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FINAL STATS

HIGHLIGHTS

Photo Above: Otis Wright (9) streaks toward his 90-yard kickoff return for a TD behind a convoy led by Josh Talbott.
Photo by David Saffran

Staten Island, NY – Senior quarterback Nick Doscher (Staten Island, NY/ Moore Catholic) completed 12-of-17 passes for 228 yards, junior running back Dominique Williams (Bridgeton, NJ/ Milford Academy) rushed for 112 yards on 23 carries and senior linebacker Mike Lombardo (Jupiter, FL/ Jupiter Christian) led a fierce defensive effort with nine tackles, to lead Wagner to a 23-13 Homecoming Day win over Robert Morris.

In recording their first five-game Northeast Conference (NEC) winning streak since the formation of the league in 1996, Wagner
improved to 5-3 overall, 5-1 in the NEC. With the loss, the Colonials are now 2-6, 1-4 in the NEC.

The five-game winning streak is the longest overall since 1994 and sets up a showdown with Albany on Saturday, November 3 at 1:00 pm. The Great Danes, traditional NEC kingpins, survived as scare from Sacred Heart before pulling out a 23-20 victory.
 
Albany at 7-0 overall, 5-0 in the NEC, will enter Saturday's showdown one half game ahead of the Seahawks in the league standings. Wagner is 1-12 all-time vs. Albany, with the victory coming via a 38-30 shoot-out in 2000. Monmouth's 28-27 win over Duquesne makes Wagner the only team in the NEC with one league loss.
 
Sophomore sensation Otis Wright (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Dillard) set the tone early in this one, returning the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. For Wright, who entered the game ranked third in the nation in kickoff return average (31.57), it marked the second kickoff he has taken back all the way this season. On September 15, the 5-10, 180-pound blazer, had an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown vs. Monmouth. As a team, Wagner entered the game ranked number one in the nation in kickoff returns (28.19).

The Seahawks would build the lead to 13-0 at the half on a pair of field goals by senior kicker David Lopez (Plantation, FL/ Heritage), the first a 32-yarder with 13:20 left in the half made it 10-0 and the latter, a 33-yard boot as time expired in the opening half, gave Wagner the 13-0 bulge and momentum at intermission.
 
Midway through the third quarter, Wagner took over backed up against their own11-yard line following a 44-yard Tony Mancusa punt. Williams immediately got the Seahawks out of the hole with an 11-yard burst. The play set up a methodical, well-executed and time-consuming 17-play, 89-yard drive that was capped by a Doscher one-yard TD plunge. The 9:33 march provided Wagner with a commanding 20-0 edge.
 
On the very first play of the ensuing drive, Seahawk sophomore cornerback Jarrett Dieudonne (Fort Lauderdale, FL/ Dillard/Purdue) picked off RMU quarterback Jeff Sinclair, near midfield and returned it 26 yards to the Colonials' 26. The big defensive play led to a 27-yard Lopez field goal to make it 23-0 with 10:41 left. Robert Morris would tack on 13 points on a pair of Sinclair TD passes and did recover an onsides kick in the waning minutes. But the Seahawk defense stiffened as Wagner went on to its fifth straight victory.
 
Annually at Homecoming, two Wagner College football players are selected to receive special awards for outstanding play. The James Robb Memorial Trophy is presented to the outstanding offensive player, while the Nick Lia Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Seahawks' outstanding defensive player. Established in 1949, the Robb Trophy was named in memory of James Robb who was killed in action during World War II. In 1969, the Lia Trophy was introduced in honor of another Wagner football player, Nick Lia, who was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
 
This year's Robb Offensive Player of the game trophy went to Doscher for the second time in his career as he took home the award as a freshman in 2009. The Lia Defensive Player of the Game trophy went to Lombardo, who paced the Seahawk defense with a team-high nine tackles. For the Floridian, it marked the second consecutive season he has copped the award.