Wilkes Colonels race past FDU-Florham Red Devils, 31-16

Madison, NJ – Wilkes Colonels QB Jose Tabora passed for 313 yards and four TDs to score 31 first-half points to take an early, overwhelming lead to defeat the FDU-Florham Red Devils, 31-16, this past Friday night in a D-3 Middle Atlantic Conference clash.  Tabora threw for most of his yards and all four of his TDs in the first half.  He connected for three TDs with WR Jeff Steeber (nine catches, 127 yards).

Guest Game Analyst Paul Fraley noted how well FDU shut down the Colonels’ running game during the first half.  Yet Tabora completed passes accurately to wide open receivers with ease.  Paul called for more d-backs to bring in more coverage against Tabora. That’s exactly what the Devils’ coaching staff did eventually, but not until the second half trailing by 24 points.  The FDU defense stepped up, but the offense averaging 38.6 point per game coming in struggled most of the night.

Colonels off to a fast start

Wilkes College (4-3, 3-2 MAC) took a 7-0 lead on Tabora’s first TD pass to Juan Salas-Negron for 49 yards.  DB Zac Weber intercepted Jagger Green’s pass to take over from his team’s 38.  Tabora fired his next scoring strike 20 yards to WR Jeff Steeber (MAC Offensive player of the Week).  The Red Devils cut the lead in half responding with 57-yard drive on a fourth down and six.  Green (20 for 32, 169 yards, one TD, two INTs) lofted a 19-yard pass in that situation to Khyrstan Camilo to trail, 14-7.

In the second period, the Wilkes Colonels continued to dominate through the air.   On consecutive possessions, Tabora connected with Steeber for a 24-yard TD and for a 49-yard TD to race out to a 28-7 advantage.  Following Nahir Wood’s pick of Green, Wilkes drove starting from their 35 to set up David Kutteroff’s 31-yard FG.  As time expired, the Colonels led at halftime, 31-7.  The fans on the home side started to leave on the first cool, Friday night of the football season.

Second half adjustments work

As GGA Paul Fraley suggested, the Devils came out in the second half changing to a three-man rush with five defenders behind them and three-deep.  The strategy paid off as the front three started to mount pressure up front.  Weakside backs would rush in to create havoc and sack the QB.  Tabora’s accuracy changed drastically.

Momentum shift

Forcing Wilkes to punt from the 13, the ball went through the punter’s fingers and he recovered in the end zone for an FDU safety.  Following the ensuing kick from the 20, the Devils drove to the Wilkes Colonel five.  With WR Mike Panzarino at QB in the Wildcat formation, he charged the line from the shotgun and dumped a pass over the middle to 290-lb. Jose Caceros who made sliding catch on a tackle eligible play.  With 7:49 remaining in the third and trailing by two scores, it looked like FDU could change this early runaway into a last-minute nail-biter.

Finish with a whimper, not a bang 

Early in the fourth, a short punt out of bounds put the Red Devils at the Colonels’ 35. Green flipped the ball to WR Josh Rainey on an end around for an option pass. He went for the wrong option.  Rainey lofted a misguided pass toward the far-right pylon.  There, S Devin Fink intercepted and brought it out to the 26.  This play killed what was left of the momentum FDU carried into the last period.  Despite a fumble recovery on the next Wilkes possession, FDU ‘s offense failed to initiate any spark.  Game over, 31-16, Wilkes.

Up next

The Red Devils next play 5-1,4-0 Misericordia in Dallas, PA next Saturday. Wilkes heads to Stevenson (5-2,4-1). Key MAC clashes during the last four weeks of the D-3 season will decide who will head on to the playoffs. Delaware Valley (5-1,4-0) ranked No. 23 and who won the MAC last year, still seems to have the inside track.   CFF.com traveled to Newark, DE the next morning to see Delaware battle No. 5 Elon in a key Colonial Athletic Conference FCS game. Our game review for that one is coming up next. Upset?

Extra Points:

FDU QB Jagger Green came into this game averaging 340 passing yards per game. His 169 today were results of deep drop backs thrown for what seemed like mid-range passes that generally found wide receivers near the line of scrimmage.  He had few effective long passes other than a few early in the game.

The last time we attended a Wilkes game, it was in the 2006 D-3 play-offs when they hosted Rowan University.  The Colonels fell that day, 21-14, finishing No. 14 in the nation that year.  GGA Paul Fraley also happened to be in attendance that day.  His nephew played for Wilkes that season.

Paid attendance was announced at 757, but it looked bigger to us. Maybe students and FDU athletes get in for free.  FDU seemed to be drawing more interest locally with an atypical 4-1 record.  Two wins were against NJAC teams, TCNJ and William Paterson.  The Jersey teams in that conference seem to be on a decline.

Five teams from among Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia joined the NJAC a few years ago, and the teams from NJ are getting beat up on.  It’s a sign of high school football in the state on the decline and the effects on these programs. Schools populations are getting smaller, demographics are changing, people are moving out, parents are starting to nix football for their kids, and there is a general drop in interest for other athletic pursuits in the Garden State.

FDU hosts Widener on Friday night, November 2.  We may add that to our schedule.  We’ll see how the Red Devils perform next week and against 0-5 Lebanon Valley the next.  The last time FDU won four games in a season was in 2005.  The last time it won five was back in 1999.  They could be going for a school record that evening.