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Moravian's Dapp doesn't blame the officials(Morning Call, The (Allentown, PA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Oct. 4--Earlier this season, officials from the Pac-10 phoned officials at the University of Oklahoma to apologize for blown calls that led to a Sooners loss in a game at Oregon. Moravian won't be getting a call from the MAC this week, although, from almost all accounts, the Greyhounds probably deserve one. Two controversial calls went against Moravian in Saturday's 20-16 loss to Widener at Rocco Calvo Field, including one that Greyhounds coach Scot Dapp said the officials "just missed the call." The two calls resulted in an immediate swing of 10 points -- seven points taken away from Moravian as a result of the blown call and a field goal the Pioneers scored after the other -- and impacted the game beyond those two scores. Yet, despite what he saw with his eyes on the tape, and despite the numerical evidence, Dapp said the Greyhounds have only themselves to blame for the loss, their eighth straight to Widener. "The officials didn't cost that game," Dapp emphasized Tuesday. "We made too many mistakes, and we had opportunities to get some points and we didn't. If we correct our mistakes and play the way we should, it doesn't matter what they [officials] do." Still, a young, inexperienced team can use all the help it can get. Widener already led 10-0 early in the second quarter and was driving for another touchdown when Ian Decker, a freshman from Phillipsburg, bulled his way into the line on second-and-goal from the Moravian 9. Somehow, in the mass of bodies, the ball wound up in the hands of Moravian linebacker Cliff Garr, and it appeared the Greyhounds had come up with a key turnover. However, the officials huddled and ruled, over Dapp's strenuous objection, that the play had been blown dead. Two plays later, Tom Laurich added to the Pioneer lead with his second field goal. "It was a difference of opinion," Dapp said. "He said he blew his whistle, but I didn't hear it." Then, late in the third quarter after Tyler McCambridge scored a touchdown to tie the game at 13, Brian Reckenbeil's kickoff sailed through the hands of a Widener returner, hit the ground inside the 20 and rolled into the end zone. Although the Pioneers made no play on it, the Greyhound coverage team pounced on the ball in the end zone; one official signaled touchdown, and the celebration began on the Moravian sideline. After another meeting, however, the officials ruled first, that no Pioneer had touched the ball and second, that the play was a touchback since the ball reached the end zone without being touched by a member of the receiving team. There is a rule in college football that if the kickoff reaches the end zone on the fly, stays in the end zone and isn't played by the receiving team, the play is a touchback. But when the ball lands on the field of play and rolls into the end zone, Dapp said, the ball is live. "It's my fault for not knowing the rule completely, but [the officials] missed the call," said Dapp, who also believes a Widener player touched the ball anyway. "You would think the officials would know the rule, too." Widener wound up punting on that possession, and the Greyhounds did take a 16-13 lead when they converted a real Garr fumble recovery into a field goal with 9:04 left -- and got the ball back when Eric Brinkerhoff recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. However, a Moravian fumble gave the ball right back to the Pioneers, who turned the giveaway into the go-ahead touchdown with 4:04 left. "It was just a matter of a few situations where the officials were unsure of themselves," said Dapp. Overmatched: The only number one needs to know to understand how much of a mismatch East Stroudsburg's game at Mansfield last Saturday was is 18. Mansfield ran 18 plays in the first half; the Warriors ran 18 plays in the game that gained at least 10 yards. The Mountaineers had no first downs and only one yard of offense in those first 30 minutes, and didn't score their only touchdown until the final minute of play. "We're getting better," ESU coach Denny Douds said of his defensive unit, although he grudgingly acknowledged that the quality of competition might have had something to do with the Warriors' stifling statistics. "I thought we did what was necessary to be successful." The task will be a bit tougher this week, when the Warriors visit rejuvenated Millersville for their first key PSAC East contest. Millersville, coming off a 45-17 spanking of nemesis Kutztown last week, beat IUP a week earlier -- the same IUP team that beat ESU 35-20 the week before. The Marauders, led by quarterback Dan Csencsitz of Central Catholic, have been bolstered by the presence of freshman tailback Darnell Johnson, a transfer from the University of Miami. Johnson ran for 244 yards and two touchdowns against the Golden Bears while Csencsitz is third in the conference with 10 touchdown passes. "We just hope we can play with them," Douds said. By the way, Tyrone Robinson, who scored Mansfield's only touchdown, took part in ESU's spring drills. Robinson transferred in for spring term after playing for Mansfield in 2005, but then returned to Mansfield this past summer and was immediately eligible after ESU signed a release. 'Hounds hurting: Moravian will be without two of its main weapons again Saturday when both Tyler Hersch and Tyler de Roeun will sit out the game at Delaware Valley. Both missed last week's game with injuries suffered the previous week at Juniata. Hersch, a wide receiver and the team's top kick returner, left that game in the first half with an right ankle sprain; de Roeun, a tailback who has had two 100-yard efforts in the three games he has played, suffered a left knee injury, although he played the entire game. [email protected] 610-820-6781 Copyright (c) 2006, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |