STEVENS POINT, Wis. - The Rockford University football team opened its 2013 season at UW-Stevens Point on Saturday night. The Regents entered the game knowing it was going to be a tall task to knock off the Pointers as they may be the best team on the Regents schedule this season.
Rockford fell behind early as the Pointers took advantage of miscues by the Regents offense. The Regents turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions and the Pointers took full advantage scoring touchdowns on each of their next two possessions to grab a quick 14-0 lead. Stevens Point then added another touchdown just before the end of the first quarter to go up 21-0. The Rockford offense finally got going late in the first half courtesy of senior wide receiver Delroy Russell Jr. (Richmond, Calif./Albany). Following an easy reception, Russell shook his defender and turned a simple pitch-and-catch into a 52-yard touchdown. Stevens Point answered right back with a 4-play 61 yard touchdown drive to extend their lead to 28-7 heading into halftime. The Pointers came out of the locker room on fire in second half scoring touchdowns on each of its first three possessions giving them a 49-7 lead and essentially sealing the victory. Rockford would score two late fourth quarter touchdowns, but it was not enough as the Pointers knocked off the Regents by a final score of 49-20.
Despite the loss, Rockford can take numerous positive things from Saturday's game. Perhaps the biggest bright spot came from senior wide receiver Delroy Russell Jr.. Russell was a matchup nightmare for the Pointers all night long. The senior caught 9 passes for a Rockford University record 201 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Russell averaged over 22 yards per reception including hauling in a 52-yard touchdown catch late in the first half and a 12-yard touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter. Fellow senior wide receiver Anastacio Zamba (Berkeley, Calif./Berkeley) reeled in 4 passes for 108 yards including a 74-yard touchdown reception. The quarterback responsible for most of those yards was senior Aabed Nekrawesh (Fremont, Calif./Fremont). Nekrawesh completed 16-29 passes for a career-high 294 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Defensively the Regents were able to force five turnovers but had a difficult time slowing down the high-powered Stevens Point offense. Sophomore Hugo Olivas (Bolingbrook, Ill./Downers Grove South) recovered two of the four UWSP fumbles and had two tackles. Senior linebacker Jinks Arnold (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield North) was also around the ball for much of the afternoon as he forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and made four tackles. The final two turnovers came off a Jared Baldonado (Phoenix, Ariz./Copper Canyon) interception and a fumble recovery by Reginald Haynes (Chicago, Ill./Prosser Career Academy).
The Regents football team returns to the field next Saturday, September 14th against Loras College. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at Sam Greeley Field on the Rockford University campus.
