MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Senior wide receiver
Dwaine Barber (Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah Gardens) scored three touchdowns on seven receptions as the Gators scored early and often to give
Rich Nagy his first win as a head coach in a 49-0 triumph over Kenyon.
Barber scored on strikes of 53, 7 and 86 yards, with his first TD making it 14-0 with under a minute left in the first quarter. His final two scores were the only markers of the second half as the seven-yarder came at the 4:14-mark of the third quarter and then 86-yard bomb was with 25 seconds in the same period. In total, the 6-6 senior recorded a career-best 182 yards on his seven grabs, besting his previous career high of 131 from last season at Kenyon.
For Nagy, a coach with an extensive history on the defensive side of the ball, it was appropriate that his first career victory as a head coach came in a shutout. It was the first shutout for the Blue & Gold since the Gators blanked Hiram, 13-0, on Nov. 10, 2012. Even moreso, Allegheny yielded just 170 yards of total offense and Kenyon ran 47 plays, both also the lowest since the Hiram game in 2012 when the Terriers got off 42 snaps and 110 yards. On Saturday, the Lords totaled just 67 yards on the ground and barely snuck past the century mark with 103 yards through the air.
On the flip side of the coin, Allegheny was clicking all day on offense, not turning the ball over once and racking up 512 yards on 77 plays. Of that, 202 yards came on 48 rushes and 310 yards over 23-of-29 passes.
Nazareth Greer (Apache Junction, Ariz./Marcos De Niza) completed 78.6 percent of his passes, going 22-for-28, for 305 yards (his fourth career 300-yard, and third this season) and matching his season and career high with five scoring strikes. His favorite target on the day was once again
Alex Victor (Miami, Fla./G. Holmes Braddock), who caught 10 passes despite being a decoy often. The fourth North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) receiver to go over 3,000 career yards, racked up 61 on this day and his 34th career touchdown through the air. On the ground,
Tonye Hamilton (Richmond Heights, Ohio/Richmond Heights) led the home squad with 79 yards on 21 carries.
Austin French (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver Falls) ran the ball four times, scored twice and racked up 49 yards and
Trey Adams (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) ran for 39 yards on 14 attempts.
French started the scoring in the first quarter with a six-yard run at 9:22 before Barber's first score of the day made it 14-0 after one quarter. The Gators found paydirt three times in the second period, with the first being a 15-yard pass from Greer to Victor at 8:35 and
Ben Bachik (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) corralling an eight-yard pass from Greer at 6:08. The first-half scoring concluded when French ran in for the second time, this one a three-yard jaunt with 24 seconds to play in the half that sent Allegheny into the locker room up, 35-0.
With so few plays run by Kenyon, tackles were at a premium and three Gators tied for the team lead at four stops.
Kyle McGee (Manilus, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manilus),
Chase Balla (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) and
Hudson Alread (Victor, N.Y./Victor) each posted four stops, with McGee having a TFL and Balla registering a half sack.
Darian Parrish (Princeton, Fla./Miami Palmetto) had a solo and assisted tackle, both of which were of the quarterback for 1.5 sacks.
Quinten Hunt (Buckeye, Ariz./Buckeye) had three tackles and four pass breakups, which ranks in the top 20 in NCAA Division III so far this year.
Allegheny improves to 1-5 on the year and 1-4 in the conference, while Kenyon drops to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the NCAC. The Gators will travel to Greencastle, Ind., and DePauw on Saturday, Oct. 26 for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Tigers.
