IUP 43, Millersville 16
September 28, 2002
Biemesderfer Stadium ** Millersville, Pa.
Brian Eyerman and Carmelo Ocasio continued their record breaking campaigns
as IUP routed host Millersville by a score of 43-16 in a Pennsylvania State
Athletic Conference crossover contest Saturday night at Biemesderfer Stadium.
IUP, ranked 14th in the latest American Football Coaches Association poll,
is now 4-1 on the year while Millersville dropped to 0-3. The win was the
fourth in a row for the Indians and avenged a stunning 30-26 loss to the
Marauders a year ago that denied IUP an undefeated regular season and a home
game in the opening round of the playoffs.
Eyerman completed 14 of 23 passes for 221 yards and four touchdowns. His
final scoring pass of the night covered nine yards to Ocasio with 13:10 left
in the game and gave Eyerman 66 touchdown tosses in his career, surpassing
Tony Aliucci for the top mark in school history in that department. The
senior signal caller now has at least two touchdown passes in 11 straight
games and leads all Division II quarterbacks this year with 18, including 13
in the past three outings.
Ocasio also had another nine-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, a
49-yarder in the second and a 17-yard scoring reception from backup quarterback
Kevin Weidl with 10:50 remaining in the contest to give him four on the night.
That tied the IUP record first set by Jim Spence against Shippensburg in 1983
and matched by Jai Hill against Clarion in 1990. The touchdown pass was the
first of Weidl's career.
Ocasio finished the night with seven catches for 123 yards. He moved into
fourth place in career receptions in IUP annals with 132, inching past Paul
Kovell, JeMone Smith and Tony Trave on Saturday. Ocasio is only eight away
from bypassing Lewis Hicks for the second spot in that category.
Ocasio, like Eyerman a four-year starter, has a touchdown reception in nine
consecutive contests and has eight scores against Millersville over the past
three years.
Justin Spence complemented the passing attack with 89 yards on 11 attempts
while Aaron Cochran returned to the backfield with 10 carries for 56 yards.
Leading rusher Elice Parker, slowed by a shoulder injury, toted the pigskin
only eight times and gained 26 yards.
As a team, IUP piled up 405 yards of total offense, averaging almost seven
yards per play, while holding Millersville to 199 yards. The Marauders, who
had scored only six points on two field goals entering the game, started
freshman quarterback Chris Meyers instead of regular Chuck Andrew, and Meyers
hit on 8 of 18 passes for 94 yards but was sacked five times, including twice
by Adam Kucenic and once each by Craig Prince, Neal Wood and Brian Harris.
Calvin Everett and John Boyd combined for 81 yards on the ground for
Millersville. The Marauders ended a stretch of more than 182 minutes of
action, a little more than three full games, without scoring a touchdown when
Meyers scored on a one-yard run with 1:30 left in the third quarter.
IUP scored first 5:18 into the game when Mike Howard brought a punt back 48
yards, the first punt return for a touchdown for IUP since Joey Flora had a
72-yard score against California in 1999. Ocasio's first touchdown catch of
the night made it 14-0 with 5:00 left in the opening quarter.
Millersville got on the board on a 41-yard field goal by Jamie Haas just
seconds before the end of the first quarter, but IUP put up 17 more in the
second stanza for a whopping 31-3 lead at intermission. Ocasio (49 yards)
and LeRon McCoy (eight yards) had touchdown receptions from Eyerman sandwiched
around a 32-yard field goal by Josh Telenko.
The final point total is the highest for IUP since putting up the same amount
in a 43-16 victory over Shippensburg in the 1999 regular season finale. The
last time the Indians eclipsed the figure came in a 52-14 win over Clarion
during the 1998 campaign. IUP has now scored at least 26 points in nine
straight games and has not been held below the 21-point mark in its last 15
contests.
In addition to his touchdown record, Eyerman also moved closer to the career
leaders in three other categories. He now has 442 completions, 10 behind
Aliucci for second and 57 behind leader Rich Ingold. Eyerman's 803 attempts
is 49 shy of Ingold, and his 6,880 yards is second only to Aliucci's 7,332.
The win was the 27th in 34 all-time games against the PSAC East for IUP under
17th year head coach Frank Cignetti.
IUP opens PSAC West play and celebrates homecoming this Saturday when Clarion
visits Miller Stadium for a 2:00 kickoff. The Golden Eagles have won three of
the past six meetings with IUP and one of their losses was a narrow 35-34
overtime defeat at home last year.