Ewing, NJ ….. Led by a stingy defense, The College of New Jersey football team picked up its first win of the season with a 7-2 decision over Southern Virginia University on Saturday.
 
The win was also the initial victory for Lion head coach Wayne Dickens as his team moved to 1-2 on the season.
 
The loss squared Southern Virginia's record at 2-2.
 
Defense stole the show for the Lions holding the Knights to less than 100 yards of total offense. Against the rush, TCNJ dominated holding Southern Virginia to minus-five yards on 29 attempts. Senior defensive lineman Patrick Kimball (Seaville, NJ/Ocean City) was a big part of that number, recording three of the team's six sacks.  Kimball also led the team in solo tackles with five with each of them resulting in losses.
 
The Lions also held the Knights to only five first downs in the game, including zero in the opening half.
 
Senior Sean Clark (Mays Landing, NJ/St. Joseph's Hammonton) anchored TCNJ's defensive unit with a team-leading eight tackles.
 
All of the scoring took place in the opening half with the Knights getting on the board first.  Those points came with the Lions pinned on their own one-yard line and Knight linebacker Dakoda Winsor (West Richland, WA/Hanford) stopped a TCNJ ball carrier in the end zone for a safety. That stop gave Southern Virginia a 2-0 lead with 5:46 left in the first quarter.
 
The Lions broke through in the closing seconds of the half on a 12-yard pass from quarterback Chris Paladino (East Hanover, Hanover Park) to running back Brandon Brocklehurst (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central). That touchdown strike came just 27 seconds before the half and following a successful point after by Evan Costello (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) the hosts led 7-2. TCNJ needed only 58 seconds to cover 37 yards on the scoring drive.
 
Southern Virginia had one last chance to take the lead in the final minute and drove to the Lion 34, but once again the defense stepped up for TCNJ forcing the Knights to turn the ball over downs with 1:21 remaining.
 
Sophomore Brad Young (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) topped the Lions with 63 yards on the ground on 13 attempts.
 
Paladino was an efficient 7-for-13 for 51 yards through the air with a touchdown and chipped in with 34 rushing yards.
 
On defense for the Knights, Robert Robbins (Glendale, AZ/O'Connor) had a solid game with 11 tackles, while Matthew Gregory (Staunton, VA/Buffalo Gap) had 10.
 
The Lions return to New Jersey Athletic Conference on Friday, October 4 hosting Montclair State University at 7:30 p.m. in Lions' Stadium. The Knights are back on the field on Saturday, October 12, hosting Warner College at 1 p.m.
 
Coach to Cure MD
This Saturday marked the sixth annual Coach To Cure MD. Coach To Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), a professional organization for over 10,000 college football coaches and staff, and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), the largest national charity devoted exclusively to Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
 
In 2008 the AFCA adopted PPMD's Coach To Cure MD program as one of their charity efforts. One reason the AFCA was drawn to Coach To Cure MD was because of the unique parallels between Duchenne, a disorder which robs young men of precious muscle strength and college football, a game where young men are at the peak of their muscle strength.