EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ football team nearly climbed all the way out of a massive hole in Saturday's rivalry clash with Rowan, but came up just a few plays short in a 44-30 NJAC setback.
 
The Lions (6-2, 3-2) trailed by 24 in the fourth quarter of a contest that featured a hook-and-lateral touchdown by both sides, climbing back to within 38-30 on their own fourth-down trick-play score with 7:50 still to go. The Profs, however, put the game away with a 9-play, 71-yard touchdown march.
 
Rowan (5-2-1, 3-2), whose only two losses are by eight in double-TO to top-10 Christopher Newport and by three to top-10 Salisbury, came out firing and took the opening possession 72 yards in five plays for a quick 7-0 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run by Nunes Bukula IV.
 
Back came the Lions, who used a 33-yard push pass from Dean Licari to Alex Dille to convert a third-and-long and a succeeding 34-yard connection between those same two players to set up Joe Visaggio's 1-yard plunge into the end zone on fourth down.
 
The Profs continued to move down the field with ease, traversing 82 yards on 16 plays and going back in front for good on a 4^th-and-1 score by Bukula. The visitors tacked on a short field goal after a bad snap gave Rowan the ball inside the Lions' red zone.
 
The score appeared all set to remain at 17-7 at half, but the Profs had a trick up their sleeve. On the final play of the half from the 33-yard line, Nate Maiers completed a pass to Michael Zarfati, who lateraled to Luke Hoke at the 20 for a shocking touchdown as time expired with Rowan suddenly ahead 24-7.
 
The Lions didn't even need a scrimmage play to get right back within 10. Albert D'Alessandro III gave the blue and gold a huge shot in the arm with a 95-yard touchdown return to open the second half, sprinting untouched into the end zone to make it 24-14 with the extra point.
 
Rowan, however, seized control right back with touchdowns on each of its next two possessions, the last a 23-yard pass from Nate Maiers to Bukula to cap an 11-play, 90-yard drive and extend the lead to 38-14 with 2:47 left in the third.
 
The Lions had plenty of fight life. Visaggio rumbled 24 yards up the gut for his second touchdown run of the afternoon, and Max DiPietro scored on an option toss to convert the 2-point try and make it a two-score game at 38-22 with 14:10 remaining.
 
A sack by Jameson Sessa forced Rowan to punt, and the Lions got within one score on their own hook-and-lateral as Dille caught the hook route before handing off to Erik Garv for the 17-yard touchdown on 4^th-and-11. Visaggio's run for the 2-point conversion was successful, and all of a sudden it was a 38-30 affair with 7:50 still to play.
 
Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to get the stop they needed, and a big third-down completion from Maiers to Michael Zarfati set up Tyshawn Bookman's 5-yard touchdown to provide the final score with 1:53 left.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Rowan held huge advantages in total offense (504-217) and first downs (28-12)
• The Profs were 6-of-12 on third down
• The teams combined to go 7-for-7 on fourth downs, with TCNJ converting four and Rowan three
• TCNJ was penalized twice for 15 yards, while the Profs had eight infractions costing them 96 yards

FOR THE FOES

• Bukula IV had 64 yards and two scores on the ground and caught six passes for 65 yards and a third TD
• Maiers was 21-of-30 for 238 yards and two touchdowns to one interception
• Bookman carried 15 times for 80 yards and a TD
• Zarfati had game highs in receptions (7) and receiving yards (112)

STANDOUT LIONS

• Visaggio picked up 64 yards on 13 carries and scored twice, running his team-leading rushing TD total to nine
• Dille hauled in four receptions for a career-high 95 yards
• Justin Kurc led the Lions with 10 tackles and notched his sixth interception of the season
• Sam Kuhns and Dave Giulian had nine tackles apiece
• Sessa racked up three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks to go with a pass breakup
• Dylan Patscher had seven tackles, a pass break-up, and also blocked an extra point - the Lions' sixth blocked kick of the season

NOTES

• D'Alessandro registered TCNJ's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Matt Chieri's 91-yard run-back in 2012
• Visaggio's nine rushing TDs are tied for eighth in a single season in TCNJ history
• Kurc's six INTs are tied for the fifth-most in a single season, and the senior now has 11 picks for his career
• Sessa went over 100 total tackles for his career, and the senior now has 14.5 sacks
• Giulian is now two tackles shy of 200 for his TCNJ tenure
• Ryan Gill now has exactly 1,300 career receiving yards

UP NEXT

• The Lions head to Montclair State for their road finale next Saturday