Oct. 6, 2007
Box Score
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Playing before the largest crowd in Marist football history, Duquesne (3-2, 1-0) rode the right arm of quarterback Kevin Rombach to a 31-21 win over the Red Foxes (0-6, 0-1) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League opener for both schools.
Rombach, making his third start of the season, completed 16-of-25 passes for 329 yards including touchdown passes of 34, 85 and 13 yards. It was the third consecutive game in which the redshirt sophomore topped the 300-yard mark.
Bruce Hocker was the prime beneficiary of Rombach's passing with three catches for 59 yards including a pair of touchdowns. Alex Roberson added a game-high 108 yards on two receptions. Greg Hough led all rushers with a career-best 111 yards on career high-tying 24 carries.
Marist, sparked by a standing room-only crowd of 4,621 on hand for both Homecoming and the dedication of newly renovated Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field, was led by quarterback Steve McGrath who completed 17-of-28 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns.
Duquesne opened the scoring with a four-yard touchdown run by Marek Lapinski on its final possession of the first quarter. The Dukes upped the lead to 14-0 when Rombach found Hocker for a 34-yard catch-and-run touchdown with just over six minutes left in the half.
McGrath then took Marist 67 yards on seven plays, with a 12-yard pass to Daniel Dulac making the score 14-7.
With the crowd back in the game, Rombach hit a streaking Roberson on a 3rd-and-14 play for an 85-yard touchdown to put the Dukes up 21-7.
Marist - and McGrath - drove 52 yards in 1:52 to pull within 21-14 when the Marist quarterback hit Dulac with a 39-yard touchdown pass with 52 seconds left in the half.
Duquesne's defense limited Marist to minus four yards in the third quarter as the Dukes upped their lead to 24-14 on a 24-yard Mark Troyan field goal.
Rombach completed 3-of-3 passes, the last of which was a 13-yard touchdown to Hocker, to end a 40-yard drive and make it 31-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Marist added a 27-yard score from McGrath to Tim Keegan with 55 seconds left for the final margin.
Duquesne outgained Marist 504 to 317 as Rombach averaged 20.6 yards per completion.
Eric Halberstadt led the Duquesne defense with 11 tackles including a pair of tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Nathan Totino and Derron Thomas added 10 stops each and Travis Decker, Lou Levine and Mykol Gardiner recorded one sack each for the Dukes.
BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINALDUQUESNE 7 14 3 7 31MARIST 0 14 0 7 21
LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD)
DU - Hough (24-111-0); MC - Mitchell (12-44-0)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD)
DU - Rombach (25-16-1-329-3); MC - McGrath (28-17-0-220-3)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD)
DU - Hocker (3-59-2), Roberson (2-108-1); MC - Brown (6-38-0), Dulac (3-67-2)
Tackles (Tot./Solo) DU - Halberstadt (11/4), Totino (10/7), Thomas (10/1); MC - Pizzarelli (8/4), Smith (8/2), Foley (8/1)
GAME NOTES -- This was the first home game for Marist, which opened with five in a row on the road ... it was also the dedication of newly renovated Tenney Stadium at Leonidiff Field as well as Homecoming for Marist ... redshirt sophomore Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) completed 16-of-25 passes for 329 yards including touchdown passes of 34, 85 and 13 yards ... in three games as a starter, Rombach has thrown for 316, 343 and 329 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception ... junior receiver Alex Roberson (Waynesboro, Ga./Curtis Baptist Upper School), who missed last season with a knee injury, topped the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive week with two receptions for 108 yards including a career-long 85-yarder for a score ... last week against Frostburg State, Roberson set career highs for catches (7) and yards (113) ... Rombach's 85-yard, second quarter touchdown pass to Alex Roberson tied the third-longest pass play in DU history ... it was the longest since Niel Loebig hit Yardon Brantley for an 85-yard score at Fairfield in 2001 ... junior running back Greg Hough (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) carried 24 times for 111 yards ... the 24 carries tied his career high set last week versus Frostburg State ... the 111 yards topped his previous career high of 107 set on Sept. 22 at Sacred Heart ... Hough also added three catches for 39 yards ... senior All-American receiver Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) caught three passes for 59 yards including TD receptions of 34 and 13 yards ... Hocker now has 28 career TD catches, good for fourth on DU's all-time list ... the school record of 34 was set by Reggie Harris from 1997-00 ... linebacker Eric Halberstadt (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) had a game- and career-high 11 tackles including a game-high two tackles for a loss ... he also recovered a fumble ... linebacker Derron Thomas (Forrestville, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), who entered the game ranked sixth nationally in tackles per game (11.5 tpg.), finished with 10 stops ... freshman linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) added 10 tackles.
