Oct. 28, 2006
Box Score | Notes
Iona turned three Duquesne interceptions into 17 points in ending the Dukes' 39-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League win streak with a 17-13 win at Rooney Field.
The loss was Duquesne's first in league play since a 62-50 setback at Iona on Oct. 23, 1999.
Iona, which entered the game ranked No. 1 in NCAA I-AA total defense at 201.1 yards per game, held the Dukes to a season-low 266 yards, including minus two yards rushing on 16 attempts.
Dustin Croick completed 20-of-24 passes for 99 yards and a score and Dane Samuels added 100 yards rushing on 31 attempts to lead the Iona offense.
Duquesne's Scott Knapp completed 25 of a career-high 55 passes for 268 yards including touchdowns of 10 and 29 yards to Bruce Hocker.
Knapp completed 4-of-4 passes as the Dukes took the opening kickoff and drove 60 yards for a score - the last 10 of which were covered by a Knapp-to-Hocker hook-up.
With just over two minutes left in the first quarter, Jonathan Saez picked off a pass that bounced off Hocker and returned it 42 yards to the Duquesne 36. Five plays later, Samuels scored from seven yards out to tie the score at 7-7.
Two possessions later, Hershel Rawls picked off an errant Knapp shovel pass and returned it eight yards to the Duquesne 13 setting up a five-yard pass from Croick to Samuels to make it 14-7.
Knapp found Hocker from 29 yards out to cap a six play, 59 yard drive with 2:49 left in the half. Mark Troyan's extra point attempt was blocked by Nick Zaffarese, making the score 14-13.
The closest either team came to scoring in the third quarter came when La Salle's Chris Lofrese hit the left upright on a 45-yard field goal attempt with just under four minutes left. Lofrese's attempt occurred three plays after a 40-minute lightning delay as a storm front bringing rain then hail passed over western Pennsylvania.
Neither team moved the ball before a Knapp pass was tipped by DU's Dan Spriggs and picked off by Andrew Lipski at the Duquesne 43 with 5:06 left in the game. Lipski returned the interception 19 yards to the Duquesne 24 setting up a 35-yard field goal by Lofrese at the 2:26 mark.
Kyle Postell returned the ensuing kickoff to the Duquesne 37 and Knapp drove the Dukes to the Iona 14 with 22 seconds left. Knapp was sacked for a loss of six on first down, just missed a diving Spriggs in the end zone on a post pattern on second down and threw incomplete to Hocker on third down.
On the game's final play, Knapp looked for Hocker on the right sideline in the front corner of the end zone but the pass fell incomplete as time expired and the Iona bench rushed the field.
Hocker led all receivers with a career-high 11 catches for 131 yards. Spriggs added 69 yards on eight receptions for the Dukes.
Duquesne held Iona to just 235 yards of total offense, but it was in the red zone where the Gaels did their damage, turning three possessions into 17 points.
BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINALIONA 7 7 0 0 17DUQUESNE 7 6 0 0 13
LEADERS Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCullough (12-9-0); IC - Samuels (31-100-1) Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Knapp (55-25-3-268-2); IC - Croick (24-20-0-99-1) Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Hocker (11-131-2), Spriggs (8-69-0); IC - Samuels (7-18-1) Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Mills (9/7), Hill (9/6), Esdale (9/3); IC - McGuire (5/5), Rawls (5/5), Loscalzo (5/4)
GAME QUOTES
Duquesne Head Coach Jerry Schmitt: "We knew coming in that they were very tough up front. They played a lot of guys in the box and we thought we had matchups that would enable us to throw the ball. We stuck to our game plan, we just didn't make the plays. It was a tough loss."
GAME NOTES
The loss ended Duquesne's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League winning streak at 39 games, tying the Dukes for the second-longest league winning streak in NCAA I-A and I-AA history (Nebraska won 39 Big Eight/Big 12 games from 1992-98 and Oklahoma won 44 Big Eight games from 1952-59) ... Duquesne's previous conference loss was by a 62-50 score at Iona on Oct. 23, 1999 ... the win was just the second by Iona in 12 meetings with Duquesne ... junior receiver Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) caught touchdown passes of 10 and 29 yards giving him 15 TD receptions on the season ... he needs two touchdown receptions in the season finale next week at La Salle to break the school single-season record of 16 set by Reggie Harris in 2000 ... Hocker, who caught a career-high 11 passes for 131 yards against Iona, has caught at least one TD pass in eight of Duquesne's nine games ... Dan Spriggs (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hill College) caught eight passes for 69 to move into the fifth spot on DU's single-season receptions list with 58 ... Spriggs has caught 38 passes in DU's past five games ... sophomore quarterback Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy) completed 25 of a career-high 55 attempts for 268 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions ... Knapp, who has thrown for multiple touchdowns in all nine games, has 24 TD tosses this season - good for fifth on the all-time single-season list.
