Albany, N.Y. - Quarterback Dan Di Lella passed for 102 yards and one touchdown, all in the second half, as the offense rallied for a 65-48 victory over the defense in the University at Albany's spring football intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday, April 9 at University Field. The scrimmage used a modified scoring system that allowed both sides of the football to accumulate points in order to determine a winner.
The Great Danes' defensive unit built a 22-13 halftime lead by scoring points off stopped drives and forcing two missed field goals. But Di Lella helped the offense rebound after the break. He combined with wide receiver Ryan Kirchner on a 40-yard pass-and-run completion. The 6-foot-5 signal-caller then delivered perfect 20-yard touchdown strike on a post pattern to Kevin Chillis. Di Lella completed 8 of 15 attempts in the contest.
The second offensive unit kept the momentum rolling, when Jake Meek, a freshman quarterback, found Jameel Gay with a 39-yard scoring pass over the top of the defense. UAlbany's offense took a 34-30 lead at that point and built on that margin the rest of the way. Tailback Dillon Romain, last year's Northeast Conference Offensive Rookie of the Year, added touchdown runs of four and two yards.
"We eliminated penalties and missed assignments in the second half," said Kirchner, who hauled in five passes for 77 yards. "We got down to the fundamentals and everything started to click. We relaxed and slowed down, so we could run our up-tempo offense."
Romain finished with 32 rushing yards on 13 attempts. Chillis, a wide receiver who will be a sophomore in the fall, had four receptions for 27 yards. He added 93 yards on the ground, including a dazzling 69-yard scamper on a reverse.
"We had big plays on offense, but lacked consistency and had a slew of penalties," said UAlbany coach Bob Ford, who held starting quarterback Buddy Leathley from the scrimmage due to a hand injury. "We have the nucleus of a pretty good football team. They have competed and worked hard throughout the spring."
Paw Prints: The Great Danes' defense will have more duties on UAlbany's Campus Clean-Up Day (Tuesday, April 26) based on the scrimmage outcome ... UAlbany finishes spring practice on Monday, April 11 with a 3:00 p.m. workout ... QB Will Fiacchi, a true freshman, completed 11 of 14 passes for 93 yards ... redshirt freshman Corey Smith, a defensive end, totaled six tackles, including 1.5 sacks, and recovered one fumble ... ILB Jake Dwyer recorded an interception and made six tackles ... DT Ocieka Bakou, DT Zach Gallo, DE Mike Smith and DE Zach Morton each had one sack ... Dave Plungas, last year's leading tackler, had three stops and broke up a pass ... TB Ben Miseikis rushed five times for 22 yards and had four receptions for 60 yards.
