MOON TWP, Pa. — Robert Morris (6-3, 2-0) rounded out their non-conference schedule on Saturday afternoon when they played host to Merrimack (4-5). The Colonials survived a sloppy first-half of football to shutout the Warriors (4-5), 6-0.
After the offense scored just six points throughout the course of the game, the Warriors had the ball inside of Colonials territory with 39 seconds left in the game and the chance to win it but a sack by Michelangelo Loretto on third-down ultimately sealed the victory for the Colonials.
“I was just waiting for my opportunity to come up,” Loretto told Pittsburgh Sports Now following the game. “My number was called and I came in and made a play. We dialed up a good line movement and I was there. My opportunity came and I showed out.”
The Colonials started the game with possession of the ball and used 16 plays and seven-and-a-half minutes to get deep into Warriors territory before missing a 43-yard field goal attempt. Later in the first half, the Warriors returned the favor by missing a 38-yard field goal attempt.
The problem for the Colonials is that they had another miscue on a 50-yard field goal attempt after the Warriors failed attempt as the snap was bobbled and recovered behind the line of scrimmage.
Luckily for the Colonials, their defense stayed true and held the Warriors to a three-and-out after they started the drive near midfield.
But, the problems for the Colonials offense kept going as two plays after the punt, Anthony Chiccitt threw an interception and the Warriors got the ball on the plus-40. Fortunately for the Colonials, the defense forced their third punt of the first half.
The two teams combined for three failed field goal attempts and in interception in the first half as they entered the halftime intermission tied at zero.
“It was just the operation [that went wrong],” Coach Bernard Clark told Pittsburgh Sports Now about his special teams unit following the victory. “We just have to be better on the operation. The snaps were all over the place, Zach [Weber] has to work on that but he will be fine. It is a situation where he has been with us for three years and for three years he has been putting snaps on the board so, I guess, one bad day won’t drive me too crazy but he knows he has to be more consistent. … I still trust him and that is why we kept him out there.”
The Warriors initial drive of the second half was inspiring as the quarterback, Ayden Pereira, used his legs to get the ball into Colonials territory but the drive stalled out and they were forced to punt the ball back to the Colonials.
Pereira finished the game with just 117 passing yards but added a team-high 67 rushing yards in the loss.
After the punt, the Colonials drive started at their own one-yard line but that did not seem to bother them as their offense finally put points on the board. On a crucial third-and-long, Chiccitt scrambled for six yards and the first down and then two plays later, he hit Shawn Charles for an 82-yard touchdown.
On the scoring play, Chiccitt hit Charles at the Warriors 43-yard line as he was running full speed and the fast wideout did the rest of the work and scorched his way into the end zone for the game’s first and only points. The Warriors blocked the extra point attempt which gave the Colonials a six-point lead midway through the third quarter.
Chiccitt finished the game having completed 23 0f his 32 passes for a game-high 236 yards and one touchdown. Charles ended with five receptions for a game-high 139 receiving yards.
“[Charles] is a great player,” Chiccitt told Pittsburgh Sports Now following the game. “They were playing us Cover 2 pretty much the whole first half, they were scared of getting beat deep so as soon as they finally went into man [coverage], he was able to beat them.”
After the Colonials defense forced another punt, the offense looked to give them a two possession lead and moved the ball all the way down to the plus-11 before being stuffed on a fourth-and-short attempt.
Following the turnover, the Warriors had possession of the ball and the chance to take the lead for the first time of the game. That chance ended with sixth punt of the game for the Warriors.
The Warriors got the ball back with just under three minutes left in the game, still trailing by six points, and looked to score the game-winning touchdown. After starting at their own 12-yard line, Pereira hit Seth Sweitzer for a 27-yard gain on the first play of the drive. They followed the big gain up with a one-yard run, an incompletion and a pass that resulted in a loss of eight yards that set up a fourth-and-long.
On the fourth down attempt, the Warriors used a hook-and-lateral play that saw four laterals to gain the first down and move into Colonials territory. Just a few plays later, with the clock under 40 seconds, the Warriors faced another third-and-long but this time Loretto had destructive plans for the play as he dragged down Pereira in the backfield for the game-sealing sack.
“They are prepared,” Coach Clark said about his team’s defensive effort. “[The coaches] are doing a great job of preparing these guys each week and these guys are doing a great job of executing what we need to do. This week was all about discipline and toughness. Our guys hung in there and played hard and played tough. … The defense did an unbelievable job.”
This is now the second straight shutout that the Colonials defense pitched and third shutout overall this season by the group.
Next week, Robert Morris travels downtown to battle their rivals, the Duquesne Dukes in a pivotal NEC matchup. With a win next week, the Colonials can become the outright first-place team in the conference with just two games remaining after that.
