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Football Falls 35-19 At NAIA 25th Ranked Malone University In Opener
CANTON, OHIO - The Apprentice School opened its 2009 football season playing next door to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and fell to NAIA 25th-ranked Malone 35-19 at Fawcett Stadium on Saturday.
Junior Markus McFolling opened the scoring for the Pioneers closing out a 64-yard scoring drive with an 11-yard scamper at the 7:15 mark to give the hosts a 7-0 lead. Apprentice School tied the game late in the first quarter as senior Sam Arnold closed an 11-play, 68-yard drive with a 21-yard scoring run with 18 seconds left in the quarter.
The Pioneers' freshman quarterback Steve Brohl then pushed Malone up 21-7 on a pair of scoring passes. His first connection was to Ryan Murphy for a 19-yard touchdown with 13:23 left in the half. He then found Derrick McLean on a 24 yard scoring pass with 4:51 left for the 21-7 advantage.
Phil Caralla, Apprentice School's senior quarterback, brought the Builders to within 21-14 as he connected with junior Bryan Cain on a 24-yard scoring pass where Cain stretched out past the defender for the touchdown pass with 2:03 left.
Malone scored twice in a three minute span of the third quarter to get a working margin of 35-14, both scores coming on Brohl touchdown passes. The first was a two-yard pass to Jeff Perri with 9:35 left, while he threw his fourth of the game to Jason Malone on a 31-yard strike with 6:20 remaining.
The Builders took advantage of a strong punt from freshman Thomas Mason who pinned the Pioneers' on its one-yard line. Two plays later the defense forced Brohl to step out of the end zone for a safety to cut the deficit to 35-16.
Following the free kick, Apprentice School went on a four minute drive that ended as Mason hit a school-record tying 44-yard field goal with 13:37 left in the game for the final score of the day. He now shares that record with Richard Mancuso who hit a 44-yard field goal against Wingate on November 15, 1986.
Arnold was the leading rusher for the Builders with 79 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown. Caralla threw for 117 yards completing 7-of-18 for one touchdown. The defense did force two fumbles by Malone, which were the only turnovers in the game.
Next up for the Builders will be a trip to Wise, Va. and a 1:30 pm matchup with UVA Wise Cavaliers on September 12.
