Football Welcomes Humboldt State For 2001 Home Opener
9/4/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 4, 2001
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Preview: Saint Mary's will open the 2001 home schedule against the Humboldt State Lumberjacks on Saturday, September 8 at Saint Mary's Stadium with kickoff scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Saint Mary's is coming off a 13-6 overtime loss to Sacramento State, while Humboldt State opened the 2001 season with a 35-34 victory over Montana Tech last week.
The game against the Lumberjacks will mark the start of a three game home stand for the Gaels. Saint Mary's will welcome Cal Poly and Central Washington to the friendly confines of Saint Mary's Stadium on September 15 and 22, respectively.
Radio Coverage: All Saint Mary's football games for the 2001 season can be heard on KSMC 98.5 FM and on the internet at www.SMCGaels.com. KSMC Sports Director, Denny Bulcao, and Kristie Sinigiani will call the game action against Humboldt State.
Fans can access the game through the Saint Mary's website by clicking on the KSMC logo in the features section of the home page. If you don't have the real player needed to listen to the game, you can get a free download through the KSMC link.
Saint Mary's on the Web: Gael fans can access all the latest news and notes about Saint Mary's athletics on the web at www.SMCGaels.com. The official website offers the most up to date information and results of the Gaels' 15 intercollegiate sports plus much more.
The Opponent: Humboldt State is coming off a 35-34 come-from-behind victory over Montana Tech last week. The Lumberjacks scored two touchdowns in the final 2:15 to get the win. Quarterback Jacob Kadle connected with Dustin Creager for both touchdowns, the last one coming with 25 seconds left on the clock.
Kadle completed 30-of-48 passes with five touchdowns and one interception against Montana Tech. The senior quarterback threw for 301 yards in the 'Jacks season opener, completing passes to 10 different receivers. Dustin Creager was the number-one target for Kadle as they connected 10 times for 119 yards and four touchdowns. Antoine Shultz caught six passes for 90 yards. In last years game with Saint Mary's, Kadle completed 9-of-23 passesfor 110 yards and one interception.
The leader on the 'Jacks defense in the opener was linebacker Paul Wolford. The senior from Sacramento, CA had 17 tackles, eight solo, and one forced fumble. Soisifa Latu collected two picks in the opener to go along with his 12 tackles.
The Series: This will be the 18th meeting between the two schools with Saint Mary's holding a 13-4 advantage in the series. The Gaels have won the last five meetings including a 26-7 victory in Arcata, CA last season. In that game Saint Mary's rushed for 462 yards with three players breaking the 100-yard mark.
Last Meeting:
Saint Mary's 26, Humboldt State 7 Saint Mary's picked up its first victory under Tim Landis with a 26-7 victory over Humboldt State. The Gaels' record-setting 462 yards rushing performance was led by quarterback Gus Papanikolas' 161 yards and one touchdown.
Papanikolas posted the sixth-best single game rushing performance in the Gaels' modern era, with 110 yards in the first half, following runs of 30 yards and 48 yards in the first quarter. Fullback Chad Hansen had a career-high 125 yards on 22 carries and slot back Jeff Brown rushed for 118 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns.
The defense forced four Lumberjack turnovers. Wendell Young, who forced one fumble, led the Gael defensive surge with four tackles for a loss totaling 22 yards and two sacks. David Taylor was responsible for two HSU turnovers, recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.
Scoring By Quarter 1 2 3 4 - Final Saint Mary's 6 0 13 7 - 26 Humboldt St. 0 0 7 0 - 7
Scoring Summary SMC - HSU 1st 10:57 SMC-Andre Coleman 6 yd run (Papanikolas run failed) 6-0 3rd 05:12 SMC-Jeff Brown 1 yd run (Papanikolas run failed) 12-0 02:14 HSU-Evan Collins 5 yd pass from Mari (Cracchiolo kick) 12-7 00:06 SMC-Jeff Brown 38 yd run (Scheppler kick) 19-7 4th 05:45 SMC-Gus Papanikolas 1 yd run (Scheppler kick) 26-7
Last Game Recap:
Sacramento State 13 - Saint Mary's 6
Saint Mary's dropped a heart breaker to the Sacramento State Hornets, 13-6, in overtime in the 2001 season opener. The game winning score came on the second play in overtime on a 22-yard completion from Ryan Leadingham to Fred Amey.
In the second quarter, the Gaels made a Paul Kerr missed field goal hurt when Gus Papanikolas capped a six play, 72-yard drive with a 35-yard run to give Saint Mary's a 6-0 lead with 2:57 remaining in the first half. Saint Mary's attempt for the two-point conversion failed. The score remained the same until Sacramento State scored the game-tying touchdown as Leadingham connected with Amey for a 16-yard strike with 3:01 remaining in the game, knotting the score at 6-6. Kerr missed the PAT to keep the score even.
With the score tied 6-6 at the end of regulation, Sacramento State had the ball in the overtime period. It took the Hornets just two plays to find the end zone, as Leadingham hit Amey on a post to give Sacramento State its first lead of the game. Saint Mary's tried to answer, but on fourth and eight from the 23-yard line, Papanikolas' pass to a Andre Coleman was deflected by a Hornet defender and did not connect.
Coleman finished the game with 175 rushing yards on 18 carries (9.7 yards per carry). The total was the sixth best single game performance for a Gael running back. Papanikolas finished with 67 yards on 22 carries and one touchdown on the ground and he was 6-for-13 for 70 yards passing and one interception. Leadingham completed 14-of-22 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Derard Barton led the Hornet ground attack with 81 yards on 19 carries.
The Coaches: Tim Landis (Randolph-Macon, 1986) is 6-6 in his second season at the helm of the Saint Mary's football program. Landis is 41-42-1 (.493) in eight years of coaching and guided the Gaels to a 6-5 record in his first season, reviving past winning traditions. Landis, who became the 16th head coach on March 10, 2000, brings enthusiasm and a unique perspective to the field, while providing excitement to Gael football. Before being named head football coach at Saint Mary's, Landis served a seven-year stint as head coach at Davidson College where he accumulated a 35-36-1 career record. In his last two years with the Wildcats, he guided the team to historical seasons, posting an 8-2 mark in 1998 and 8-3 in 1999 - matching the school's highest win total in the 102-year history of the program.
Second-year head coach Doug Adkins (Central Washington) is 1-0 this season and 5-7 in his career with Humboldt State. Adkins is the 14th head coach of the school's 72-year old football program. He was the defensive coordinator at HSU from 1990-94 before serving a five-year stint, in the same capacity, at the University of Nevada before returning to the Arcata campus in 2000.
Coleman Leads Offensive Charge Against Hornets: Sophomore slot back Andre Coleman (Compton, CA) was a warrior for Saint Mary's in the 2001 opener and for his efforts was named Saint Mary's Offensive Player of the Week. Coleman rushed for a game-high 175 yards and assumed the sixth best rushing performance in Gael history. The 175-yard performance followed a 220-yard assualt in the 2000 season finale, the second best rushing mark at SMC.
Papanikolas Moves up in SMC Record Books Senior quarterback Gus Papanikolas (Salt Lake City, UT) made the transition to the spread option attack a smooth one for the Gaels in 2000. Following last year's stellar season, Papanikolas notched his name in the top ten in a number of Saint Mary's career records. With his 137 yards of total offense against CSUS, he moved from sixth to third all-time in total offense at SMC with 3,679 yards, moving by Randy Nelson (3,579 yards), Terry Cottle (3,603 yards) and Scott Wood (3,609 yards). He is seventh in passing touchdowns with 23 and needs one TD pass to pull even with Cree Morris for sixth and two TD passes to equal Randy Nelson for fifth all-time. He also has completed 195 passes in three seasons and is eighth in that category. With his 70 yards passing against Sac. St. he now has 2,565 career passing yards and is 132 yards shy of eighth all-time behind Mark Dirzba.
White Off To Quick Start: Senior defensive end Travis White (San Pedro, CA), Lindy's magazine I-AA Independent Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, recorded 6.5 tackles, two sacks, three tackles for a loss and one forced fumble in the opener against Sacramento State. He now has 14 sacks in his career and is one shy of ninth in school history. With his three tackles for a loss, he has 29 in his career and ranks tied for eighth with Ceasar Ibarra. White was named Saint Mary's Defensive Player of the Week for this efforts against the Hornets.
Young and Taylor Lead Gael Defensive Stand: Senior middle linebacker Wendell Young (Inglewood, CA) led the defense with 10.5 tackles, 10 solo, while tallying one tackle for a loss last week. Junior defensive end David Taylor (Montovia, CA) also recorded double-digit tackles with 10. Taylor had two tackles for a loss of four yards.
Saint Mary's Freshman Make Early Contributions: Saint Mary's saw six freshmen hit the field in the first game of the 2001 season. Corner back Greg Kavulich (West Hills, CA) started the opener and made a key interception on a third and goal to save a touchdown. He also had 5.5 tackles in his debut. Redshirt freshman fullback Clint Wilson (Thousand Oaks, CA) had 11 carries for 53 yards to average 4.8 yards per carry. Slot back Anthony Johnson (Lompoc, CA) had three carries for 18 yards. Receiver Troy McBroom (Manteca, CA) had one catch for 17 yards for a key first down late in the fourth quarter. Defensive tackle Jon Skog (Visalia, CA) recorded two solo tackles. Lucas Lucero (Downey, CA) did not record any stats.
Other Gael Players of the Week: Weston Borba (Chowchilla, CA) was named the team's Special Team's Player of the Week. Borba returned two punts for 20 yards with a long of 14 yards. He also tracked down the Hornet's punt return man Brett Collins, following a 31-yard return, to force a fumble.
Freshman Sean Sheridan (Santa Rosa, CA) was named the team's scout team player of the week.
Injury Report: #4 Chris Klingerman (Groin), Probable, #8 Chris Tucker (ankle), Questionable, #18 Terrance Hudson (Knee), Out, #58 Travis Burkett (Foot) Questionable, #60 James Fabian (Calf), Probable, #85 James Blades (Ankle), Out, #97 Victor Williams (Hamstring), Probable.
Next Week: The Gaels will return to Saint Mary's Stadium on Saturday, September 15 to battle the Cal Poly Mustangs at 1:00 pm. Cal Poly dropped its opening game of the 2001 season to #2 Montana, 31-17, on September 1. Saint Mary's and Cal Poly have squared off 10 times with Cal Poly leading the series 9-1. In last season's meeting the Mustangs defeated the Gaels 41-20 in San Luis Obispo. The only victory for Saint Mary's came in 1995 when SMC posted a 31-20 win in Moraga.
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