Football To Host UC Davis On Saturday

Oct. 27, 2003

Complete Football Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

This Week In Gael Football:
Saint Mary's will play at home for the second straight week when the UC Davis Aggies come to Moraga on Saturday. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 1 p.m. at Saint Mary's Stadium. UC Davis enters this week's game with a 4-2 overall record. The Aggies had last week off after defeating Western Washington 48-19 two weeks ago. Saint Mary's is 1-7 this season following a 33-27 home victory over Southeastern Louisiana last week.

High School Day at SMC on Saturday:
Saint Mary's is inviting local high school football teams to come and watch how football is played at the next level when the Gaels play the UC Davis Aggies. All high school teams are invited and can reserve their spot by calling the Saint Mary's Ticket Office at (925) 631-4392. During halftime of the game the UC Davis Band will put on a special performance for all fans in attendance.

Saint Mary's Radio Coverage:
All 12 games of the 2003 football season can be heard on the Internet at www.SMCGaels.com, and KSMC 89.5 FM, the campus radio station. David Lankford will provide the play-by-play action for Saint Mary's game against UC Davis and he will be joined by fellow KSMC broadcaster Collin Pugh. Pugh will provide the color commentary for this week's game. The Internet broadcasts will be available through the athletic website for a minimal monthly fee.

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.

Borba Named I-AA Independent Defensive Player of the Week:
For the second time this season, Weston Borba was named the I-AA Independent Defensive Player of the Week. Borba had an interception return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery that led to another Saint Mary's score in the 33-27 win over SELU on Saturday. Borba returned a fumble recovery 17 yards to the Southeastern Louisiana 1-yard line setting up a Saint Mary's touchdown, then he added a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown to give the Gaels a 26-14 lead in the third quarter. He notched three total tackles against the Lions.

Scouting the Aggies:
UC Davis enter Saturday's game with a 4-2 record this season. The Aggies are coming off a bye week, which followed a 48-19 victory over Western Washington two weeks ago. Saint Mary's lost to WWU 42-35 on September 27. UC Davis has posted victories over North Dakota State (23-14), Sacramento State (31-27) and Western Oregon (27-7). The two losses have been to Grand Valley State (9-6), to open the season, and Texas State (34-32).

The Aggies are averaging 27.8 points per game while allowing 18.3 points to their opponents each game. UC Davis is totaling 370.3 yards of total offense, 147.3 rushing and 223.0 passing. Opponents are totaling 325.0 yards per game against the Aggies with 100.0 yards coming on the ground and 225.0 through the air.

Starting quarterback Ryan Flanigan contributes 162.8 yards of total offense per game, and his back-up, Jon Baragan, puts up 209.7 yards per game. Flanigan has completed 60-of-116 passes for 698 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions in four games. Baragan has rivaled Flanigan by completing 60 percent (41-68) of his passes for 556 yards, four touchdowns and two picks.

Antar Mahasin spearheads the UCD running game. Mahasin has 94 carries for 411 yards this year. He has seven rushing and is averaging 68.5 yards per game. Behind Mahasin is O.J. Swanigan who is averaging 63.0 rushing yards per game. Swanigan has played in five games, has 70 rushing attempts for 315 yards and two rushing TDs.

Saint Mary's vs. UC Davis; The Series:
In a series that dates back to the 1915 season, Saint Mary's and UC Davis will meet for the 21st time on Saturday. UC Davis currently holds an 11-9 advantage in the series. The Aggies avenged a 2001 Saint Mary's victory (28-21), by defeating the Gaels 31-28 last season. Saint Mary's and UC Davis have played in each of the past 13 season. During that time the Aggies hold an 11-2 record in those games. The only other Saint Mary's win was a 33-24 victory in 1995. Since the series resumed in 1990, UC Davis holds a 5-1 record in games played at Saint Mary's Stadium.

Vincent White at a Glance:
Vincent White (Stanford, 1983), a Denver, CO native, is currently 1-7 in his first year as the head coach at Saint Mary's. White earned his first career win with a 33-27 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on October 25, 2003. White took over the Saint Mary's football program after 17 years as an assistant coach at the I-A level, most recently with the University of Utah from 2001-02. With the Utes, he coached the running backs, helping lead the team to a victory over USC in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl. He was instrumental in the development of Dameon Hunter, who rushed for over 1,300 yards in 2001 and led Utah to the 12th-best rushing attack in the nation at 218.9 yards per game.

The 42-year old White enjoyed a stellar playing career at Stanford University from 1979-82. A running back under head coach Paul Wiggin, he led the nation in receptions as a senior in 1982, catching 69 passes. He totaled 1,275 all-purpose yards and 15 touchdowns en route to First Team All-Pac-10 and Honorable Mention All-American honors. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 1983 draft but chose to pursue a career with the Denver Gold of the USFL from 1983-1985.

A Look Inside Aggies Head Coach Bob Biggs:
Aggie Head Coach Bob Biggs (UC Davis 1973) is in his 11th year and owns a 94-32-1 (.742) overall record. He is the second-winningest coach in the history of the program and trails only Jim Sochor (156-41-5, .785) at UC Davis. Biggs entered the season tied as the seventh-winningest active coach in Division II, by percentage, and entered the year 23rd in total victories.

Game Eight Recap: Saint Mary's 33 - SE Louisiana 27:
Sophomore running back Ryan Kirby rushed for 91 yards and one touchdown, all in the second half, to help Saint Mary's to a 33-27 victory over the Southeastern Louisiana Lions on Saturday. It marked the first win of the 2003 season for SMC and the first career win for head coach Vincent White.

Kirby, who entered the game without a rush on the season, started the second half at running back. At the end of the game, he had 15 carries for 91 yards and one touchdown. Kirby helped the Gaels rush for a season-high 265 yards, en route to 336 yards of total offense in the game.

Southeastern Louisiana opened the game with a 6:20 scoring drive, which was capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Martin Hankins to Jeffrey Howard. Brad Scoffern hit a 28-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3 with 2:36 left in the first half and Saint Mary's took the lead for good when Ray Mike picked-up a loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown on the opening play of the second quarter.

The Ray Mike touchdown was set up when he sacked Hankins and forced a fumble. From there Weston Borba returned the fumble 17 yards to the SELU 1-yard line before it was knocked out of his hands into the end zone where Mike recovered it for a touchdown,

Saint Mary's added to its lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Cordell Webb. The touchdown came on a fourth and goal from the SELU two-yard line with 5:10 remaining in the first half. SELU answered before halftime when Hankins hit Brooks Jordan from eight yards out to cut the halftime deficit to 17-14.

On the opening drive of the second half, Scoffern added the SMC lead when he connected on a 30-yard field goal. On the ensuing Lions' possession, Borba intercepted a Hankins pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. The Gaels did not sleep on the 26-14 lead and added another touchdown late in the third quarter. This time it was Kirby running for his first career touchdown from 28 yards out with 2:45 remaining in the third quarter.

SELU fought back in the fourth quarter with two touchdowns. The first came on a 20-yard TD strike from Hankins to Felton Huggins and the final touchdown of the game came with 3:01 remaining when Ray Perkins scored on a 2-yard run. Hankins completed 31-of-43 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns and he was intercepted three times.

Heath Villarreal paced the Gaels defense with a game-high 14 tackles on the day. Woodard finished the game with seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Weston Borba had an interception and a fumble recovery. Ryan Coogler, who has been a reserve wide out for the Gaels, played both ways against the Lions and had four tackles, one interception and one pass defense in his first appearance in the Gaels' defense.

Gael Highlights:
Senior safety Weston Borba (Chowchilla, CA) garnered preseason First Team All-American honors by the Don Hansen's Football Gazette and was selected to The Sports Network's preseason All-America Honorable Mention team. Borba is a seven-time I-AA Independent Defensive Player of the Week and even garnered The Sports Network Defensive Player of the Week honors when he returned two interceptions for touchdowns against Cal Poly in 2002. With three interceptions this season, Borba has 15 interceptions in his career, which places him in second place all-time in the SMC record books. The interception return for a touchdown against SELU marked the fourth time in his career he's returned an interception for a touchdown. He's six interceptions behind Fran McDermott's school record of 21 career interceptions. He currently has 332 career tackles, which is tied for fifth place with Kevin Will (1981-84) in the SMC record books.

Junior running back Clint Wilson (Thousand Oaks, CA) rushed for 1,100 yards as a sophomore and became the Saint Mary's single season rushing leader. He became the third Gael running back to reach the milestone since the program was rejuvenated in 1967. Jim Datrice was the first to hit 1,000 yards in a season when he rushed for 1,010 yards in 1973. Wilson eclipsed Daryl Rogers' 1990 total of 1,034 yards midway through the fourth quarter on a 40-yard run, which also gave the sophomore fullback his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season.

Combined with his team-high 416 rushing yards this season, Wilson has 2,110 yards in his career. He is one spot ahead of fellow teammate Dre Coleman (1,952 yards) for fifth place in the career rushing record books. Wilson now needs 158 yards to surpass Ed Williams for fourth place. SMC's all-time leading rusher is Jim Datrice (1971-73), who finished his career with 2,573 yards, now 463 yards more than Wilson's current rushing total. Wilson's 109-yard rushing performance against Humboldt State marked the first time Wilson eclipsed the 100-yard mark this season. He has nine 100-yard games in his career, which include two during the 2001 campaign and six during the 2002 season. His best rushing performance was a 167-yard effort against Cal Poly during the 2002 campaign.

Dre Coleman (Compton, CA) scored his first touchdown of his senior season when he took a pitch from Cordell Webb and went 13 yards for a score against Cal Poly. It was the first touchdown for Coleman this season and first in more than a year. His last touchdown was a 32-yard touchdown reception on September 28, 2002 when the Gaels played Western Washington. He also had a 3-yard touchdown run in that game. Coleman suffered a torn left ACL in game six of the 2002 season, which ended his junior campaign. Coleman has rushed for 146 yards on 25 carries this season and now has 1,952 rushing yards in his career. He currently ranks sixth in the career rushing yards at Saint Mary's behind fellow teammate Clint Wilson. In his career, Coleman has 2,693 total yards from scrimmage, which includes 741 receiving yards. With 316 rushing attempts in his career he averages 6.2 yards per rush, and with 51 receptions he averages 14.5 yards per reception. Whenever Coleman touches the football he averages 7.3 yards per touch.

After making the move from defensive end to outside linebacker for his senior campaign, Ray Mike (Pomona, CA) has made a solid impact to the Gaels' defense. In his first game at linebacker, Mike pulled down his first career interception in the first quarter against Northern Arizona to set up a field goal for Saint Mary's, marking the first points of the season. Against Sacramento State he grabbed his second career interception and returned it 66 yards for a touchdown, and the first touchdown of the season for Saint Mary's. Mike had a career-high two sacks against Lehigh and with one against SELU, he leads the team with five. Not only is that a career-high for the senior, but his five sacks more than double his career total of three heading into the season. Mike's recorded a season-high 46 tackles as a junior and he now has 51 tackles this season to top last year's total.

Senior punter Ben Antongiovanni (Bakersfield, CA) garnered I-AA Independent Special Teams honor roll honors after averaging a career-high 46.0 yards per punt when he had seven punts for 322 yards against NAU. In his three years as the squad's punter, he's put his foot to 180 punts totaling 6,918 yards for a 38.4 average. With a 319-yard punting performance against Cal Poly on October 18, Antongiovanni moved into second place in the SMC record books for career punting yards. He passed Kevin Shea (1975-78), who finished his career with 6,574 punt yards. The all-time Saint Mary's punting yards record his help by Doug Beuerlein at 9,232 yards.

Junior middle linebacker Heath Villarreal (Hughson, CA) once again leads the team in tackles with 70 following a 14-tackle performance on Saturday. He has tallied double digits in tackles three times this season, which include a career-best 16 against Northern Arizona and 11 when the Gaels played Humboldt State. Villarreal is tied for the team lead with six tackles for a loss and is second on the team with three sacks. What makes Villarreal's numbers outstanding are that he was a starting running back for Saint Mary's his first two years. When Vincent White took over the program this season he moved Villarreal to linebacker. In his first collegiate game on defense, he was named the I-AA Independent Defensive Player of the Week after recording 16 tackles against Northern Arizona to open the season.

Sophomore running back Ryan Kirby (Roseville, CA) rushed for 91 yards and one touchdown in the second half to help Saint Mary's to its first win of the season on Saturday. Kirby, who entered the game without a rush on the season, started the second half at running back and finished the game with 15 carries for 91 yards and one touchdown. All three were career-highs for the second-year player and his 28-yard touchdown run was a career-long run. He averaged six yards per carry while helping the Gaels rush for a season-high 265 yards against the Lions.

Freshman wide receiver Ryan Coogler (Richmond, CA) pulled triple duty in the Gaels' win on Saturday. Coogler made his first appearance in the game on special teams with two kick returns for 57 yards. He also played on offense for the Gaels but did not record any offensive stats. Coogler's most impressive work came on the Gaels' defense, where he made his first appearance as a cornerback. He recorded four solo tackles, grabbed his first career interception and broke up two passes.

Injury Report:
Probable: CB - Brandon Smith (Concussion), LB - Mike Braund (Leg), LB - Marquis Henderson (Knee). Questionable: LB - Nathan Kenion (Leg). Doubtful: None. Out: DL - Mike McDermott (Back), CB - Sean O'Hara, WR - Nick Miller (Leg), WR - Mario Gosalvez (Knee), LB - Grant Newman (Knee), LB - Clifton Harrison (Jaw), LB - Ramon Burley-Johnson (Arm), CB - Be-Naiah Williams (Concussion), DL - Danny Massey (Shoulder), WR - Chevalier Patterson (Groin), OL - Torin Simpson (Arm), OL - Richard Jones (Hand).

Next Week in Gael Football:
Saint Mary's will hit the road for the sixth and final time this season when it travels to play Drake University on Saturday, November 8. The game is scheduled to kick-off at noon Central Standard Time. The game against the Bulldogs will mark the seventh meeting between the two schools. Saint Mary's leads the series 4-1-1 after winning the past two games in the series.

Schedule

GAELS IN THE PROS

CHAMPIONS

HALL OF FAME

Footer

Upcoming Events