Oct. 20, 2007
GALLERY
PITTSBURGH - Bruce Hocker caught a pair of touchdown passes and Greg Hough ran for a career-high 126 yards as Duquesne (5-2) ran its win streak to five with a 17-14 win over cross-town rival Robert Morris (3-5) at Rooney Field.
Hocker, who finished with seven catches for 68 yards and TD receptions of nine and 15 yards, moved into the fourth spot on Duquesne's career list for receptions (148) and yards (2,454). His 31 career touchdowns are tied for second on DU's all-time list, three shy of the school record of 34 set by Reggie Harris (1997-00).
Hough, whose previous career rushing high was 111 yards set earlier this season at Marist, topped his career-high for carries by six with 30.
Duquesne quarterback Kevin Rombach got the Dukes on the board early by completing 5-of-5 passes for 80 yards on DU's first possession. The drive ended when Rombach found Hocker on a fade route from nine-yards out to make it 7-0. The touchdown was set up by a 34-yard Rombach to Conrad Carter connection on the previous play.
Duquesne drove to the Robert Morris six on its second possession, before settling for a 23-yard Mark Troyan field goal to make it 10-0 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
Rombach went 10-of-15 for 141 yards as the Dukes outgained the Colonials 184-27 in the opening period.
Robert Morris turned Duquesne away on 4th-and-goal from the one with over four minutes left to stay within 10 at the half.
The Colonials got on the board when Myles Russ, who finished with 116 yards on 25 carries, capped a 76-yard drive with a 22-yard run to make it 10-7 with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
Duquesne answered on its next possession by going 62 yards in five plays with Rombach finding Hocker from 15 yards out to give the Dukes a 17-7 lead.
Robert Morris struck back with a nine-play, 78-yard drive that ended when Erik Cwalinski hit Julian Ellison with a 32-yard touchdown pass with 12:42 left to make it 17-14.
On the Dukes' next possession, Rombach was hit by Chad Wengert and fumbled with RMU's Shannon Smoot recovering at the Duquesne 26. Robert Morris was penalized for a personal foul and Travis Decker sacked Cwalinski for a big loss setting up a fourth-and-27 play. DU's Paul Mulbah picked off Cwalinski in the end zone to thwart the Colonial threat.
Robert Morris forced a Duquesne punt and took over at its own 20 with 5:15 to play, this time Randall Norton put a quick end to the RMU possession by running down a deep Cwalinski pass and returning it to the Colonials 47.
The running of Hough, combined with a late roughing the punter penalty enabled the Dukes to run out the clock.
Robert Morris gained 197 of its 310 yards in scoring all 14 of its points in the second half. Duquesne, which had 272 yards at the half, finished with 396 total yards.
Rombach finished 21-of-32 for 247 yards for the Dukes. Cwalinski was 14-of-26 for 156 yards for Robert Morris.
Derron Thomas led the DU defense with 14 tackles, while RMU's Wengert took game honors with 17 stops.
BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINALROBERT MORRIS 0 0 7 7 14DUQUESNE 10 0 7 0 17
LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD)
DU - Hough (30-126-0); RMU - Russ (25-116-1)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD)
DU - Rombach (32-21-0-247-2); RMU - Cwalinski (26-14-2-156-1)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD)
DU - Hocker (7-68-2); RMU - Ellison (4-67-1)
Tackles (Tot./Solo)
DU - Thomas (14/6); RMU - Wengert (17/8)
GAME NOTES --
The victory - in addition to extending Duquesne's winning streak to five - was also the Dukes' third in a row over the Colonials ... DU is now 10-1 against teams from the Northeast Conference since 2003 (14-6 all-time) ... with his seven catches for 68 yards and two TDs, senior All-American receiver Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) moved into the fourth spots on Duquesne's career lists for receptions (148) and receiving yards (2,454) ... his 31 career touchdowns are tied for second-most all-time, three shy of the school record set by Reggie Harris (1997-00) ... Hocker has had two or more touchdown receptions in 14 of Duquesne's last 17 games ... junior running back Greg Hough (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) topped the 100-yard mark for the third time in five games with a career high 126 yards on a career best 30 carries ... Hough's previous career rushing high was 111 yards set at Marist on Oct. 6 ... he had 107 yards at Sacred Heart on Sept. 22 ... his previous career high for carries was 24 set earlier this year vs. Frostburg State and tied at Marist ... redshirt sophomore quarterback Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin), completed 10-of-15 passes for 141 yards in the first quarter ... he finished 21-of-32 for 247 yards and two scores to up his record to 7-0 as a starter (5-0 this year) ... Rombach was 8-of-14 for 164 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter ... linebacker Derron Thomas (Forrestville, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), who entered the game ranked 9th nationally in tackles per game (11.2 tpg.), finished with a team-high 14 stops ... it was his second-highest total this year and sixth double-digit tackle outing in seven games ... senior defensive end Travis Decker (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) had 1.5 sacks and also broke up a pass ... he finished the game with five total tackles ... freshman linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) had 11 tackles ... senior linebacker John Simmons (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) had nine stops including 2.5 tackles for loss and a half sack.
