjustments for our next game,” said Godek. “I liked how my guys fought every play, but unfortunately we couldn’t squeeze out the win.”
Despite losing the game and falling 0-2, the Owls still dominated the stat sheet. They completed the game with 26 first downs, 227 rushing yards and 419 total offensive yards.
The Owls hit the road where they will face Pace University (0-2) who the Owls defeated last season 47-18.
