Bison OT TD: 'Freak play' or not, it was that kind of night

At some point of the second half of Saturday’s Lafayette-Bucknell football game, I turned to Jim Finnen, for 50 years the voice of Lafayette College sports before retiring and a long-time friend of mine from the Schaefer 500 at Pocono days, and said, “This game’s gonna end on some kind of a long play. Maybe a goofy one.”

I wasn’t talking about a 95-yard interception return for an overtime touchdown.

I was thinking more along the lines of a long punt return or a hail Mary pass. After all, for most of the evening, punters were the stars.

Offense? It was hard to come by – 394 total yards for both teams combined.

Well, you had that 17-play, 69-yard, 8 minute-20 second possession by the Bison in the fourth quarter after Lafayette punter Michael Turk pinned Bucknell back at its own 6-yard line.

The Bison got five first downs in that drive. Converted three times on third down along the way. John Chiarolanzio completed five passes in a row as Joe Susan’s team finally appeared ready to break down the Brandon Bryant-led Lafayette defense. The way the clock was running down, all Bucknell needed was a field goal.

But suddenly, Bucknell hit the wall. After getting a first down at the Lafayette 25, a two-yard gain, followed by a two-yard loss on running plays and an incomplete pass left Bucknell with fourth-and-10. John Burdick went for a 42-yard field goal, but ‘Pard safety Yasir Thomas charged through and got a hand on the ball, which fell well short.

Overtime. Maybe that’s what both teams deserved on this day.

I’ve watched the replay of the next play over and over again, as I’m sure quarterback Sean O’Malley and the offense will, too. It looked to me like wide receiver Rocco Palumbo might have had a chance because he seemed to be behind defender Drew Newcomb and he saw the ball coming while Newcomb was facing Palumbo. But the pass was a bit short, and Colin Jonov, coming over to help Newcomb, was able to step in front and pick it off.

Dylan Wadsworth, Mike Donnelly. Gavin Barclay and C.J. Amill all tried to get to Jonov, and Tymir Jones finally dove and got an arm on the Bucknell senior at about the 3-yard line, but Jonov was able to dive into the end zone. Game over.

“Well, nobody deserves to lose like that,” Lafayette Coach John Garrett told Lafayette Sports Network’s John Leone moments later. “That is a freak play. We’re gonna be fine. We’re gonna be fine. We just have to rally the troops, make the corrections we need to make and go back to work on Tuesday. … Good teams, relevant teams, keep improving, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

I stopped by outside the Bucknell locker room to get a comment from Coach Joe Susan, who gave his description of the game-winning play.

He then instantly added, “John’s had an amazing impact on this program,” referring to Garrett, a long-time friend who earlier in the week talked about recruiting Garrett out of high school but joked, “I didn’t think he was fast enough.” I told Susan he should watch Garrett lead the team out of the locker room before the game, and he said, “Tell him I’ll bring my stopwatch,” to which Garrett, who was listening to the call, said, “Don’t do that; how about a sundial.”

DISSA & DATA

SELWYN SIMPSON – The freshman from Phoenixville came into the same as the No. 2 rusher on the team with just 25 yards on seven carries. He’s 6-2, 205 and, with a year in the Brad Potts Strength and Conditioning Academy (my name for his work, nothing official), he could become the big back Lafayette has been looking for for a number of years. He already seems to have a lot of the other tool necessary to be a feature back. He had 45 yards on 12 carries, starting the day as the backup to C.J. Amill. The touchdown run – the first rushing TD of the year for the Leopards – showcased he speed and shiftiness. It may be hard to put him back to No. 3 on the depth chart.

WALKING WOUNDED – DeSean Brown, Lafayette’s leading rusher, was held out on Saturday night, Garrett said, because his shoulder injury was not 100 percent ready for action. Defensive end Dante Lonardo and running back Mike Dunn, who were injured last week against Harvard, also did not play. Wide receiver Nick Pearson was seen running sprints up and down on the sideline before the game and it was thought he might play. He didn’t. He hasn’t played since the Villanova game.  The most positive thing about all of this is that, with this being a bye week, all the players mentioned in this note – and maybe a couple not mentioned -- should be ready to go against Georgetown on Nov. 4.

ETC. – Will Eisler didn’t get a carry from his fullback spot and he caught one pass. But perhaps his biggest contribution of the game came on the Leopards’ rushing touchdown. He threw a key block that sprung Simpson to the outside and in from two yards out ... C.J. Amill had the most offensive touches of the game, 13 runs and six pass receptions for a total of 70 yards. He had a 24-yard run that was his longest of the year and also tied for the longest run by any Leopard (O’Malley had a 24-yarder) … In the “robbing from Peter to pay Paul” department, Amill wasn’t the kickoff return man, maybe because of his increased role in the offense.  Rajhan Meriwether had the only KO return of the game … Trent Crossan, who had 26 tackles in 24 career games before Saturday, had a career-high 10 against the Bison. He also had the first interception of his career … The Leopards were 7-for-18 on third-down conversions.  Two of those came on the touchdown drive – Amill’s 24-yarder on a third-and-3 and Simpson’s TD on a third-and-goal from the 2 … Bucknell has now won four in a row against Lafayette.

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