Football Picks up Thrilling 36-35 Victory over Southern

Springfield, Mass. - A 34-yard field-goal by Marek Prezbylek (Olztyan, Poland), with five seconds left in the game helped lift the American International College football team to a thrilling 36-35 comeback victory over the visiting Owls of Southern Connecticut College Saturday afternoon at John Homer Miller Field.

The win gives the Yellow Jacket's their first victory of the season moving them to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the Northeast-10. The loss drops Southern to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Northeast-10.

The Owls dominated play in the first-stanza. Southern took the opening kick-off and drove it 67-yards on 8 plays, to cash in on the game's first touchdown. Owl's running back Brandon Toles slashed 16-yards from the line of scrimmage into the end zone for the score.

AIC answered back on the ensuing drive. The Jacket's marched the ball 53 yards down the field and scored a touchdown after Travis Poole (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed a fade pass out of the air from freshman quarterback Rob Parent (West Warwick, R.I.). Parent went 41-25 on the day, throwing for 299 yards, and three touchdowns.

The Owls came right back to put seven more points on the board following the Jacket touchdown. Southern tight-end Tom Cearny capped off a five-play 63-yard drive by grabbing the first of Southern Quarterback Steve Armstrong's two touchdown passes.

The next AIC drive was stalled when Kyle Sandberg picked off Parent just inside the Yellow Jacket one-yard-line, setting up the next Owl score. Southern put up seven more points and made the score 21-7 when Jerom Freeman broke through the line and busted out a 20-yard touchdown run.

Despite the high-scoring first-frame, a pair of Pzezbylek field-goal boots, would be the only points of the second-half, making the score 21-10 going into the break.

The Yellow Jacket's started chipping away at the two touchdown deficit on their second drive of the third-quarter. Tyler Scaccia (Webster, N.Y.) who had eight grabs for 117 yards caught a 44-yard touchdown pass with 7:56 showing on the clock to push the score to 21-20. The 90-yard drive was set up after Brian Destephano (Brooklyn, NY) jumped on a fumble forced by Mike Szawlowski (Leeds, Mass).

Southern answered right back, capping off a 10-play 70 yard drive with Freeman's second touchdown of the game, from six-yards out. Freeman ran 24 times for 103 yards on the afternoon.

AIC would put the finishing touches on another high-scoring quarter after Calvin Hall (Rochester, N.Y.) completed a 78-yard drive with a two-yard scamper into the end zone. Hall rushed for 93 yards on 25 carriers in the victory for the Yellow Jackets.

With the score 28-26, the game was far from over entering the final period of play. Southern pushed their lead to 11 points taking their second drive of the period into the end zone. Chris Bergeski scored the touchdown after being on the receiving end of a 14-yard pass from Armstrong. Bergeski grabbed six passes from 100 yards on the afternoon.

With the score 35-26, the Yellow Jacket's dug down, to put seven more points on the board following a 9-yard touchdown reception from Poole. The catch finished a 12-play 65 yard drive that proved to be instrumental in AIC's comeback. Poole grabbed two touchdowns along with six catches and 53 yards. Kertis Hussey (Patterson, NJ) also had a good day receiving for the Yellow Jackets, snatching five catches for 84 yards.

The quarter swung back-and-forth before Southern got the ball inside of the 50-yard-line following an on-side attempt by AIC. The Jacket defense put up a tenacious stand with under five-minutes left on the clock, holding back the powerful Owl offensive attack, leading to a punt. 

With the crowd standing on their feet, Parent and the Jacket offense pushed the ball down the field with only one timeout on the board. Scaccia started the drive, hooking up with Parent for a 13-yard reception putting AIC at their own 48-yard-line. Amadeus Guerrer'Pou (Westwood, Mass) made a beautiful grab; swung by a few defenders and picked up 11 yards giving the Jacket's a first-down on the following play. After a pair of drops, Pou stuck again, picking 6 yards on a pass-play and in the process a Yellow Jacket first-down inside of the Southern 40. Hall and Jacket tailback Marcus Cameron (Hempstead, N.Y.) pound the ball down the field for 10 more yards before Pzezbylek hammered home the 34-yard game-winning kick with just five seconds left on the clock.

AIC will visit Kutztown next Saturday, for a scheduled 6:05 pm kick-off.