FOOTBALL Georgetown Gets Slight Edge over San Diego By Mike Hume Hoya Staff Writer
The Georgetown football team rallied in the final three minutes to defeat the San Diego Toreros 24-21 and rebound from a devastating 38-35 overtime loss to Marist two Saturdays ago.
“It was a team win,” Head Coach Bob Benson said. “It was everybody doing their thing. It was a good day for the whole program.”
With just over three minutes left Georgetown (3-5) was forced to punt to San Diego (5-3). After stops on first and second downs, the Toreros were left with third-down and four yards, with a first down likely guaranteeing a victory. However, junior Mike Schrama stopped San Diego quarterback Eric Rasmussen on a naked bootleg and forced him out of bounds short of the first down and stopping the clock.
The Hoyas blocked the ensuing punt, the second time Georgetown accomplished that feat in the game. The Hoyas recovered and took possesion on the San Diego 45-yard line. Georgetown then converted on two key third downs on a 17-yard pass from senior quarterback Sean Peterson to freshman receiver Kurt Bennett and a three-yard run by sophomore running back Dawon Dicks, to keep the drive alive.
Peterson found Bennet again on a pass to get the Hoyas to the six-yard line. Two plays after Georgetown took its final time out, Peterson found junior wide receiver Trenton Hillier in the back of the end zone to put the Hoyas up 24-21.
San Diego refused to die, however on their final play from scrimmage after the Georgetown kick-off. The Toreros handed the ball off and then lateraled it eight times before Keith Marshall stopped the frantic-lateral frenzy, making the game ending tackle at the 45-yard line.
Despite the close finish, Georgetown got off to a solid start, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter, a 17-yard touchdown pass from Peterson to Hillier and a 18-yard run by freshman running back John Sims. The Toreros scored mid way through the second quarter on a two-yard run by running back Kenny Villalobos to make the score 14-7. The Hoyas answered with a 32-yard field goal by law student Marc Samuel to pull ahead 17-7 at half time.
The second quarter got a bit hairy for the Hoyas as the Toreros scored two touchdowns to pull ahead 21-14 in the fourth quarter. The score would remain that way until the Hoyas’ winning drive, capped by Hillier’s touchdown with eight seconds remaining.
Head Coach Bob Benson said that the team responded well in dealing with the six-hour flight and the time change.
“We flew in late Friday night and let them sleep late,” Benson said. “We normally start practice at 9 a.m. We let them sleep till 10:30 West Coast time.”
From all appearances the rest served the Hoyas well, as they performed well despite the late start time of 10 p.m. EST.
“It was a huge win. The team showed great character,” Benson said. “It’s not easy to play on the west coast.”
Georgetown turned in a fair rushing performance for the first time in two games as Dicks carried the ball 13 times for 50 yards, while Sims had eight carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.
“We probably had our best game [of the season] up front,” Benson said. “The offensive line showed toughness and tenacity.”
The defense turned in a good overall effort, forcing four turnovers, including a fumble recovery by freshman Andy McCoy. cCoy also added two sacks and five tackles on the day. For his efforts, McCoy was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week. McCoy is the fourth Hoya freshman to receive this honor this year.
After giving up 300-plus yards rushing against Marist, Georgetown still had difficulty stopping the opposing rush, giving up 171 yards in the game, including 114 to Villalobos.
“We played better,” Benson said of the rushing defense. “We tackled better, but we’re still probably giving up too many yards rushing.”
The game at San Diego concludes the three-game road trip for Georgetown. Next Saturday the Hoyas return to campus to face Lafayette. Lafayette is 0-5 in the Patriot League and 1-7 overall. The record is deceptive though as the Leopards have dropped close games to Bucknell (17-16), Holy Cross (63-53), Colgate (20-16) and Towson (16-13).
2001 Football Team Page Schedule Roster