Rashaad Slowley Wins Joe Zabilski Award From Gridiron Club of Greater Boston

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut State University senior running back Rashaad Slowley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) has been selected as the winner of the Joe Zabilski Award by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston. The accolade is awarded annually to New England’s top players in the Division II and Division III ranks. Slowley will be honored at a dinner on Thursday, January 12 at the Westin Hotel in Waltham, Mass.
Slowley, a Harlon Hill Award finalist, given annually to the Division II College Football Player of the Year and the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Most Valuable Player, currently ranks No. 3 in all of NCAA college football at all levels in scoring (29 touchdowns and 174 total points). He is also currently No. 5 among student-athletes at all levels in rushing yards/game (158.4) and ranks second in Division II in scoring, third in yards/game and sixth in all-purpose yards/game (181.7).
Also a First-Team All-Region pick by Daktronics, Slowley set a new school single-season record for touchdowns with 29, and a new SCSU single-game record with six touchdowns in a win over St. Anselm on Sept. 17.
He finished the year with 274 carries for 1,584 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns and also hauled in 21 catches for 233 yards and two receiving touchdowns. He reached the 100 yard mark in all nine Division II games this year and rushed for more than 200 yards on three occasions. Slowley led the Northeast-10 Conference in rushing yards, touchdowns and in all-purpose yards this year.
In all, Slowley finished his career ranked No. 2 all-time at SCSU in rushing yards (3,460), touchdowns (45) and points (272).

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Southern Connecticut State University senior running back Rashaad Slowley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) has been selected as one of nine finalists for the 2011 Harlon Hill Award, given annually to the Division II College Football Player of the Year. The finalists were selected by the NCAA Division II sports information directors in regional voting and will now be placed on the national ballot where all 149 of the division's SIDs will select the award's 26th winner.

National voting will conclude on December 2 and the top three finishers will be invited to the Florence, Ala. for the presentation banquet.

Slowley, the 2011 Northeast-10 Conference Most Valuable Player, currently ranks No. 3 in all of NCAA college football at all levels in scoring (29 touchdowns and 174 total points). He is also currently sixth among student-athletes at all levels in rushing yards/game (158.4) and ranks second in Division II in scoring, third in yards/game and sixth in all-purpose yards/game (181.7).

Slowley set a new school single-season record for touchdowns with 29, and a new SCSU single-game record with six touchdowns in a win over St. Anselm on Sept. 17.

He finished the year with 274 carries for 1,584 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns and also hauled in 21 catches for 233 yards and two receiving touchdowns. He reached the 100 yard mark in all nine Division II games this year and rushed for more than 200 yards on three occasions. Slowley led the Northeast-10 Conference in rushing yards, touchdowns and in all-purpose yards this year.

In all, Slowley finished his career ranked No. 2 all-time at SCSU in rushing yards (3,460), touchdowns (45) and points (272).

Southern Connecticut concluded the 2011 season with an overall mark of 7-3 (6-2 Northeast-10 Conference). It marked the 11th consecutive winning season for the Owls.

NEW HAVEN – For all the talk about playoffs and their confusing scenarios, the Southern Connecticut State football team knew that the entirety of the discussion was moot if the Owls couldn’t beat Merrimack in its season finale on Saturday.
And for the majority of the game Southern seemed to be taking care of business at hand until they just wore out.
Merrimack’s high-octane offense ran an astounding 100 offensive plays to rally past Southern 28-27 in a Northeast-10 Conference game at Jess Dow Field Saturday. There is no need to check the playoff pairings when they’re announced today. The Owls, who entered the weekend ranked eighth in the Division II Super Regional 1 poll, won’t be among the field of six.
“It’s really tough. We had goals of making the playoffs but we just didn’t finish,” SCSU running back Rashaad Slowley said.
Southern appeared to have taken control of things early in the second half. They led 24-14 at the break and following a 33-yard field goal by Chris Hazelton the bulge was 27-14. But surprisingly Southern never scored again.
“We really couldn’t sustain any drives in the second half,” SCSU coach Rich Cavanaugh said. “Because of that we wore down a bit on defense. That was a big problem. We weren’t really able to control the tempo of the game and keep their offense off the field.
“That was something that I thought we needed to do to be successful.”
Slowley, who finished the year with a school-record 29 touchdowns, scored on runs of 45 and 63 yards in the first half. He finished with 219 yards rushing on 27 carries. (He ended with 1,584 yards rushing for the season). Southern also got a 16-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Kyle Mgaresh to open the scoring.
“I’m more of team guy,” Slowley said. “My goals are to stay safe, win the game and then comes any individual goals. I’m safe but we didn’t win the game and that’s what matters.”
The Owls (7-3, 6-2 NE-10) kept moving the ball and piling up the yardage until Merrimack seemed to figure things out defensively. And when Southern receivers dropped a couple of passes in the second half things went south in a hurry.
Merrimack (6-4, 5-3) entered the game the conference’s leading scoring team averaging over 41 points a game. The Chargers, who thought they’d be in the playoff chase themselves before suffering a couple of late-season losses, got a pair of touchdown passes from James Suozzo to Steve Serwon. The first tied the score at 7-7 and the final one capped the day’s scoring.
In between Jimon Hill (25 carries, 127 yards) scored on a 16-yard run and Suozzo, who threw for 262 yards and ran the ball 30 times for 46 yards, scored a crucial touchdown late in the third quarter on a 6-yard run. That touchdown was set up by a long Charger punt return after Southern had stopped two Merrimack drives deep in the red zone.
Said Cavanaugh: “We knew they had a good kicking game. We emphasized that to the guys during the week and we did a pretty good job most of the game. That one return put them in good field position and that hurt.”
SCSU quarterback Kevin Lynch finished 10 for 29 for 156 yards but had two TD passes dropped in the end zone or his numbers would have been better. He leaves the school as the standard-bearer in several categories.
In all 18 seniors played their last game at Southern, a group that won 27 games.
“It’s a tough situation anytime you lose your last game,” Cavanaugh said. “They’re a great group of seniors and they showed great leadership. They showed great character. They’re going to be some tough guys to replace.”

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rom staff reports
Kevin Lynch hit wide receiver Willie Epps for their third touchdown connection of the day with just three seconds left, as the Southern Connecticut State University football team completed a furious fourth quarter rally to defeat American International 48-47 Saturday at Springfield, Mass.
The Owls were trailing 47-35 with 4:59 remaining and had the ball back at their own 14 after forcing a fumble with the Yellow Jackets on the verge of going up by three scores.
From there, SCSU put together a 13-play, 86-yard drive over the next 3:28, culminated by a 5-yard strike from Lynch to Epps. However, the PAT was no good.
AIC recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove to the SCSU 30, but the Owls stopped the Yellow Jackets by inches on a 4th and 2 to get one more crack at it with 1:07 remaining. Southern Connecticut then marched 70 yards in seven plays with Lynch hitting Epps on a low strike with 3 seconds left to even the score at 47-47. Christopher Hazelton then added the PAT to provide the margin of victory.
Senior running back Rashaad Slowley finished with 141 yards on 30 carries and scored four touchdowns to set a new SCSU single-season mark. The old record was 25, set by Rashaan Dumas in 1998. Slowley now has 26 touchdowns (24 rushing, two receiving) on the year.
Lynch finished 25-of-39 for 430 yards and three touchdowns. He finished just 13 yards shy of the single-game yardage record that he established last year.
Epps had seven catches for 118 yards and three touchdowns, while Andre Privott totaled six catches for 169 yards and also had 86 return yards on the day.
Southern Connecticut improved to 6-2, 5-1 in Northeast-10 Conference play with the win, clinching their 11th straight winning season in the process. AIC is now 4-4, 3-3 in league play.
The Owls jumped out to a 7-0 lead with an effective opening drive. They needed only 2:37 to go 71 yards, and Slowley finished it off with a six-yard scoring run.
AIC scored the next 20 points of the first quarter, but the Owls closed to within six before the frame ended when Lynch found Epps on a 56-yard touchdown reception, followed by Hazelton’s PAT.
The Yellow Jackets then outscored the Owls by a 14-7 margin in the second quarter to carry a 34-21 lead into the break. Slowley’s second score of the day came with three seconds left in the half and helped cut the deficit to 13 at halftime.
Slowley’s third touchdown of the day and tying 25th of the year came early in the third quarter and got the Owls within six at 34-28. The Yellow Jackets quickly answered with a touchdown of their own, but failed on a two-point try, which kept the score at 40-28.
Slowley’s fourth of the afternoon and record-breaking 26th touchdown came with 1:15 left in the third quarter and trimmed the gap to 40-35 after three quarters.
AIC scored just seven seconds into the fourth quarter for a 12-point lead and held the double digit advantage for most of the frame before the furious Owls’ rally.
Sam-uel Johnson had a team-high 12 tackles for the defense, while Gavin Nelson and Jack Petion added nine each.

WALTHAM, Mass. – Trailing 17-7 at halftime, the Southern Connecticut State University football team tallied 24 consecutive points and hung on late for a 31-29 win over Bentley on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference play. The Owls led 31-17 before the Falcons connected on a pair of Hail Mary touchdown passes in the final 30 seconds to close within two points. However, the two-point try was knocked away by the Owls, securing the victory.

The Owls are now 5-2, 4-1 in Northeast-10 Conference play. Bentley dropped to 4-3, 3-2 in league action.

Senior running back Rashaad Slowley (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) added three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) for the Owls to boost his season total to 22. He finished with 102 yards on the ground and added four catches for 73 yards. Quarterback Kevin Lynch was 18-of-28 for 244 yards for the game, but finished 13-of-18 for 188 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Willie Epps (Norwalk, Conn.), Andre Privott (Middletown, Conn.) and Jayson Holt (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) all added three catches, with Epps also hauling in a touchdown that gave the Owls the lead for good.
Down by 10 to start the second half, the Owls took the opening kickoff and quickly marched 73 yards in just seven plays, spanning 2:29. Lynch hit Slowley on a 28-yard touchdown pass, and Christopher Hazelton (Bristol, Conn.) added the PAT to make it 17-14.

Southern Connecticut went ahead for good just 74 seconds into the fourth quarter when Lynch hit Epps on a 46 yard touchdown pass to make it 21-17 after the PAT.

Later in the quarter, Slowley punched in a two-yard run to extend the lead to 28-17 with 9:39 remaining. Hazelton would go on to add a 39-yard field goal to push the score to 31-17 with 2:17 remaining.

Bentley's Bryant Johnson then tried to engineer a stunning comeback, but it fell short. He hit Jeff Hill on a 37-yard Hail Mary with 29 seconds left, and then, after recovering an onside kick, found Hill again from 39 yards out to close within two with five seconds left. However, the Falcons would get no closer.
Bentley actually jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game late in the first quarter. The Owls got on the board when Slowley scored on a one-yard run midway through the second quarter. However, the Falcons used a fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown pass to take a 17-7 lead at the break.

Southern Connecticut returns to action next Saturday when it faces AIC.

After Southern loss to New Haven 59-38 on Friday night, I asked SCSU defensive back Steven Teague what was the difference.
He talked about a couple of missed assignments and then gave New Haven a lot of the credit.
"They're a good team," Teague said. "(Ryan Osiecki's) a good quarterback."
You can say that again.
Osiecki was clearly the difference in the contest and he was picture perfect on his deep balls.
New Haven stayed away from the middle of the field probably trying to avoid SCSU's great linebacker corps. And they threw over the top of Southern's fantastic secondary where the taller UNH receivers made the grabs.
It was a fantastic show by Osiecki and his receivers.
"We're a good team, too," Teague added. "And we'll be back to prove it."

Here was Saturday's game story:

NEW HAVEN — For three quarters the only thing bigger than the hype were the numbers on the scoreboard.
Two teams, separated by a mere couple of miles, displayed the promise of the region’s top Division II programs in a tense battle royale.
But when it was all said and done New Haven quarterback Ryan Osiecki turned a game of “Anything you can do, I can do better” into his personal highlight reel.
Osiecki threw for 423 yards on a precision-like 29-for-37 effort, including three touchdowns, and ran for another score as New Haven rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to clobber Southern Connecticut State 59-38 at Jess Dow Field Friday night.
While the conference implications were heightened by the heated rivalry, which was reflected in a pre-game scuffle well before kickoff, it was the Chargers who took a stranglehold on the Northeast-10 Conference lead and gained an inside track to an NCAA playoff berth.
No. 21 New Haven improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference with its second straight win in the series while Southern falls to 4-2 and 3-1.
New Haven leads the battle for the Elm City Trophy 15-6-1.
“We watched a lot of film on them,” Osiecki said. “As an offense and when it comes to passing, we feel like when we’re clicking we’re extremely hard to stop. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing.
“These are the best games to be a part of. To come out and go back and forth, that’s football. That’s why I love playing it.”
The 12 touchdowns in the game was a new conference record and the majority of them came from the New Haven side. Southern took a 30-17 lead scoring on its first possession of the second half but New Haven went on to outscore them 42-8 the rest of the way to turn a taut affair into a rout.
The turnaround was stunning.
“Osiecki was outstanding,” SCSU coach Rich Cavanaugh said. “We could have played better and I thought our kicking game let us down but Osiecki played so well. You really have to give them credit. We had protection problems with our offensive line but their defensive line played really well.
“We couldn’t sustain anything in the second half and we had to match their scoring. We didn’t do it.”
Osiecki threw a flurry of passes for over 30 yards on the night hitting his tall receivers on deep routes as they towered over the smaller but talented SCSU secondary. Jason Thompson finished with
See UNH, B3
seven catches for 179 yards and Demetrius Washington-Ellison had four catches for 84 yards.
“(Their height) definitely helps,” Osiecki said. “But they’re just complete receivers.”
Said New Haven coach Pete Rossomando: “I think they may have been a little banged up in the secondary. We had Jason Thompson, who just caught fire and Ryan really liked some things out there. We were able to protect him.”
New Haven also got two touchdown runs from tailback Mike DeCaro. Subbing for the injured Victor Jones, DeCaro returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and then scored on runs of 2 and 7 yards in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Osiecki, who had two of New Haven’s four turnovers in the first half with two interceptions, connected with Thompson on touchdown passes of 29 and 12 yards. But it was his 17-yarder to Washington-Ellison in the corner of the end zone at the 11:38 mark of the fourth quarter that gave New Haven the lead for good.
Southern led the game 30-17 early in the third quarter after Rashaad Slowley capped a quick drive with a 22-yard run. Slowley finished with three touchdowns and ran for 184 yards on 24 carries.
“They’re a run, play-action team and it helps when you can make them one-dimensional at times, which wasn’t easy,” Rossomando said. “Slowley is a heck of a running back. He broke a lot of tackles. But we contained him enough that we were able to make plays and get Lynch out of his comfort zone.
“We like to play better defense. But they’re a good offense. They have a good quarterback and their receivers are outstanding. So we knew we were going to have to score some points to win.”
SCSU quarterback Kevin Lynch was battered by the blitzing New Haven defense. Lynch was inaccurate at times and hurried most of the other and threw for 220 yards on 15 of 36 passing. In the wild affair in front of a crowd of 4,204, Lynch threw just one touchdown pass, an 18-yarder to tight end Jerome Cunningham.
It was a forgettable night for the senior signal-caller. Twice Lynch fumbled the ball on sacks and Robert Hill returned one of the fumbles 48 yards for a score that gave New Haven a 31-30 lead. In all Lynch was sacked five times and forced to pull the ball down and run with it on several other occasions.
Osiecki made it 38-30 with a 12 yard keeper late in the third quarter. Southern responded with Slowley’s third touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run and Lynch dove into the end zone to tie the game at 38 with the two-point conversion.
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Rashaad Slowley rushed for 236 of his career-high 288 yards in the second half and scored four touchdowns as the Southern Connecticut State football team rallied from a two-touchdown halftime deficit for a 38-24 win over Assumption in Worcester, Mass., on Saturday.
The Owls (4-1 overall, 3-0 NE-10), who have won four straight, outscored the Greyhounds 31-3 in the second half.
Slowley started things early in the second half with a 71-yard touchdown run on the second play after the break.
On the ensuing Assumption possession, Michael Escobar intercepted a Greyhounds’ pass that the Owls turned into three points on a 33-yard field goal by Christopher Hazelton.
Assumption (1-4, 0-3) countered with a field goal to restore the lead to seven points, but the Owls’ defense kept the Greyhounds off the scoreboard the rest of the day.
Slowley scored on a three-yard run with 4:46 left in the third quarter to tie the score at 24.
The game was still in doubt late in the fourth, but the Owls assembled an 11-play, 83-yard drive over 4:48 that culminated on a five-yard run by Slowley.
Defensive back Kamal Mgaresh put the game out of reach with a 53-yard interception return to make it a 38-24 final.
SCSU quarterback Kevin Lynch finished 20 of 38 for 213 yards. Willie Epps and Andre Privott each had six catches for 95 and 58 yards, respectively.
Davel Campbell led the defense with nine tackles.

By Bill Cloutier
Assistant Sports Editor
bcloutier@nhregister.com
NEW HAVEN — Setting the school record for touchdowns was only half the job for Southern Connecticut State’s Rashaad Slowley last weekend. Convincing his mother that he had indeed broken the mark was the other.
“I scored two touchdowns in the first quarter (and another in the second quarter) but my mom and three of my aunts didn’t get there (midway) through the second quarter,” Slowley said. “After the game my mom came over to me and asked, ‘How’s that a record? I’ve seen you score three touchdowns before.’”
Slowley told her about his big start to the game and watched her wide smile match his equally-large performance. Slowley, a senior, broke the SCSU’s all-time record with six touchdowns in a single game in Southern’s 59-34 win over Saint Anselm’s on Saturday.
The Owls look for their third win in a row when they make their home debut tonight at Jess Dow Field against Pace University .
Slowley deferred most of the credit for his performance to the play of his offensive line and Southern’s balanced offensive attack. But Slowley did have huge aspirations for this season.
“Playing this game you have to have a short-term memory,” Slowley said. “Whether you run for 59 yards in a game or six touchdowns you have to take it one game at a time. Our offense is stating to get into the flow.
“Certain teams like to pack the box to stop the run but coming into this season I think more people were worried about stopping our passing game.”
Slowley said that he was a bit fortunate to score his sixth touchdown because the game was still relatively close. He finished the contest with 205 yards on the ground on 35 carries. Slowley scored on runs of 11 and 7 yards in the first quarter and 4 yards midway through the second quarter. He then scored on runs of 12, 5, and 3 yards in the second half.
“I’m sure if it still wasn’t close I would have come out after scoring four touchdowns it’s just the circumstances of the game,” he said. “But if I was still out there I would try to seven or eight touchdowns. I’m never going to stop trying to score.”
The Owls have certainly rebounded well from its season-opening loss to Central Connecticut State. In that game Southern took the opening possession down the field but the drive stalled at the 1-yard line.
“It’s tough to be an offensive player and get down to the 1-yard line and not get it in,” Slowley said. “It kind of brought back a flashback from last year’s New Haven game. One thing we spoke about this year was to not make the save the same mistakes.”
But Southern has apparently corrected those ails in a hurry. Slowley scored two touchdowns on short runs against Central in a 35-21 loss. He then added another one in a win against West Liberty before hitting pay dirt six times last week.
Said Slowley: “I talked to the team (in the Central game) and said that can’t happen anymore and after that we’ve been doing a good job of getting it in (the end zone). We haven’t been stopped again so far.
“It’s a collective effort.”
Slowley has nine touchdowns on the season rushing for 369 yards on 87 carries.
The Owls (2-1, 1-0 Northeast-10) certainly know the importance of the next few weeks. With a huge conference game against New Haven looming on Oct. 7 Southern has to stay focused on each opponent.
That’s never been a problem for Slowley who relishes the times that his mother, Patricia Williams of Mount Vernon, N.Y., can watch him play.
“It’s always only been just us two,” Slowley said. “I’m an only child and she’s a single mom. We only have each other.
“She’s a registered nurse who is getting her masters so she’s away a lot. There’s been whole seasons when she couldn’t come but when I’m always so happy.”
Saturday’s performance was certainly special for the pair even if his mom didn’t get to see it all.
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