Sept. 18, 2007

By Billy Orndorff

Lewisburg, PA - The La Salle University junior varsity squad dropped a tightly contested game against the Bucknell JV's 26-19 on Sunday. The younger Explorers didn't win the game, but they showed promise of good things to come for the future of program in all phases of the game.

"We didn't win, but anyone who was there saw with their own eyes that we controlled the football game." commented head football coach Tim Miller. "We're going to struggle on the varsity level a little right now, but we've scheduled JV games against Patriot League teams (Bucknell) and Ivy League teams (Penn) because of the talented recruits we have and this was a good measuring stick of where we are."

In only his second year at the helm of La Salle football, Miller is very optimistic and excited about the future of the program. He and his staff have a solid group of freshmen that have already begun to contribute on the varsity level.

"We're young right now, but we have a lot of freshmen guys that are forced into contributing roles on varsity. Those circumstances haven't necessarily resulted in wins for us, but when we took those younger guys and put them up against comparably young talent from a quality team like Bucknell, they did very well."

Miller, assistant coaches Dave Lorditch and Albie Crosby, and offensive coordinator Steve Nejman were all impressed with how well they moved the ball on the Bucknell defense.

"We started out the game by driving 10 plays for 70-some yards and scoring right off the bat." Miller said. "We also answered late in the game with another drive-and-score that only took us about a minute and a half to do. We're maturing and coming together as a team very quickly, especially those younger guys who are the future of our program."

Coach Miller and his Explorers will host The College of New Jersey this Friday evening in a 7:30pm match-up at McCarthy Stadium.