Edinboro Football: Who stood out on the gridiron?

The Fighting Scots football team fell to 0-1 on Saturday, losing to highly-ranked Grand Valley State, 35-10. Despite the loss, a few Fighting Scots did stand out, primarily on the defensive side.

Time of possession massively favored the Lakers, but the fatigued Edinboro defensive unit was still able to come away with three turnovers. The pressure from the defensive line also forced the Lakers offensive line into a number of false starts.

#17 DeAndre’ Dowdell
DeAndre’ Dowdell, the junior cornerback from Syracuse, New York, left his fingerprints all over the game. Dowdell ended the contest with a total of four tackles, three of them being solo, and a forced fumble. Dowdell also scored the only touchdown of the game for Edinboro. In the third quarter, he jumped the route of a Lakers wide receiver and took an interception back 48 yards for a “pick six.” He capped off his night with a broken-up pass to put the cherry on top of his already stellar performance.

#20 Vicente Arriagada
Vicente Arriagada, redshirt freshman placekicker from Bliss, New York was the only other Scot to put points up on the board. Arriagada drilled a beautiful field goal from 38 yards out to put the Scots on the board when it was still 14-3. The redshirt freshman then knocked in the extra point from Dowdell’s pick-six to give the Fighting Scots that 10th point. He was perfect on the night, splitting the uprights on both of his attempts.

#2 Ta’Nauz Gregory
The 5-foot-8-inch senior wide receiver, from Cathedral Prep in Erie, faced off against the tough secondary of Grand Valley State. The Lakers coach mentioned in a halftime interview how focused the defense was on making sure Gregory didn’t find the end zone. Even against this challenging assignment, Gregory was still able to come down with four receptions and a total of 54 yards. He was also a part of the longest play of the game on offense for the Scots. Gregory corralled a beautiful 36-yard pass from Edinboro quarterback Andrew Tomko, which helped the Scots move the ball downfield.

#14 Aaron Rogers
DeAndre’ Dowdell received some outstanding support in the secondary from fellow corner Aaron Rogers, a redshirt senior from New Jersey. Number 14 seemed to be all over the field throughout the entirety of the football game. Rogers, who is coming off a season-ending injury last season, broke up a game-high three passes. One of these passes was tipped and intercepted by Billy DePaul. Rogers was able to do this after battling through what seemed to be cramps in the second quarter. Edinboro’s corners came into this game and really showcased their abilities.

#1 Josh Boyd
The fifth and final standout Scot was the 5-foot-11-inch junior corner from Linden, New Jersey. Boyd tied for the team lead in solo tackles with five, and also tied for the lead with 11 total tackles. Boyd was one of three Edinboro defensive backs who ended the game with at least one pass break-up; he ended the game with two. He also recovered a fumble for the Scots.

 

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