American International downs Greyhounds in wild Northeast-10 Conference football game, 43-24

October 25, 2008

American International 43, Assumption 24

WORCESTER, Mass. --- In a game with several individual superlatives on both sides American International College placekicker MAREK PREZBYLEK (Olsztyn, Poland/Winchendon School) took the spotlight with three field goals, including a 50-yarder, as the 17th ranked and undefeated Yellow Jackets prevailed 43-24 in Northeast-10 Conference football SATURDAY at the Multi-Sport Stadium.

Other outstanding performers included sophomore Yellow Jacket quarterback ROB PARENT (West Warwick, RI/West Warwick) who completed 19-of-30 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns . . . postgraduate wide receiver TRAVIS POOLE (Brooklyn, NY/Sheepshead Bay) who caught 10 passes for 185 yards and a touchdown . . . junior wide receiver KERTIS HUSSEY (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) who returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and finished with 205 yards of all-purpose offense. Defensively, junior linebacker RICK REICHERT (Kings Park, NY/Saint Anthony's) finished with a team-high 2-12--14 tackles.

For the Greyhounds sophomore quarterback JOSH RATACIK (Manchester, NH/Central) completed 24-of-39 passes for 251 yards and a career-high three touchdowns . . . senior wide receiver JOEY FABIANO (Westwood, MA/Westwood) who caught seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown and became the merely the fourth Greyhounds with over 100 receptions in a career (now tied for third at 106 with Don Kinney ‘89).

Defensively, Greyhounds' senior free safety CHRIS MARTINO (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) finished with 4-11--15 tackles inching his way toward the magic 300 mark for his career (280 with two games remaining) . . . junior linebacker DUSTIN ZITZMANN (Pinellas Park, FL/Dixie Hollins) with 2-11--13 tackle and a pass pressure, also heading toward No. 300 (286 with two games remaining) and sophomore TYSON GARCIA (Charlton, MA/Shepherd Hill) who ended with 3-3--6 tackles, three pass breakups and two blocked kicks (one field goal, one conversion point).

The Yellow Jackets drove 80 yards in 10 plays on their first series to take the lead, 7-0. Freshman running back MIKE MAYO (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt) capped the march with a two-yard run off-right tackle and Prezbylek kicked the conversion. Mayo rushed for 22 yards on the second play and Parent connected with Poole for seven, nine and eight yards and 24 yards to Hussey to highlight the drive.

It took the Jackets one play on their second possession as Parent and Poole connected on an 80-yard scoring strike down the near sideline. With Prezbylek's conversion the Yellow Jackets led 14-0 with 2:37 left in the quarter. Parent finished the first period six-for-six for 145 yards through the air.

A.I.C. moved to a 21-0 lead with Parent finding Hussey on a 10-yard slant for a score to cap a four-play, 30-yard drive just into the second period.

After the Greyhounds' senior linebacker DAN HICKEY (Auburn, MA/Auburn) recovered a fumble at the Yellow Jacket 35, Ratacik found Fabiano on a 26-yard touchdown for the score. Freshman ZACK OKOLOWITCZ (Cranston, RI/Cranston West) kicked the conversion. Hussey returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a score for the Yellow Jackets (along with Prezbylek's conversion) to make it 28-7.

The Greyhounds' Okolowitcz kicked a 30-yard field goal as the time expired in the half to make ot 28-10. Sophomore running back HERBERT WOODARD (Salem, NJ/Salem) rushed for 11 yards and Ratacik and Fabiano teamed for receptions of 31 and eight yards to highlight the seven-play, 50-yard drive.

American Internatonal struck quickly in the third period increasing their lead to 37-10. Prezbylek kicked a 37-yard field goal to finish a six-play, 36 yard drive with 12:01 left. A Parent-to-Poole connection for 28 yards highlighted the march.

On the next Hounds' possession Ratacik was intercepted by junior lineman JASHAWN WILLIAMS (Roosevelt, NY/Roosevelt). Williams lost control and the loose ball was recovered and returned 55 yards for a touchdown by junior defensive back BRIAN KELLY (Springfield, MA/Commerce). The Hounds' Garcia blocked the conversion attempt.

After a bad snap on a punt attempt the Hounds were set up at the A.I.C. 40 as senior linebacker MITCHELL WELCH (Southington, CT/Southington) and sophomore end COREY BLACKWOOD (Springfield, MA/Science Tech) smothered Yellow Jackets' senior punter JONATHAN THORPE (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow).

Ratacik found sophomore tight end ERIC SCHINDLER (Kenilworth, NJ/Brearley) for 27 yards and them freshman BRANDON BISHOP (Mendon, MA/Nipmuc) for the final 12 yards and a score. Okolowitcz' conversion made it 37-17.

The next two possessions netted field goals for Prezbylek and the Yellow Jackets. First, driving 46 yards in 12 plays . . . Parent completed passes of 15 yards to Poole and 13 yards to Hussey to highlight the drive . . . capped by a 45-yard field goal with the wind.

Then after a three-and-out by the Greyhounds Prezbylek drilled a team record 50-yarder to make it 43-17.

The Greyhounds then drove 80 yards in 10 plays to score their final points as sophomore tackle MATT SIDEBOTTOM (Franklin, MA/Franklin) scored on a tackle-eligible rush of 10 yards. Okolowitcz' conversion made the final 43-24. Ratacik teamed with Bishop for three receptions of 10, 16 and 19 yards in the drive.

American International had one more scoring opportunity with the Hounds' Garcia stuffing a Prezbylek bid for a fourth field goal from 49 yards.

GREYHOUNDS NOTES: sophomore running back HERBERT WOODARD (Salem, NJ/Salem) rushed 11 times for 57 yards to increase his season total to 543 yards and his career total to 1,509 yards---just the sixth player in Greyhound history with over 1,500 yards . . . senior wide receiver JOEY FABIANO (Westwood, MA/Westwood) caught eight passes for 106 yards and now has 46 this season for 427 yards . . . his career totals are now 107 receptions (third in Hounds' history) for 1,172 (seventh in Hounds' history) . . . sophomore quarterback JOSH RATACIK (Manchester, NH/Central) completed a career-high 23 of a career-high 38 passes for 241 yards and now is 133-of-226 for 1,312 yards this season . . . the 23 completions are the seventh highest in Hounds' history . . . he is the eighth with over 200 attempts and his 133 completions are the fourth-best . . . the 1,312 yards is seventh-best . . . his .590 completion percentage is the best in Hounds' history for a single-season . . . freshman wide out BRANDON BISHOP (Mendon, MA/Nipmuc) caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in his most productive performance . . . freshman MITCH RAIOLA (Bristol, RI/Mount Hope) had seven kickoff returns (127 yards) to tie the Greyhounds' record for a single game --- Seth Lopes ‘04 did it twice at L.I.U.-C.W. Post (9/7/02) and at Bryant (9/28/02) . . . senor linebacker MITCHELL WELCH (Southington, CT/Southington) had two quarterback sacks (13 yards) and now has seven (50 yards) for the season among the conference leaders . . .

NEXT WEEK: the Greyhounds are at Northeast-10 Conference rival Southern Connecticut next Saturday (November 1, 2008) for a 1 p.m. kickoff . . . American International, also has a conference game, at Merrimack College Saturday at 1 p.m.

CLICK HERE for Assumption-American International box score