Otters beat Vermin to keep playoff hopes alive
By COLIN BOYLAN AND KATIE DEMENT
Sports Writers
The beasts of Carroll and Sorin fought to the finish at Stepan on Sunday. Despite the bitter cold rain, the Vermin and the Otters stayed focused and delivered a strong game.
The Otters, known for their passing game, allowed little room for the Vermin to gain control of the ball. Carroll's roster was not full, however. A few key players and starters were missing from the lineup.
The first half was stagnant until Sorin had an opportunity for a field goal, giving the Otters a 3-point lead against the Vermin.
"Sorin is a good team with good players," said Carroll captain Geoff Polk, who admitted the defense had trouble bringing Sorin down.
The second half was a mirror image of the first. Sorin once again gained a field goal, leading them to the victory.
Sorin captain Mike Crowe said, "The offense clicked like I hoped they would; they did very well this game."
A final score of 6-0 made Sorin the victors. Carroll gave Sorin a strong fight. Polk said he "hopes to use this season as a spring board into next year's (season)."
The last regular season game before the playoffs was a crucial one for the Otters. With their previous standing of 1-0-1, they needed this win to qualify for the playoffs.
A tie breaker game will be held on Thursday night against Siegfried to determine which team will have a chance to be in the playoffs.
Fisher 26, St. Ed's 6
Fisher Hall cruised to a victory and a likely playoff berth as they crushed St. Edwards Hall 26-6 on Sunday.
The win, which gave the Wave a 2-1-1 season record, had all the hallmarks of Fisher football: solid but unspectacular offense and great defensive play.
From the very outset, this game appeared a battle of opposites.
Fisher's brand of "pound it up the middle" football contrasted starkly with St. Ed's three wide receiver and shotgun formations.
"We are primarily a passing team, and they obviously like to run the ball," said St. Ed's coach Kevin Huie.
Unfortunately for St. Ed's, Fisher played its style of football with more success, and took control of the game behind running scores from Cameron Chappell and Zach Allen.
By the time Allen took a pitch from quarterback Byron Levkulich into the endzone for the decisive fourth touchdown, the game was all but over.
"Zach played excellently today. He has really carried our team offensively, so far this season," said linebacker Justin Westervelt.
Indeed, Allen's heroics were not limited to offensive duties. In the third quarter, he fielded a punt at Fisher's 30 yard line and proceeded to break four St. Ed's tackles on his way to a touchdown. The score gave Fisher a 20-6 lead.
Once again, mistakes on offense and missed tackles on defense plagued the Stedsmen in a loss. Quarterback Tim Greene's opening pass was intercepted by Westervelt, and he threw another pick later in the game.
However, the team was able to pull close to Fisher midway through the first half, on a pass from Greene to receiver Chris Kitalong. The 50 yard completion pulled St. Ed's to within two points, and gave the team hope for a comeback. But the defense began to tire and miss tackles and the team could never get any closer than that.
According to coach Huie, "More so than any other interhall teams, we play our best players on both offense and defense. So we are more likely to get tired during the course of our game than our opponents."
And while St. Ed's looks to shore up its depth during the off-season, Fisher will be looking ahead to a possible playoff berth.
"Right now, that's all we'll be focusing on — having success in the playoffs," said Westervelt.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 10, 2000
