Today: Mar 28, 2024

Football team falls to 0-3 for the season

Ben MartinSports Writer

The Owls football team matched up against the Pace University Setters on Friday and it was late in the 4th quarter. The Owls were down 27-0, but little did they know their biggest play was yet to come.  

With just over 3:30 left to play, freshman quarterback Thomas Goldsborough, hands the ball off to sophomore running back Jordan Davis on third down and one. Needing desperately to move the sticks and keep the drive alive, Davis bounces it to the outside as Pace’s defense crashes into the middle.  

With no defenders in sight, he turns on the jets. 20… 10… 5… touchdown then Davis and the Owls are on the board.  

“Our running back crew, we’re all special,” said Davis. “We could all be something.”  

To go along with Davis, sophomore Diante Wilson had six carries for 20 yards, and junior Ryan Soules had 17 yards on the ground. Also, senior wide receiver Tylon Papallo had four catches for 56 yards.  

Coming into the game, the Owls had a record of 0-2, losing games to two tough opponents in Shepard University and The University of New Haven. Adding a third loss to their record had many players feeling disappointed including Davis.  

“You never want to come out with a loss no matter what the outcome is at the end,” Davis said.  

Along with Davis’s big touchdown run, the defense played well too. The Owl’s defense was on the field for nearly three quarters of the game, and they held Pace quarterback Carlton Aiken under 200 yards passing.  

“I think there’s a lot to improve on, but I think our defense played our hearts out,” said Owls junior Ben Eichman. “We just got to make the small things count and capitalize on the little things.”  

Eichman was a big key to success for the Owls defense because he was flying all over the field. As a result, he finished the game with two forced fumbles, and he led the Owls in tackles with 12.  

Although Eichman had a good game, a defense does not perform well solely because of one person. Junior inside linebacker Hassan Dominick added eight tackles with one being a sack, and senior defensive end Cameron Kelly added another sack and two tackles.  

“I feel like I had a good game, but at the of the day we still lost, so that’s all that’s going through my mind,” Eichman said.  

The Owls offense could not get much on the board aside from Davis’s big touchdown run which was the only score the Owls put on the board. The Owls ended up losing the game 27-7.  

“Pace came out and played excellently in all phases of the game,” head football coach Tom Godek said. “They took advantage of some of our weaknesses.”  

With most of the season ahead of them, including plenty more in conference matchups, the Owls are looking to use the loss as motivation for future games. 

“Obviously we don’t want to lose by three touchdowns,” Davis said. “It’s that chip on our shoulder that’s going to make us thrive and be better as a unit.”  

Next week, the Owls travel north to New Hampshire to play another NE10 conference matchup against Saint Anslem College. Coming into the game, Saint Anslem sits at an undefeated record of 2-0 blowing out both Millersville University and American International College. In a matchup last year against Saint Anslem, the Owls came out on top 34-31.  

“There’s going to be a lot of work to do here heading into a very good Saint Anslem’s team next week,” Coach Godek said.  

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