The Bottom Line

Issue date: 9/20/06 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Jimmy Davis

The Frostburg State football team fell to 0-2 with a 10-7 loss to Randolph Macon at Bobcat stadium on Saturday. It was another tough loss for the Bobcats, but the lack of a passing game was definitely a factor in the loss.

The Bobcats defense played on their heels in the first half, but made big plays when they needed to, keeping the Randolph Macon lead at 3-0. Randolph Macon took the 3-0 lead late in the 2nd quarter on a blocked punt - something that helped bury the Bobcats the week before.

The Bobcats offense wasn't very sharp in the first half as they only mounted 2 drives into potential field goal range only to turn it over on downs. The most questionable drive left the Bobcats with a 4 and 5 deep in Randolph Macon territory and, rather than going for a field goal, a run to the left was called which was stuffed immediately. Junior quarterback Andre Dixon escaped the rush, often breaking off substantial runs - his longest of the day being 34 yards. In the 1st half it was Dixon and junior running back Shanorm Young that carried the offense.

On the 1st drive of the 2nd half, Randolph Macon put the game out of reach with a touchdown, after a 39-yard pass got them to the Frostburg state 1-yard line. Frostburg responded with a huge kickoff return and then Andre Dixon connected with Fred Howze on a 19-yard touchdown just plays after being knocked out of the game.

Frostburg's comeback fell short as the offense fumbled the ball away twice and the offense stalled. But the defense kept it close until the bitter end, only to see themselves lose a heartbreaker. The team looked sharper this time around, but the passing game will have to develop for this team to have any success in the future.

Shanorm Young was the leading rusher racking up 85 yards on 19 carries with Andre Dixon right behind with 71 yards on 16 carries. Dixon was 6-14 for 52 yards in the passing game with 1 touchdown, but he also fumbled the ball away twice. If the passing game develops, this team still has a chance to recover from these 2 early losses because of the stout defense and the punishing running game.

The team will return to action this Saturday at 1:00pm at Bobcat Stadium against an extremely tough SUNY Brockport team. Frostburg will need a very balanced effort to pull out the win in an almost must-win game to avoid falling to 0-3.

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