The Georgetown football team (0-2, 0-0 Patriot League) continues to search for a win this season after falling to Dayton (1-0, 0-0 Pioneer League) 23-14 last weekend. In the first meeting between the Hoyas and the Flyers, Georgetown struggled to stop Dayton senior running back Connor Kascar, who rushed for a school-record 307 yards on 34 attempts, averaging 8.9 yards per carry.
“We didn’t tackle well,” said Georgetown Head Coach Rob Sgarlata. “[Kascar] did a good job of running downhill, and we tackled extremely poorly for the game. That’s something that’s a point of emphasis this week.”
Finding themselves down 6-0 early in the second quarter after a pair of Dayton field goals, the Hoyas scored their first touchdown of the 2014 season. Senior running back Daniel Wright’s one-yard touchdown with 3:35 left in the first half put the Hoyas in front for the first time in the game. Wright’s run concluded a methodical 14-play, 69-yard drive for the Blue and Gray.
However, Dayton quickly responded as Kascar’s 34-yard touchdown run sent the Flyers into halftime with a 13-7. Coming out of halftime, Dayton continued their assault as senior quarterback Will Bardo connected with senior wide receiver Branden Johnson on a 19-yard pass with 4:48 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 20-7.
To their credit, the Hoyas didn’t quit, as they responded early in the fourth quarter with a touchdown of their own. A five-yard pass from junior quarterback Kyle Nolan found sophomore wide receiver Justin Hill in the endzone to cut the deficit to 20-14 with 14:07 remaining in the game. The offense, however, couldn’t muster any further effort, as they turned the ball over on downs in their last two possessions without crossing into Dayton territory.
Overall, though, the Hoyas offense improved upon its performance in their season opener against Wagner, where they only managed three points and 204 total yards on offense. Nolan led a balanced passing attack that saw seven different Hoyas tally receptions as he completed 19 of 35 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. And after a non-existing rushing effort against Wagner, the Georgetown running game, led by Wright and junior Jo’el Kimpela, rushed for 100 yards. But Coach Sgarlata knows that if his team wants to win games, they must limit their mistakes and penalties, which proved costly in their past two games.
“We had some bright spots on offense. Kyle Nolan played well at times. Justin Hill is emerging as a legitimate wide-out. Both Daniel Wright and Jo’el Kimpela did good things. But the theme was we didn’t do enough. We had five pre-snap penalties. We had some missed assignments. But those are things you need to eliminate if you want to beat a good team,” Sgarlata said.
Next up for the Hoyas is a road matchup on Saturday at Marist (0-2, 0-0 Pioneer), who also have yet to taste victory. Although Sgarlata acknowledges the challenges that the Red Foxes will pose to his team, he’s only worried about one thing entering this weekend’s contest.
“We’re worried about Georgetown. My big message to the kids was, ‘I don’t really care if we’re playing Marist or Brown or Harvard or Lehigh or Colgate. If we eliminate the penalties and eliminate the drops on offense and tackle better on defense, we’ll be where we want to be.’”
