Villanova Dukes It Out With James Madison To Earn The Wildcats A 14-7 Victory

Aaron Ball

On a picture-perfect day for football, the Villanova Wildcats hosted the Dukes of James Madison in a Colonial Athletic league homecoming contest on the Main Line. The Wildcats began the day with a record of 4- 2 after last week’s convincing win over the Maine Black Bears.

 

Flying Wildcats

Villanova Head Coach Andy Talley

Drew Dudzik Just Gets the Pass Away

The Dukes of James Madison came into the game with an identical 4 -2 record. Coached by Mickey Matthews, the Dukes started out their season 3- 0, including a 21 – 16 win over nationally ranked Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Since then, the Dukes have posted a win over Towson and lost to league rivals Delaware (13- 10) and last weekend, to New Hampshire (28 -14). Matthews is the winningest coach in JMU history, and led the Dukes to an NCAA championship in 2004.

 

Ball Squared

Eric Loper Makes a Flippin Good Tackle

Chris Whitney Gets Hit as He Throws

After a scoreless first period , Villanova got on the scoreboard by driving 80 yards in 15 plays for a touchdown, which came on a 7 yard pass from Chris Whitney to Norman White. Nick Yako converted to make it 7 -0 . The drive featured two fourth down conversions. The first came on a fake punt by Dom Scarnecchia on 4th & 9 at mid-field. Scarnecchia scampered 23 yards for a first down to the JMU 27. Later in the drive , Whitney hit White on a 4th & 8 pass for a 13 yard gain to the JMU 12 yard line.

 

Touchdown Villanova!

Griff Yancey

Dorian Wells

A few minutes later, with 1:19 to go in the half, the Cats scored again on a 54 yard pass play from Whitney to Mikey Reynolds. The drive covered 71 yards in 4 plays.

 

Chris Whitney on the Run

Fred Maldonado

Drew Dudzik

Whitney finished the first half completing 13 of 17 pass attempts for 159 yards and the 2 touchdowns. White caught 7 passes for 73 yards and Reynolds caught 3 for 75 yards. Both teams missed a field goal in the first half which ended with the Cats on top 14-0.

 

JMU Touchdown

JMU's Griff Yancey

JMU came out in the second half and scored its lone touchdown on its first possession . The score came via a 2 yard run by Kavon Seaton. The Dukes drive took 9 plays to cover 73 yards. JMU totally dominated the third quarter holding onto the ball for 12 minutes; Villanova had the ball for only 6 plays during the third quarter.

 

Tough Yardage

QB Chris Whitney Scrambling Away From Defenders

In the 4th quarter Villanova threatened, driving 67 yards from their 28 yard line to the JMU 10 yard line. However Nick Yako missed for a second time on a 23 yard field goal try (wide left). Nova had another drive late in the fourth quarter to the JMU 2 yard line, but a Whitney fumble on 4th down and 1 was recovered by JMU.

 

James Pitts

Terence Thomas on the Tackle

On its last drive JMU drove into Villanova territory and as time expired  Drew Dudzik’s pass was intercepted by James Pitts in the Cats end zone to preserve the victory.

 

Kerby Long with the Reception

Scott Noble Carrying for JMU

The Cats gained 209 yards rushing on 47 carries.  Angelo Babbaro led the way with 72 yards on 13 carries. Aaron Ball chipped in 56 yards, also on 13 carries, becoming the second leading rusher in Villanova history behind  only the great Brian Westbrook. Lawrence Doss added 33 yards on 5 carries. Whitney, who did not complete a pass in the second half (0-2),  finished 13 of 19 for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Norman White had 7 receptions for 73 yards.  Linebacker Marquis Kirkland had 10 tackles to lead the defense.

 

JMU Gang Tackling

For the Dukes, who were held to 87 yards rushing on 32 carries, Scott Noble led the way gaining 39 yards on 14 carries. Drew Dudzik passed for 213 yards on 22 completions in 32 attempts, with the one pick by Pitts on the game- ending play.

Matt Szczur, still nursing an ankle injury, did not dress for the Wildcats.

 

Matt Szczur Did Not Dress

Villanova  next hosts the Richmond Spiders on Saturday, October 30th in another CAA conference match.

 

On the local front, Temple & Penn also posted wins. Temple shutting out Buffalo and the Quakers beating Yale.

 

 

Article by Stephen Miller 

{All photos credits for this article appear courtesy of Michael Green Photography: www.mpgreenphotography.com}

Before the football game the Villanova Men’s Basketball team held its Blue/White Scrimmage game for fans.

To see photos of the game, please follow this link:

http://independentphilly.com/photo-gallery/villanova-blue-white-basketball-scrimmage/

Philadephia Union beats Chivas Guadalajara 1-0 in Friendly Match

On Wednesday night Independent Philly made our first trip to PPL Park in Chester to watch the Philadelphia Union take on Chivas Guadalajara in a friendly. After the friendly match-up against Manchester United, we were excited for another great game. The Union did not disappoint winning the game 1-0 on a second half goal by Jack McInerney. We vastly enjoyed beautiful PPL park, the enthusiam of the fans (for both clubs), and suggest checking out a Union game. It truly has to be experienced in person to get the full experience. Instead of a recap of the action, we decided to present the sights of the game in a photo gallery for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Philadelphia Union Welcomes Manchester United in Exhibition Match

Team Logos

Wide Angle of Field

On a hot and steamy July night at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly, the Philadelphia Union welcomed the most celebrated team in all of professional sports, Manchester United, to the City of Brotherly Love.

Team Intros

National Anthem

 

Prepping the Field

Manchester United, who play in the English Premier League but have fans all over the globe, were without stars Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick but that didn’t stop the Man U faithful from flocking to South Philadelphia to cheer on their team.

Man U Fans

Giggs Fan

Poor Man's Phanatic (Fred The Red)

There were clearly more fans decked out in red colored Man U gear than there were Philadelphia Union fans, a sign that international soccer is still head and shoulders above MLS.

Union Fans

Union Fans 2

First Minute of Play

First Few Minutes of Play

Futbol Fans

With interest in soccer in this country perhaps at an all-time high after the recent World Cup, Independent Philly was not about to miss this chance to see our home town team try to upset the Yankees of soccer.

Game Action

Game Action 2

Game Action 3

Surprisingly the Union held their own in the first half and despite their record of 4-8-2, the game remained 0-0 after 45 minutes of play.

Game Action 4

Manchester United Takes the Field for Second Half

Keeper Kick

31 minutes into the second half, Manchester United’s Gabriel Obertan took a pass from teammate Danny Welbeck and scored on Union goalkeeper Brian Perk. Roars erupted from the English faithful but there were definitely a fair share of “booo”s from the Union fans (as is to be expected in Philly).

Moment Before Winning Goal

Player Confusion

That goal would prove to be the game winner as Man U defeated the Union 1-0.

O'Shea

Star Power

The game, which appeared on the ESPN network, spotlighted the Union to fans in the U.S. as well as those watching across the pond. It also allowed those in the U.S. to see some of the excitement of English Premier League which captivates the UK and the rest of Europe.

Giggs Header

Ryan Giggs

Manchester United’s beloved star Ryan Giggs graced the field in Philadelphia and U.S. star Landon Donovan is rumored to be heading to the English Premier League this fall to play for Manchester City.

Yellow Left Foot

Scoreboard

Manchester United next heads to Kansas City and then wraps up their U.S. tour in Houston where they will play the MLS all-stars.