Sports

Doscher, defense key Wagner to first-ever FCS playoff victory

Nick Doscher raised both arms to the sky and yelled in exaltation as the large home crowd roared its approval Saturday.

The final home game in the Wagner quarterback’s home borough went exactly as he dreamt.

Doscher threw two touchdown passes, ran for another and accumulated 186 total yards as Wagner won the first FCS playoff contest in school and Northeast Conference history, 31-20, over Colgate in front of 3,032 at Hameline Field. Wagner will play on the red turf in Cheney, Wash., against No. 2 seed Eastern Washington in the Round of 16 on Saturday at 6 p.m.

“I just couldn’t be prouder of my teammates and my coaches,” Doscher said after the Seahawks’ ninth straight victory. “We’ve been working for this since the day I came on campus. We’ve been close, ’09 we had a great season, but we fell short. We probably didn’t do as good as we were supposed the next two years. This year, we were 0-3 and a lot of people were counting us out. But the guys in that locker room, we never doubted ourselves.”

Wagner (9-3) never lost confidence behind Doscher, its 25-year-old leader, who came home to the Staten Island school after an unsuccessful three-year minor league baseball career.

In a matchup of dual-threat quarterbacks, Doscher was far more efficient than Colgate’s Gavin McCarney, the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year who fumbled three times and was picked off twice. Doscher, meanwhile, didn’t commit a turnover and delivered precise passes and gritty runs at the most opportune moments.

When Colgate (8-4) had pulled within 21-14 following a Demetrius Russell recovery in the end zone of a blocked punt with 1:13 left in the second quarter, Dosher moved Wagner 32 yards in eight plays to set up a 46-yard field goal from David Lopez just before halftime.

After Torian Phillips’ second interception of the day, late in the third quarter, Dosher guided Wagner on a clock-killing, 13-play. 74-yard drive he capped with a perfectly-placed 6-yard touchdown pass to David Crawford to extend the Seahawks’ lead to 31-14 with 9:15 remaining in the game.

“[Doscher] can be coaching with us right now,” Seahawks coach Walt Hameline said. “He knows exactly what’s going on at all times. He’s been our leader and he puts in great situations.”

Doscher, of course, didn’t have to face his play-making defense, which never let Colgate’s high-powered offense find its rhythm. Overshadowed by Doscher much of the year, the unit bent, but didn’t break, forcing five turnovers, three in its own territory. Mike Lombardo registered team-highs of 11 tackles and two sacks against the Raiders, who entered the contest averaging 38.5 points per game, and Torian Phillips had two interceptions.

“We played like the Dickens at the end of the day,” Wagner coach Walt Hameline said. “We were ripping the ball out. Those five turnovers takes the ball out of their hands and puts in our hands. That was huge.”

Wagner talked a lot in recent weeks of winning for Staten Island after it was decimated by Hurricane Sandy. The entire team took time out to help the borough’s inhabitants who were effected, and wanted to give their fans a few hours of respite from the turmoil in their lives.

“That’s something we’ve been saying since the Albany game, just go out there and work as hard as the people in Midland Beach are working,” Doscher said. “Just for three hours, if they’re able to come here, give them something to smile about.”

There were nothing but happy green-clad fans leaving Hameline Field yesterday afternoon. Wagner is moving on, all the way across the country. Whatever happens, Doscher won’t forget his final football moment on Staten Island.

“To go out our senior year, to have a championship season, win the first [FCS] playoff game in history and the first NEC playoff win, you really can’t make it up, “ Doscher said. “I don’t think I just speak for myself when I say we’re not done writing the book yet.”