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PITTSBURGH – Shadyside’s Erik Cwalinski did his best John Elway impersonation here Saturday afternoon.
Elway, the former NFL great with Denver, authored one of the game’s greatest drives during the 1986 AFC Championship Game at Cleveland.
In the final five minutes of regulation, starting from his own two-yard line, Elway drove Denver 98 yards to a game-tying touchdown, forcing overtime.
An ensuing field goal broke the Browns’ heart and elevated Elway and his team to the Super Bowl.
The stakes were not nearly as high for Cwalinski, Robert Morris University’s starting senior quarterback who faced equally long odds against Bucknell at Joe Walton Stadium.
Still, the scenario was similar Saturday with Cwalinski and RMU’s Colonials at their 10-yard line with less than two minutes remaining and no time outs to work with.
Four clutch Cwalinski completions and two major penalties whistled against the Bison would lead to one blue-darter of a finish.
When Bucknell was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, RMU was in business, two yards from a potential game-winning six-pointer.
Cwalinski took the snap and following a short drop, found no teammate open. The 6-3, 220-pound QB suddenly saw a flash opening and darted for the goal line.
Two Bison defenders converged and nailed Cwalinski inches short of the goal line. “It had to be a foot or less,” he grimaced after the outcome.
A second down handoff to diving tailback Myles Russ appeared good for the game-winner. But, hold on, Robert Morris was guilty of a false start, moving the ball just outside the five.
With 20 ticks to play, Cwalinski twice failed to connect on near-miss end zone throws. That brought about fourth down and Walton immediately sent out reliable Garrett Clawson for what amounted to a chip-shot field goal for a tie and overtime.
But Bucknell junior Jason Davis – all five-foot seven inches of him – broke through and got a hand on Clawson’s attempt. Game over. Cwalinski and RMU were smitten, 17-14.
“It probably never should have come down to that,” bemoaned Walton, the former head coach of the New York Jets. “We made three turnovers and had way too many yards in penalties (80). That’s just too much to overcome.”
The loss was certainly bittersweet for Cwalinski whose aerial numbers (15-of-25 for 265 yards, one TD and no picks) were good enough to prevail on another day.
But the ex-Tiger had endured an earlier blind-side hit, forcing a fumble and turnover. That led to a 26-yard halfback option pass to the house for what proved the decisive points.
“The turnovers were killers,” Cwalinski confessed. “I thought we moved the ball pretty well overall. Things just didn’t work out (in the end). We’ll put this one behind us.”
A week earlier, Cwalinski was 16-of-26 for 225 yards and a TD in Colonials’ season-opening 27-13 win against Morehead State. Next Saturday, Robert Morris faces its first road test at Dayton, another non-conference encounter before opening Northeast Conference play at home in two weeks against Monmouth.
“Our goal is to win the NEC and we feel it’s realistic,” Cwalinsli stated. “We lost some leading receivers (from last season) but this year’s group is coming along.”
In Saturday’s loss, senior Sherrod Evers made seven grabs for 118 yards and a TD. The six-pointer opened the game’s scoring and came on a backyard dial-up call, a double pass with Cwalinski hitting Evers on a 43-yard streak.
But RMU was its own worst enemy, roughing Bucknell’s kicker which led to a second chance and first half-ending 44-yard three pointer for a 10-7 Bison lead. The Colonials then coughed up all three of their fumbles in the second half.
“About all you can say is we beat ourselves,” Walton declared.
GAME NOTES
BUCKNELL’S radio play-by-play voice is former Guernsey County air personality Doug Birdsong who previously worked at Cambridge’s WILE-FM. Birdsong doubles as Bison basketball announcer. He’ll get a chance to visit eastern Ohio this hoops’ season when Bucknell plays a regular season game at Ohio University in Athens. During Saturday’s broadcast, Birdsong noted Cwalinski’s Shadyside ties and gave props to the OVAC for producing hundreds of collegiate athletes…
CWALINSKI is in his third year as starter at the Moon Township-area based school. During Saturday’s game, he went over the 5,000-yard career passing mark and has 37 TD connections…..