The Stetson Hatters set program highs for point, rushing yard and rushing touchdowns on Saturday afternoon at Spec Martin Stadium in a 60-21 victory over Ave Maria in front of a Homecoming crowd of 3,825.
The Hatters (3-7) piled up 353 rushing yards in the game, averaging 7.7 yards per carry. Four different Stetson players found the end zone on the ground to go along with an interception return for a score and one passing touchdown as the Hatters scored the most points in a game since a 60-0 victory to open the 1949 season.
Ave Maria, a member of the NAIA Sun Conference, fell to 4-7 to close the season. The win for Stetson was the fourth in a row on homecoming as the Hatters also improved to 4-0 all-time against Sun Conference teams.
“Wins cure a lot of things,” Hatters coach Roger Hughes said. “I am really proud of the kids. Even though we had some setbacks over the last couple of weeks, their work ethic didn't change, in fact it got better. The adversity we went through, and some of the things that we ironed out on the team, made us a better team. It has also made us a better team going into the future. We have one big one next week.”
Junior running back Cole Mazza, who has been slowed for most of the year with a foot injury, scored on touchdown runs of 5, 16 and 12 yards and finished with 73 yards on 11 carries. The Hatters also got second half scoring runs from Craig Carrington (1 yard), Chance Jackson (45 yards) and Jason Willix (3 yards).
“I am really excited about the ground game,” Hughes said. “Having Cole Mazza back at full strength certainly doesn't hurt. That one touchdown run he had was one of the best I have ever seen. His physicality, and the confidence he gives us on offense when we need three or four yards, changes how we call the entire game.”
Hatters junior quarterback Ryan Tentler led all rushers with 93 yards on six carries while also completing 9-of-11 passes for 138 yards, including a 27-yard scoring strike to Chris Crawford. He also surpassed 5,000 passing yards for his career in the game.
“I had no idea that I was close to 5,000 yards and I really don't care because it really doesn't matter,” Tentler said. “Getting the win was the only thing that mattered. I was really excited for Jason Willix getting his first touchdown in a varsity game. All of these guys that I have been around for four years, it was nice to see them get a chance.”
Almost every member of the Stetson roster who dressed for the game got a chance to play – some for the first time in varsity competition. Many, like Willix – who rushed for 49 yards and a touchdown – and others who have been in the program since the start, got a chance to contribute for the first time.
“It is really heart-warming, for lack of a better word,” Hughes said. “Jason works as hard as anyone on this team and does everything he can to help us get better. It was great to see him get some reward for that work. Jason wasn't the only one. Ignacio Madrid was a starter for two years, but got beaten out this year and was able to get in for some playing time. It is great when everyone who contributes to the program gets a chance to get in there and feel some of the success on the field.”
On defense, the Hatters got a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown by Eric Martin in the first quarter, one of three interceptions in the game against the Gyrenes, who were able to complete just nine of 26 pass attempts for 92 yards against the Stetson defense. The Hatters recorded five sacks in the game and had 11 tackles for loss.
“Coach (Brian) Young set the tone in the locker room,” senior cornerback Glenn Adesoji said. “He said we needed to be the most physical team out there from the word go. We had to set that tone for the entire game and make sure they had no chance to get back into the game.”
Ryan Powers, who had two interceptions in the game, said the physicality of the defense got the Hatters going.
“As a defense, we pride ourselves on being the most physical guys on the field,” Powers said. “That is something that we wanted to establish early in the game tonight, and I thought we did a good job on that.”
Hughes said he was also happy to see some young players get a chance, especially on defense.
“With the exception of the one drive in the first half after we fumbled the ball and gave them and short field, then we had a couple of penalties to keep that drive alive, other than that I thought we played pretty well,” Hughes said. “We tried to get as many of the young kids in there as we could, and the rust on some of those kids showed just a little and allowed them to score a couple in the third quarter.”
On special teams, Stetson connected on a pair of field goal attempts, with James LaGamma hitting from 23 yards and Grant Amick connecting from 44, and also blocked a punt to set up the touchdown run by Willix. Amick actually hit the crossbar twice on kickoffs in the game.
“He couldn't do that again if you gave him a million dollars,” Hughes said. “Grant did a great job kicking off, and he hit a long field goal after we shored up our protection there. The punting game was good. We got a punt where they muffed it and we got a score off that. It was a well-rounded victory where we won every phase of the game.”
Besides Tentler and Mazza, the Hatters got 81 rushing yards from Jackson on just four carries. Nine different players had at least one reception in the game, including Crawford's 27-yard TD grab.
Donald Payne led the Hatters with nine total tackles, but a total of 27 players got into the stats on the defensive side of the ball. Tentler was most excited about a sack late in the game by freshman Regis Steighner.
“Every day in practice Regis has about four sacks on the scout team,” Tentler said. “I tell him all the time that he is my best friend on the team because I see him all the time. When he got that sack tonight I was really pumped. I ran out there and gave him a hug because I was really excited for him. It was a good moment.”
Stetson will be looking for more great moments next week when the Hatters close out the 2015 season at home against Pioneer Football League rival Davidson. That game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
“For the seniors, we have been here for four years since there was nothing, so we want to finish things the right way,” senior offensive lineman Patrick Fogarty said. “We want to finish the year with a win to send off the seniors, but also to give those talented young guys some momentum going into the off season.”
