By Bill Cloutier
NEW HAVEN — Trailing Saint Anselm by double digits in the fourth quarter, the Southern Connecticut State football team was staring at 0-5.

That’s about the time SCSU running back Vaughn Magee said enough is enough.

Vaughn Magee scored 4 TDs on Saturday

Magee gained 187 of his career-high 297 yards in the fourth quarter as SCSU rallied for a 45-34 victory in a Northeast-10 Conference game at Jess Dow Field Saturday. The total was an NCAA Division II record for the most yards in a quarter.

“I thought Vaughn really carried us,” SCSU coach Rich Cavanaugh said. “When we needed the big play, Vaughn was the guy to make the play.”

Magee scored three of his four touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help Southern (1-4, 1-2 NE-10) reverse a 34-23 deficit in the final 11 minutes. He scored on runs of 25, 44 and 26 yards in the final quarter and also had Southern’s first TD of the game, an 11-yard run in the first.

“We didn’t give up,” Magee said. “We were down double digits, but we talked at the half that we’ve been in bad situations like this before. We have to keep our heads up. I just wanted to win so badly. I wasn’t giving up.”

Magee said he told the coaching staff to give him the ball down the stretch.

“I told them I believe in this line, let’s keep running,” Magee said. “The guys were telling me, ‘Come my way.’ The receivers were saying the same thing.”

Said Cavanaugh: “We figured he had the hot hand so we’d stay with him, and we really needed him in the fourth quarter. And the defense finally dug in. They were put in a hard situation, but they shut them down and got the ball back for us. Then we were able to get settled down offensively and came up with a win.”

The first half was full of miscues typical of 0-4 teams. There were dropped passes, numerous penalties, a missed field goal and a safety. Just when it looked as though the Owls would take a lead into the break after getting a 25-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Jablonski to Jayson Holt with 1:41 left, the Hawks drove the length of the field and Shea Cerio booted a 25-yard field goal to give Saint Anselm (0-5, 0-3) 17-16 advantage.

Jablonski opened the second half with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Willie Epps to give the Owls a 23-17 lead, but the game changed drastically soon after.

Making his first collegiate start, Saint Anselm freshman quarterback Andrew Murphy threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to Justin Bernard as Bernard broke away from a pair of SCSU defenders before midfield. Jablonski then immediately threw an interception and Murphy responded with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ahkeem Williams.

Murphy finished 29 of 43 for 405 yards, just three yards short of the school record. Bernard grabbed 13 passes for a school-record 226 yards. Cerio then made it 17 straight points for the Hawks with a 29-yard field goal to start the fourth quarter.

But Southern didn’t quit, and the Hawks didn’t score again.

“It was a good lesson for the guys,” Cavanaugh said. “We always tell them you have to keep playing the game, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Said Magee: “When you’re down you can’t start pointing fingers at one another. I was telling them that we’ve been in this predicament before. We can’t get this loss.”

Jablonski finished 21-for-36 for 292 yards and two touchdowns for SCSU, which visits Pace next weekend.

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Indiana (Pa.) runs over Southern


From staff reports

Harvie Tuck and Montay Green both rushed for over 100 yards to lead Indiana (Pa.) to a convincing 33-6 win over visiting Southern Connecticut State in the season opener for both teams Saturday afternoon in Indiana, Pa.

Tuck totaled 185 yards on 28 carries and Green had 101 on 20 carries and both scored touchdowns as the Crimson Hawks totaled 301 yards on the ground in the win.

The IUP defense was equally impressive, allowing the Owls to gain just 192 yards of total offense and seven first downs. Southern Connecticut was limited to 47 rushing yards on 26 attempts by the stingy IUP defense.

Indiana built a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter and never looked back. Green scored from three yards to give the Crimson Hawks a 7-0 lead. Tuck scored in the second quarter on a 23-yard run to make it 14-0.

Southern cut the deficit to 14-6 on its next possession. The Owls used back-to-back 19-yard pass plays, as quarterback Jake Jablonski hooked up with Jayson Holt and Jerome Cunningham, to get down to the IUP 34. After an 8-yard run by Vaughn Magee, Jablonski scrambled for 16 yards. He then connected with Carlton Staggars for a 6-yard touchdown, but the extra point was blocked. SCSU never scored again.

Indiana got a 42-yard field goal from Brett Ulman on the final play of the first half to take a 17-6 lead into the break.

Indiana quarterback Pat Smith added a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and later hooked up with Tyler Dummermuth on a 51-yard scoring pass. The Crimson Hawks closed the scoring when backup SCSU quarterback Bobby Lippincott was tackled in his own end zone after he couldn’t handle a snap from center.

The win was the seventh straight season-opening win for the Crimson Hawks, including a pair of wins over SCSU in 2009 and 2010. The victory also gave IUP a 7-0 lead in the all-time series with the Owls, which dates back to 1984.

Magee finished with 28 yards on 14 carries to lead the ground game for Southern Connecticut. Staggars tallied three catches for 46 yards and the touchdown. Jablonski was 9 of 12 for 62 yards and a touchdown while Lippincott went 5-for-10 for 83 yards and an interception.

Southern Connecticut is back in action Saturday for its Northeast-10 Conference opener at Stonehill.

NEW HAVEN — Every season it seems like the Southern Connecticut State feature running back gets better and better.

Running back Rashaad Slowley may have been the best of the lot. Slowley gained 1,624 yards on 274 carries last season, scoring a school-record 27 touchdowns. He followed the likes of Jarom Freeman, who set the national record with 418 yards rushing in a single game and was one of five different backs to rush for at least 1,500 yards in a season in the past decade.

Vaughn Magee will be the No. 1
back at SCSU this season

Next up is Vaughn Magee. Talk about some big shoes to fill.

Magee is a junior from Mastic Beach, N.Y., who’s seen limited action in his first two years with the club. He has, however, made the most of his opportunities. As a sophomore Magee played in three games, finishing with 18 carries for 160 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard touchdown run.

Magee’s most extensive playing time in his first two seasons has come against Pace. Serving as a replacement in a pair of Owls’ routs, Magee looked explosive. He will team with J.W. Forte in SCSU’s new-look backfield.

“Magee and Forte are two solid backs,” SCSU coach Rich Cavanaugh said. “They both work hard and they understand the offense. They have speed and can run and catch the ball. They’re just solid players.”

Magee knows this is his opportunity.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this chance,” Magee said. “I’m not thinking about it as being the feature back. I don’t care about the numbers or all the hype. I just want to win.

“I haven’t played in a lot of games, but I’ve been working out real hard. I’m looking to come out strong and I think (as a team) we can really do it this year. I think every one is sleeping on us, but I think we’re going to shock some people. The whole team is out here to try and make things happen.”

Magee took a realistic approach to prepare for his new role.

“Honestly, what I did was eat a lot,” he said. “I came in at 175 pounds my first year and now I’m 203. I’ve done a lot of lifting and running. I watched how much pounding that (Slowley) took and he was around 210 or 215.

Magee maintained his quickness by attending speed classes three times a week. He said the last time he was timed he ran a 4.45 in the 40-yard dash, and thinks he’s even quicker now.

Jack Mallis is also in the mix in the backfield. Mallis returned from offseason knee surgery necessitated by an injury he suffered in the spring game. Mallis looks to be the No. 3 back behind Magee and Forte. Mallis tore ligaments in his knee, but looked powerful at Monday’s scrimmage.

SCSU opens the schedule on Sept. 1 at Indiana (Pa.). The Owls were picked second in the Northeast-10 Conference preseason poll.

“I believe we can win it,” Magee said. “We just have to work hard and start fast.”

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