St.John’s University easily defeated Canisius College 45-0 at DaSilva Memorial Field last Saturday in a lopsided contest that was over before it was over. A sparse hometown crowd of 814 fans saw the Red Storm take control just minutes after winning the coin toss. To be exact, the initial scoring drive took a mere 2:44 following the opening kickoff.

A 66-yard scoring drive on six plays ended with freshman wide receiver Dan Wheeler catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Steven Kalberer. Christian Soto kicked the extra point, and the Red Storm was ahead to stay. "The game plan coming in was to run, and then let the run set the pass up," Coach Bob Ricca said in a post-game interview. "The first play of the ball game, we ran a bootleg. We just wanted to send a message to them, and they just couldn’t dig in and stop the run."

Neither could Canisius prevent the next onslaught. It was an 80-yard drive during which Kalberer completed three passes for 46 yards, and McNeill and Elliott Hulce combined for 31 rushing yards. At the one-yard line, Hulce easily busted up the middle for the touchdown, and Soto kicked another extra point. The hapless team from Buffalo failed to answer back, and the first quarter ended 14-0 in favor of St. John’s.

Canisius struggled along, with 11 players on the field going through the motions of the game but offering little resistance. "We had a limited package going into the game, especially versus St.John’s, who have such a tremendously good defense anyway," Canisius Offensive Coordinator Jason Gill explained."If we had our full team personnel, I don’t think we would have been quite as outmatched as the score indicated."

For one thing, the Golden Griffins (1-8) were without their first string quarterback, Bryan Roland, who was sidelined with a concussion. Roland’s replacement, sophomore Mark Nachreiner, was playing with a bad shoulder. Also, their starting tail back, Frank Corigliano, was out of the lineup due to injuries.

The second quarter barely got underway before St. John’s was on the scoreboard again. Hulce received the kickoff and brought the ball to the St. John’s 49-yard line. On the next play, Kalberer hit Peter Dileo for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Soto’s extra point kick made it 21-0.

Two more touchdowns were added to the tally before halftime as the Red Storm continued to score at will. At 5:03 in the quarter, Kalberer threw from the St. John’s 20-yard line to wide receiver James Morton for an 80-yard touchdown; then at 5:03, tight end Terry Buckley caught a Kalberer bullet from the Canisius five-yard line for still another touchdown. Extra point kicks by Soto after both touchdowns were good, and the Red Storm halftime lead was a fat 35-0.

The last touchdown came at 2:32 in the third quarter following an 81-yard scoring drive. Kalberer completed three out of four passes to set up a first down at the Canisius 35-yard line. Hulce ran the next play for a 35-yard touchdown, and again Soto’s extra point was good. The final three points resulted from a 25-yard field goal kicked by freshman Tom Gavenonis.

When asked to size up the game, Coach Ricca said, "Once the game gets out of hand, the evaluation aspect goes out. You just hope that you get away from it healthy, and that all these substitutes get a chance to play and get in there and show what they can do."

Statistical highlights included Hulce with a total of 115 yards rushing, Kalberer was 12 out of 15 passing, and Morton was credited with 132 yards receiving. Canisius had a team total of 73 yards rushing and Nachreiner completed six out of 15 passes.

The St. John’s win improves their record to 5-3. It was their fourth shutout at home, which sets a school record.