RMU Colonials Football: Four Players To Keep An Eye On
By Larry Snyder
The start of the 2015 football campaign for the Robert Morris University Colonials (1-3) has been difficult. There is no quit in the Blue and White. Here are some of the players who are worth keeping an eye on this season.
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The Northeast Conference disclosed Monday that two members of the RMU Colonials were among their Players of the Week for Week Four of the season.
Kimani Smith was named the NEC Player of the Week for his performance against No. 6 ranked South Dakota State University. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound outside linebacker had six solo tackles and assisted on two more stops.
The junior from Erie, Pennsylvania added an interception of SDSU junior quarterback Zach Lujan in the first quarter to the score sheet,and also broke up a pair of passes. Smith is second on the RMU defense with 12 solo tackles and assists on 14 more stops for a total of 26 in four match-ups.
In the 34-10 loss, the Blue and White limited the Jackrabbits offense to their lowest point total since last season’s FCS playoff loss against the North Dakota State University Bison.
Connor Shennan collected NEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound placekicker connected on a 46-yard career-long field goal at 14:50 of the second quarter as well as making his only extra-point attempt in the same quarter. The junior from Plymouth, Michigan took care of his kickoff chores as his three kicks averaged 64.7 yards, and two went for touchbacks.
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Shennan has been an asset over four contests for RMU head coach John Banaszak as he is 11-of-11 on extra-point attempts and has converted 2-of-3 field goal attempts.
Another player who shone against SDSU was running back Dante Satcher. The 6-foot, 170-pound freshman rushed for 85 yards on just 6 carries against the Jackrabbits. The Clearwater, Florida native averaged 14.2 yards-per-carry, and his longest run of the day was 54 yards. Satcher has contributed 102 yards and averaged 9.3 yards-per-carry over the course of the first four games.
Austin Trgovcich put up two solo tackles and assisted on two more stops from his defensive end postion against SDSU. The 6-foot-2, 260-pound redshirt junior also sacked Lujan for a three yard loss during SDSU’s first drive of the third quarter. The Youngstown, Ohio native leads RMU with three quarterback hurries so far this season.
The Colonials are in NEC Conference action this Saturday as they travel to Staten Island, New York to face the Wagner College Seahawks. The match-up can be seen on NEC Front Row. You can listen to every RMU first down on ESPN 970 with Chris Shovlin and Spencer Kowitz.
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