SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Freshman Eldin Brodlic (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) kicked a 22-yard field goal with 3:26 left, and sophomore quarterback Dan Kelly (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) ran 43 yards for a touchdown with 2:35 remaining as the Lebanon Valley College football team defeated Susquehanna 30-21 in a Middle Atlantic Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Lopardo Stadium.
Lebanon Valley (4-5, 3-5 MAC), which snapped a three-game losing streak against Susquehanna by defeating the Crusaders for the first time since 2000, rolled up a season-high 314 yards rushing, with freshman Ryan Brennan (Highland Lakes, N.J./Vernon Township) leading the way. Brennan, who entered the game late in the third quarter, rushed for a season-high 98 yards, 43 yards more than his previous season-best at Widener.
Kelly added a career-high 94 yards rushing on 12 carries while senior fullback Eric Laird (Norwood, Pa./Interboro) also notched a career-high with 84 yards on 12 rushes.
Kelly also completed 13 of 28 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Junior receiver Luke Rendine (West Milford, N.J./West Milford Township) caught six passes for 61 yards, both game-highs, to go with one touchdown.
Jason Eck led Susquehanna (4-5, 3-5 MAC) with 66 yards rushing on 17 carries.
Lebanon Valley's defense also came up big when it counted most, forcing two Crusader turnovers in the game's final 2:56. For the game, the Dutchmen held Susquehanna to 252 total yards and limited the Crusaders to 80 yards and three first downs in the second half.
Susquehanna went just 1 for 15 on third downs, although it was 5 for 5 on fourth downs.
The Dutchmen's 4-5 record is the team's best mark through nine games since they were 5-4 in 1993. Lebanon Valley is guaranteed to finish the season with its best record since 2000, when the Dutchmen went 4-6.
With the win, Lebanon Valley head coach Jim Monos moved to within one victory of the LVC career head coaching wins record of 47 held by Lou Sorrentino '54.
With the game tied 21-21, Lebanon Valley received the ball at the Dutchman-5 with 10:44 left following a 44-yard Susquehanna punt. But Brennan immediately extricated LVC out of its precarious field position, peeling off a 19-yard run on the Dutchmen's very first play from scrimmage. Lebanon Valley went on to run the ball on 14 consecutive plays, chewing up 7:18 before Brodlic's boot, his second field goal of the season and his first since LVC defeated Widener 3-0 on Sept. 18.
Brennan accounted for 74 of LVC's yards on its game-winning drive. He also had a 26-yard dash during the drive that gave the Dutchmen a first-and-10 at the Susquehanna-35.
After Brodlic's field goal, the Crusaders fumbled three plays into its next possession, and junior cornerback Joey Venezia (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey) recovered the loose ball at the Susquehanna-43. Three plays later, and with Lebanon Valley facing a third-and-10, Kelly took a quarterback draw, faked out a defender around the line of scrimmage, and raced down the left side of the field and into the end zone for his first career rushing touchdown.
Susquehanna made one final attempt at a comeback, but freshman safety Russell DeStefano (Conshohocken, Pa./Upper Merion) picked off a pass by backup quarterback Justin Wutti at the Lebanon Valley-8 with 1:23 left. The Dutchmen were able to run out the clock the rest of the way.
Susquehanna's running game was in high gear early in the game. On their first possession, the Crusaders moved the ball 75 yards on 10 plays, all rushes, with Dennis Robertson taking a quarterback sneak up the middle four yards for a touchdown, giving the Crusaders a 7-0 lead with 7:14 left in the opening quarter.
After Lebanon Valley turned the ball over on downs, Susquehanna took over at the Crusader-24 with 3:38 remaining in the quarter. Fourteen plays and 76 yards later, the Crusaders pushed their lead to 14-0 when Robertson hit Duane Park with an 11-yard touchdown pass, just his second completion of the game, in the back left corner of the end zone with 11:16 to go in the first half.
The Dutchmen defense began to hold midway through the second quarter, and with 7:26 on the clock it forced SU into its first punt of the game. After a fair catch, Lebanon Valley took over at the LVC-41. A 22-yard run by Laird jumpstarted a 10-play, 59-yard drive, capped by a 10-yard pass from Kelly to freshman receiver Adam Brossman (Lebanon, Pa./Lebanon) on fourth-and-goal with 3:37 left in the half.
Lebanon Valley's defense forced the Crusaders to go three-and-out on their next possession, and Kelly went on to direct an eight-play, 66-yard drive. Kelly completed the march with a 21-yard lob to Rendine in the back-right corner of the end zone with nine ticks on the clock. After getting pushed by his defender, Rendine recovered to make a diving catch, and the pass interference penalty was declined. Brodlic's second point-after tied it up at 14-14 heading into halftime.
Susquehanna took advantage of Lebanon Valley's first fumble to reclaim the lead early in the second half. Freshman Clint Vinju (Earleville, Md./Bohemia Manor) muffed a punt at his own 10-yard line, and Susquehanna's Shawn Rafferty pounced on it at the LVC-6. Four plays later, Eck took a pitchout to the left and ran it in untouched as the Crusaders went up 21-14.
Lebanon Valley's special teams came up big midway through the third quarter to pull the Dutchmen even. After a 30-yard punt by sophomore Dan Stauffer (Swedeburg, Pa./Upper Merion) pinned the Crusaders at their own 9-yard line, junior safety Jimmy Holzman (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) stepped in front of a Robertson pass at the Crusader-10 and picked it off. Holzman sprinted untouched down the right sideline and into the end zone for LVC's first interception return for a touchdown in seven years (Todd Lipp '01, 1997). Brodlic's third extra point made it 21-21 with 7:31 to go in the third quarter.
Junior linebacker Chris Weaver (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff) and Holzman finished with a team-high eight tackles apiece.
Lebanon Valley plays its season finale next Saturday, when it hosts Albright College at 1 p.m. on Senior Day.
-lvc-
