THE CAPITAL TIMES
ORANGE:
White-out in
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attended Shippensburg before
transferring to Penn State and
walking on to the football team.
He would finish with six catches
for 79-yards and one touchdown.
The second half was a defensive
struggle with no points allowed
in the third quarter. Penn State's
defense would record their only
points of the second half with a
safety in the fourth quarter.
With six minutes left Penn
State's all-everything linebacker
Paul Posluszny injured his knee
trying to leap over a Florida State
blocker. Back-up Linebacker Sean
Lee entered on the biggest stage of
his life and overachieved like the
rest of the Nittany Lions recording
five tackles.
Florida State struck in the form of
a 47-yard Cismesia field goal with
four minutes left to tie the game.
Penn State was able to march down
the field and set up for a 29-yard
field goal with 35 seconds left.
With the game on his shoulders,
freshmen kicker Kevin Kelly
pushed the field goal wide left. This
led to the start of three overtimes.
In the first overtime, Cismesia
missed a field goal to be followed
by another Kelly miss. In the
second overtime, Kilmer made
another spectacular grab to set up a
Scott 2-yard run for a touchdown.
Florida State would answer back
with a 1-yard run by B.J. Dean to
tie the game.
In the third overtime, Cismesia hit
the upright as his field goal attempt
sailed wide right. Does this sound
familiar Florida State fans? That
set the stage for Kelly who lined
up for a 29-yard field goal to win
the game.
Only a freshman and already
having missed two possible game
winners, it didn't seem possible
that Kelly could hit a field
goal now.
The entire stadium held its'
breath waiting for a reason to erupt
and Kelly gave it to them when he
kicked his doubters and the ball
straight through the uprights for an
incredible Penn State victory.
The stadium exploded. It capped
a spectacular comeback season for
the Nittany Lions.
Was it the greatest Penn State
game ever? It wasn't number one
vs. number two. It was better. It
was a historic match-up of the two
most talented coaches in division I
college football history.
As far as game play, I give the
nod to a triple overtime thriller that
was won on the leg of a freshmen
kicker rather than a last second
interception to seal the game.
Finally, the excitement factor was
through the roof. No, it was not
the most watched college lbotball
game in history hut consider that
nearly 50 thousand of the over 70
thousand fans at the stadium were
Penn State fans.
Then, take a step back and realize
it was against Florida State, in
Florida. Wow, is all I can say. The
place was electric.
Obviously I was not at the 1987
Fiesta Bowl but I have got to
believe the excitement for this
year's Orange Bowl exceeded it.
The biggest reason this was the
greatest Penn State game ever
played has nothing to do with any
of those reasons. It placed our
school back in prominence in the
college football world.
The 1987 Fiesta bowl capped oft
a decade of excellence for Penn
State. This year was different.
This year's Orange Bowl may
not have been for the national
championship but for me it was
for more than that. It was
for respect.
Greatest game ever? In my
January 23, 2006
Basketball double-header
Penn College defeats women: 81-66, men 66-62
L v SUPAT KANCHANASAKUL The Capital Times
Penn State Men's Basketball players look to regain the ball as Penn College's Matt Michaels sinks one
of two free-throw shots.
By MEGAN RESSER
Sports Reporter
MKRI 57gPSU EDU
On Friday night, Jan. 20, the gym in
the CUB of Penn State Harrisburg
was the site of an exciting double
header of basketball action. Before
a crowd of more than 100 people,
both the women's and men's Penn
State Harrisburg basketball teams
took on opposing teams from
Penn College. The women's team
entered the contest with a 4-2 win/
loss record, while the men began
their evening with a 5-6 record.
The women from Penn College
took an early lead in the women's
game, controlling much of the
scoring and possession until about
halfway through the first half,
when Penn State Harrisburg got
into a groove and rallied making
the score almost even.
With 5 minutes left in the half,
the Harrisburg team, led by Brooke
Conjar with her 12 first-half
points, brought the score to Penn
College 26, Penn State Harrisburg
24. This was after they had been
down by at least 10 points earlier
in the game.
During the second part of the first
half, there were many turnovers
and the score ended up being Penn
College 36, Penn State Harrisburg
25 at half time.
The Penn College team regained
their lead with some solid free
Steelers win AFC Championship
Steelers advance to Super Bowl with defeat
By EDDIE PELLS
AP Sports Writer
DENVER -- Big Ben,
The Bus and all those Terrible
Towels sure are traveling well this
postseason. Next stop, the Super
Bowl, the final destination of a
Pittsburgh road trip the Denver
Broncos were powerless to derail.
Ben Roethlisberger had a brilliant
afternoon, throwing for 275
yards and two scores, and Jerome
Bettis extended his career one
more game, lifting the Steelers
to a dominating 34-17 victory
in the AFC title game Sunday.
Bettis said, "We're going home!" as
the game wore down and he celebrated
on the sideline. Ile is, indeed,
hack to his hometown of Detroit
for Pittsburgh's first appearance
in the Super Bowl since 1995.
"I thought we could get there.
li's conic true," he said. "Detroit,
watch out. Here we come!"
Out schemed, outplayed and
pushed around all day, the Broncos
(14-4) shuffled off to their locker
room, heads down, after their first
home loss in 10 tries this season.
"They had a great game plan," said
Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, now
2-1 in AFC title games. "They played
big on the road, very well-coached
game, very well-played game."
Though Pittsburgh's next game,
against either Seattle or Carolina,
will be a homecoming for Bettis,
the Steelers (14-5) have looked
extremely comfortable on the road.
They became the first team to win
three away games to make it to the
Super Bowl since the 1985 New
England Patriots. Some might look
at that as a surprise. Anyone who
has watched the Steelers over the
past decade - and especially the last
two months - certainly wouldn't.
throw shooting by
their players.
That lead did not last long in
the second half, however, as Penn
State Harrisburg scored 13 points
in the first five minutes of the half,
Penn State's Nicole Adams attempts to
retrieve a rebound before Amy Fassett.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger celebrates his
4-yard fourth quarter touchdown run with receiver Hines Ward.
They came out passing, not running.
much the same way they did w he»
they upset Indianapolis l as t NA „i„,
Roethlisherger called pass play s
seven of Pittsburgh's first I I snaps and
threw completions on live of th o „ .
The first drive resulted in a field
goal. On Denver's next possession,
Pittsburgh's Joey Porter blitzed i o
force a Jake Plummer fumble. Figs
plays later, Roethlisberger hit Cedriek
Wilson for a touchdown and a 10-0
lead, quieting the Invesco Field Crow d
much as the Steelers did in Indy last
week and Cincinnati the week befor e .
After a Denver field goal, th e .
Steelers essentially salted this game
\\ hilt:. Penn College only scored 4
paints. Conjar, Nichole Adams, and
Ka!, ma Sonii-Ricks of Penn State
Harrisburg stepped up on defense
and also took control of many
offensive and defensive
rebounds. Conjar added
several
with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that
ate up nearly 7 1/2 minutes and
had the Broncos defense totally
off balance and gasping for air.
The Steelers converted six of
seven third downs in the first half.
Bettis capped it by bulling
in from the 3 for a 17-3 lead to
put him well on his way to the
Super Bowl. Jut-jawed coach Bill
Cowher smiled widely for that one,
remembering Bettis' near disaster
on the goal line last week in Indy.
"This is a great group of guys,
how we got here, we're a different
team," Cowher said. "We're a
focused team, no matter what's
more valuable points,
as did Amanda Mentzer,
Krystal Miranda, and
Jamie Brindle to help
Penn State Harrisburg
take the lead for the first
time in the game with 11
minutes left.
Katlyn Stupar from
Penn College didn't allow
that lead to last for long,
however, as she scored
6 unanswered points to
bring the score to Penn
College 60, Penn State
Harrisburg 50.
Play continued to go
back and forth for the rest
of the half, but the Lady
Lions were never able to
regain the lead.
With only two subs, the
Penn State Harrisburg
team ran into trouble
when several of their
players fouled out of the
game with only a few
minutes left.
The men's game was also
a back-and-forth battle.
Mid-way through the first
half, the score was Penn
Featured
Athlete
By ANDREW
Guest Rep(
AJK233OPSI
The Penn State
Harrisburg Athleti ,
Department is
proud to announce
Brooke Conjar of
the women's
basketball team
as a Spotlight
Athlete. Brooke
netted a game
high 29 points
against Penn State Hazleton
in a 91-86 victory, Jan. 12.
A graduate of Steelton-Highspire
High School in 2003, Brooke
admits she initially had no
ambition to play college sports.
"It never crossed my mind to
play after high school, but I
attended Millersville University
College 16, Penn State Harrisburg
10.
Rebounds and lay-ups became
crucial in the second part of the
first half, and Penn State Harrisburg
came up somewhat short in both
areas to allow Penn College to take
a 33-17 lead at half time.
As the second half started, Penn
College maintained this lead for
about six minutes until Abe Hitz
and Padraic Wood each scored
three point shots to bring the score
to Penn College 45, Penn State
Harrisburg 38.
Nealy Rawlings then dumped in a
few points of his own to bring the
Lions within two. Unfortunately,
this was not quite enough, as Penn
College regained a ten-point lead
with one minute left.
Penn State Harrisburg did not go
down without a fight, however.
Rawlings sank two three-point
shots, while Hitz added one of
his own as the clock slowly
wound down. In order for those
shots to be taken, Penn State
Harrisburg had to make several
intentional fouls.
The Penn College team answered
over Broncos
happened, we've stayed together.
We've got a resilient group."
The Broncos trailed by two
touchdowns, but they had escaped
worse predicaments in the past.
But there was no Drive, no
Fumble, no comeback and no you
know-who on the field this day.
John Elway was on hand, but
sitting in a luxury suite, watching
the Broncos fall short of the
ultimate destination for the seventh
straight year since he led them
to their second championship.
Plummer, who had played so
well in the lead all season, finally
faced some comeback pressure
and failed miserably. He went 18-
for-30 for 223 yards with two lost
fumbles and two interceptions.
He threw one pass underhanded,
scrambled for his life and, though
valiant as always, proved what had
been proved many times before
that he can't do it by himself.
Trailing by two touchdowns, Jake
the Snake lobbed a terrible pass into
the flat that was easily intercepted
by Ike Taylor. Moments later,
Bettis ran it in from 12 yards for an
apparent touchdown on third down.
A penalty nullified that, but it only set
up Roethlisberger for his best throw
of the day _ a 17-yard touchdown
that barely cleared the fingertips
of Al Wilson and Nick Ferguson,
before finding Hines Ward tucked
neatly in the back of the end zone.
That made it 24-3. Roethlisberger
ran to the sideline and celebrated
by pretending to fire six-shooters
from his hip. Yep, he was on target
all day in this one _ 24 yards to
Heath Miller, 17 more to Wilson,
21 to Ward and 18 to Wilson again,
all after being given ample time
against Denver's ill-timed blitz.
Midway through the fourth
quarter, Denver pulled within 27-
graduation and
to try out," says
J-year-old junior.
n injury ended her
playing days with
the Marauders, but
after transferring
to Penn State
Harrisburg she
decided to give
basketball another
shot. When asked
about making
the Final Four in
University Park she
said, "Ultimately,
it's the team's goal."
To vote for the next Spotlight
Athlete to appear in The Capital
Times voting boxes will be
placed outside The Capital
Times office and inside the
lobby of the CUB.
with a solid 70% free throw
average, managing to maintain
their lead long enough to hold on
for the win
The final score was Penn College
67, Penn State Harrisburg 62.
It should be noted that in addition
to Hitz, Wood, and Rawlings,
several other players, including
Steve Molek, Hasahn Wright,
Corey Daniel, Mike Schweigler,
and Tim Hurtack, contributed to
the team's valiant effort.
The Lady Lions next home game
is at 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 15. The
men have home games on Jan. 26,
Jan. 30, Feb. 6, and Feb. 12.
The next double-header at home
will be on Feb. 22, with the women
starting at 6:00 p.m. and the men
starting at 8:00 p.m.
A full schedule can be found by
clicking on the Intercollegiate
Athletics link found on PSU
Hattisburg's Web page:
httiO/WWN'v. htig ps u. e du.
If you haven't already done
so, come out and support
the Penn State Harrisburg
basketball teams!
34-17
17 and got the ball back at its 20.
But Plummer lost a fumble on fourth
and-10 and that pretty much made it
official: The Steelers would be back
in the big game, searching for that
long elusive fifth world championship
that "One For The Thumb" to add
to the 1970 s legacy of Bradshaw,
Swann, Stallworth and Harris.
It has been a long road between
then and now for the Steelers. Five
AFC title games since 1994, all at
home, resulted in only one victory,
leading many to wonder if the
pressure of being a favorite, or doing
it in front of the home crowd, was
something the Steelers could handle.
Cowher, now in his 14th year, kept
his job through it all _ the Rooney
family cherishes stability over all else.
"It feels great today, I'll tell you
that," Steelers owner Dan Rooney
said. "The coach already told me
we're going to the Super Bowl
to win it, not just to be there."
As the clock wound down,
Cowher was still going full
tilt on the sideline, jabbing
his finger at Bettis, preaching
ball control and no repeat of
last week's fumble in Indy.
Roethlisberger put this one
away, diving in on third-and-goal
and sending the crowd home.
Except, that is, for the loyal
Pittsburgh partisans. They stayed
`til the end, watching Cowher share
hugs with Roethlisberger, Joey
Porter and especially The Bus.
They blanketed the corners of
Invesco with black and gold,
waving those Terrible Towels and
holding up their Steelers banners.
"Next Bus Stop: Detroit," one said.
In all, it looked like a home
away from home for the Steelers
_ pretty much like every stop
they've made on their magical ride
this postseason.