|
Nkwuo, Sevard team up and dominate
Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/30/00
By NEIL SCHUMAN
STAFF WRITER
COLTS NECK -- After being held out of the first half for what coach
Mike McArthur called a "team reason," Obi Nkwuo was eager to
make an immediate impact in the second half.
And he did with a 25-yard kickoff return that opened a dominating second
half for his Colts Neck teammates and himself yesterday in their 35-7
National Division rout of Keansburg.
Although the Cougars (3-1, 3-1) came up short during their first
possession of the second half, Nkwuo followed an 11-yard run by Mark
Sevard with a 36-yard touchdown run that increased Colts Neck's lead to
14-0. Nkwuo dashed to the right behind Andrew Panico's crunching block,
shed a would-be tackler at the 21 and continued untouched into the end
zone.
"I understood and I was ready to play in this football
game," said Nkwuo, who finished with 133 yards and a pair of
touchdowns on just eight carries. "With my teammates stepping it up
and fighting it out in the first half, I knew I had to do my part. So,
when I went out there, I played my heart out."
Sevard, Nkwuo's bruising partner in the Cougars' Delaware Wing-T
backfield, scored the only touchdown of the first half, when he
intercepted Alex Henn's pass and returned it 24 yards into the end zone
with 8:51 to play in the second quarter.
"Our offense was stalled a bit, so we just made things happen on
defense," said Sevard, a senior fullback/linebacker. "We keep
showing teams that we can play some hard-nosed defense and make plays
happen wherever they come."
The Titans (1-3, 1-3) threatened to even the score on their next
drive, when they marched from their 21 to the Colts Neck 7, thanks
largely to a 33-yard run by Pat Corcoran. But that was when the Cougars
turned in the defensive stand that put them in control for the remainder
of the game. Mike Marziotto stopped Luca Abrusci (24 carries, 128 yards,
one touchdown) for a 2-yard loss. When Henn attempted a bootleg on the
next play, Mike Sarapochillo tripped him up in the backfield for a
10-yard loss. Jesse Stoop then knocked down a pass near the end zone
intended for Frank Puglisi.
"We're just using techniques and doing what we're taught,"
said Sarapochillo, a junior. "We just try to stay positive and work
as a team in those types of situations."
Without Nkwuo there to complement him, Sevard was only able to
generate 17 yards on the ground on six first-half carries. But the
second half was another story, when he touched the ball seven times for
51 yards, including touchdown runs of 7 and 5 yards.
"It's a great feeling to be able to score from both sides (of
the ball)," Sevard said. "I always tell my linebackers coach,
'I'm going to score for you,' so he was kind of happy about that."
After Eric Dowd deflected a punt in the fourth quarter, Nkwuo was
back in business. Aaron Kinsley's pancake block of John Meyers was more
than enough to spring Nkwuo on a 28-yard TD jaunt that ended any hopes
of a Titans comeback.
"(Nkwuo) is electrifying," McArthur said. "Just like
the (New York) Giants have their 'thunder and lightning' with (Ron)
Dayne and (Tiki) Barber, we have it with Sevard and Nkwuo."
from the Asbury Park Press
Published on September 30, 2000
|
