Box Score Box score

Morrisville, NY … The College of New Jersey football team possessed the ball, caused turnovers, and produced on offense as they knocked off Morrisville State College 30-6 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up.

The win was the second of the season for TCNJ (2-4, 2-3 NJAC) and the 198th career victory for head coach Eric Hamilton.

The defense came up with big plays once again picking off six passes, including two by junior defensive back Derek Goreczny (Somerville, NJ/Hunterdon Central). The defense held the Mustangs to 221 total yards, limiting them to 91 through the air.

Lions junior quarterback James Donoghue (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) threw for a touchdown and ran in another score as TCNJ racked up 338 rushing yards on offense. Senior running back Michael Yetka (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) led the offense with 16 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Nicholas Tyson (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Boro) also ran for 90 yards, and sophomore running back Joe Falco (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township) pounded away for 76 yards and a touchdown.

The Lions stormed out of the gate quickly as defensive back Goreczny intercepted a pass in game's opening drive to give TCNJ possession from its own 48 yard line. On the first offensive play from scrimmage, Falco rumbled 48 yards to the Mustangs 9-yard line. Sophomore Tyler Olsson (Kendall Park, NJ/South Brunswick) split the uprights from 28 yards to give the Lions an early 3-0 lead.

Still in the opening quarter, Mustang quarterback Joe Shue (Phoenix, NY/G Ray Bodley) was victimized by the TCNJ secondary again as senior Dean Misiura (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) picked off a pass and raced 47 yards on the return to the MSC 10. Two plays later, Donoghue ran the ball into the end zone from 9 yards out to increase the lead to 10-0.

TCNJ went up 16-0 with 8:56 remaining in the first half when Donoghue connected with sophomore William Friedrich (Berlin, NJ/East Stroudsburg South) on a 22-yard scoring strike. The touchdown capped off a nine-play, 62-yard scoring drive. The first seven plays of that series the Lions kept the ball on the ground as Tyson carried three times for 17 yards and two first downs.

The Mustangs finally got going on the ensuing drive when Shue hit Ricky Carlson (Kingston, NY/Kingston) with a 29-yard pass to move into Lions territory. But TCNJ's defense came up big again. Junior linebacker Michael Lambert (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) broke up a pass on third and five from the TCNJ 10 yard line, forcing MSC to settle for a field goal. Linebacker Greg Burns (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) blocked the 27-yard attempt, however, and the Lions maintained the 16-0 lead.

The teams traded interceptions before the intermission as Goreczny plucked his second pass of the half and third of the season.

Yetka sent out his official 2010 calling card as he pushed the Lions lead to 23-0 in the third quarter with a nine-yard touchdown run. Yetka, who entered the game 195 yards shy of 1,000 career rushing yards, is now 103 yards shy of that milestone.

The Mustangs finally got on the board with 5:34 remaining in the third when back-up quarterback LeMar Johnson hit Kyle Gordan (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead) with a 19-yard pass for a touchdown. But the celebration was short-lived as Lambert nabbed TCNJ's fifth interception of the game and returned it 43 yards to the Morrisville four yard line. Falco carried the ball in on the next play, making it a 30-6 game.

Senior Matthew Kreider (Delran, NJ/Delran) also had an interception and led the defense with eight tackles, which was matched by Burns. Junior Shawn Brown (Long Branch, NJ/Long Branch) snared the sixth and final interception of the day and also had a pair of tackles.

The Lions are now plus-11 in turnovers this season.

TCNJ remains on the road traveling to Buffalo State on Saturday, October 23. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff. The Lions return home on Saturday, November 6th against Kean University, which is also Take a Kid to a Game Day.