Victory Bowl Invitational

Malone College defeated Geneva College 45-17

The Malone College football team concluded its 2007 season on Saturday evening with a convincing 45-17 win over Geneva (PA) College in the 11th Annual National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Victory Bowl.  The Pioneers trailed 10-7 early in the second quarter but then rattled off 31 unanswered points to take a commanding 38-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.  The host Golden Tornadoes cut into the sizable deficit with an 80-yard, third-quarter touchdown drive before Malone wide receiver Derek Deardorff (Jr., Kenton H.S.) sealed the 45-17 victory after hauling in a 73-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Billy Bob Orsagh (Jr., Eastland, TX).

     Malone racked up 226 rushing yards and 295 passing yards in the contest for a total offensive output of 521 yards.  Geneva, meanwhile, posted 221 yards through the air and 72 yards on the ground for 293 total yards of offense.  The Pioneers dominated time of possession as the squad held the ball for 38:32 compared to 21:28 for Geneva.  Malone also recovered three Golden Tornado fumbles, tallied one interception and, for the first time all season, did not commit a turnover.  With their first Victory Bowl win, the Pioneers wrapped up their 2007 campaign with an 8-4 record, marking the highest win total for the Malone football program since 1996.

     Geneva took an early 7-0 lead in Saturday’s contest after quarterback Bobby Bondi connected with wide-out Ryan Forbes on a 13-yard touchdown pass just over three minutes into the game.  Both offenses struggled to get on track over the next few possessions until a 28-yard punt return by Pioneer wide receiver Tyler Davis (Jr., Teays Valley H.S.) set the Malone offense up with a first-and-ten on the Golden Tornadoes’ 22-yard line.  The Pioneers quickly cashed in on this opportunity as, on the first play of the possession, running back Bernard Payton (Sr., Pomona, CA) rumbled into the endzone.  Place kicker Mike Skvor (Jr., Long Beach, CA) followed Payton’s TD run with an extra point to knot the contest at 7-7 with 3:25 remaining in the first quarter. 

     Geneva retook the lead in the opening minutes of the second frame when kicker Nick DiPietro connected on a 26-yard field goal.  Skvor answered back on Malone’s ensuing drive by drilling a 45-yard kick to tie the game at 10-10 with 11:49 remaining in the first half.  The Pioneers’ offense then kicked into high gear over the remainder of the quarter as the unit found the endzone on each of its next four possessions to take an imposing 38-10 halftime advantage.  This 28-point scoring barrage featured touchdowns on a 20-yard run by Payton, a 39-yard pass from Orsagh to Deardorff, a three-yard run by Payton, and a 15-yard toss from Orsagh to wide receiver Mike Clapham (Sr., Elyria Catholic H.S.).

     Despite being knocked out of the game in the first half after absorbing several ferocious hits, Bondi returned in the third quarter to lead the Golden Tornadoes on a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Parker Nuetzel.  However, Malone extinguished Geneva’s comeback hopes early in the fourth quarter when Orsagh connected with Deardorff on the long TD pass to put the game out of reach at 45-17.

     Payton’s final performance in a Pioneer uniform mirrored what he had consistently done throughout his outstanding two-year career at Malone.  The 6’1”, 205-pound running back carried the ball 40 times in the game for 185 yards and three scores in addition to tallying five catches for 36 yards.  Payton rushed for 100 or more in yards in each of the Pioneers’ final eight games of the season and he gained over 100 rushing yards in 10 of Malone’s 12 games in 2007.  With his remarkable performance this year, he has established new Pioneer records for average rushing yards per game in a season (136.4) and average rushing yards per game for a career (112.7), surpassing the previous marks held by running back Joel Peterson (Peterson averaged 116.5 rushing yards per game during the 2001 season and posted 86.3 rushing yards per game during his four-year career from 2000 to 2003).  In addition, with three scores in Saturday’s contest, Payton tied Norris Petty’s single-season rushing touchdown record with 19 TD’s.  For his efforts in the Victory Bowl, Payton was named the game's Offensive MVP.

     Orsagh completed 16 of his 33 pass attempts for 295 yards and three touchdowns.  With his fourth-quarter TD pass to Deardorff that sealed the victory, Orsagh established a new Malone single-season record for touchdown passes with 24, breaking the previous mark of 23 TD passes set by former Pioneer quarterbacks Brian Magrell and Brad Reifsnyder (Magrell threw 23 TD’s in 1998 and Reifsnyder tied the mark in 2004).

     Deardorff tallied four catches in the contest for 133 yards and two touchdowns.  With this strong performance, the 6’4” wide-out also made an impact on the record book, establishing new single-season marks for touchdown catches and receiving yards.  Deardorff’s 13 TD grabs break the previous record of 11 set by Shane Hostetler in 1998 and his 1118 receiving yards surpass Eric Miller’s 1994 total of 1027 yards (Miller and Deardorff are now the only two Malone receivers to post 1000 or more receiving yards in a single season).  Clapham also made significant contributions for the Pioneer offense as he posted four catches for 82 yards and one touchdown.

     On defense, linebacker Dan Hromada (Sr., Padua Franciscan H.S.) led the way with nine total tackles (seven solo, 0.5 TFL) and was named the Victory Bowl's defensive MVP.  Fellow linebacker Jamal Gambrell (Sr., Maple Heights H.S.) followed with five solo tackles (two TFL) while defensive lineman Ronell Lee (So., Collinwood H.S.) notched five tackles (four solo, three TFL, two sacks) and forced two fumbles.  Other important defensive contributors included defensive back Doug Alford (Jr., St. Peter Chanel H.S.) with four tackles (three solo) and two pass break-ups, defensive back Dennis Thornton (Jr., Shaker Heights H.S.) with four stops (three solo) and one pass break-up and defensive back Eric Hart (Fr., Labrae Local H.S.) with four tackles (one solo), one fumble recovery and one interception.

     On special teams, Tyler Parry (Jr., North Loxahatchee, FL) punted the ball five times for 174 yards with two kicks downed inside the 20-yard line. Davis tallied over 100 return yards in the game with five punt returns for 85 yards and two kickoff returns for 22 yards.

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