Cottom, Old School Leave No Doubt
posted Monday March 27th, 2006 by Commissioner Marce
SWARTHMORE (AP) - Keith Cottom wasn't recruited for his scoring ability; however, for the second year in a row Cottom registered the final touchdown of the game as his Old School team notched their second victory in a row over New School.

Aside from his offensive contribution Cottom, along with teammate Tony Laughlin, also anchored the line on both sides of the ball. The outstanding performance of the Old School line allowed QB Tim Doc to turn in another stellar performance; throwing for two scores and running in a third. Not to be out done, New School's Paul Middleton also threw two TDs on the day. Despite the effort of both quarterbacks the game could best be classified as a defensive struggle, resulting in the second lowest scoring Turkey Bowl in history.

The scoring column was first cracked by OS receiver Chris Crooks (Swarthmoore, PA/Ridley). Crooks flashed his speed by getting open down field on a fly pattern to register his lone score. In addition to the opening touchdown Crooks also made his presence felt on the defensive side of the ball; collecting two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Crooks' performance put him into consideration for MVP honors; however, that award went to New School's Sergeant Slaughter. On leave from the marines, Slaughter used the short time he spent back in the States to make an impact on Turkey Bowl 6.

New School QB Mike Trill was hassled all day by the Old School pass rush
With his team down 1-0, Slaughter managed to knot the score at one with a one yard run right before halftime.

Coming out from the break New School took its first and only lead of the day when Middleton found Joe Doubet camped out in the front of the end zone for a 2-1 advantage. The NS lead quickly dissappeared when Bill Pohlig hit a slanting Matt Marcelli for the tying score. The hottly contested battle between Matt Marcelli and younger brother Mark see-sawed back and forth all game, eventually resulting in a victory for the older of the two; but not before the younger Marcelli had his say in the sibling rivalry. Despite being held scoreless for the second year in a row Mark Marcelli solidified himself as one of the hardest hitting DBacks to ever step onto Pritchard Field.

With trash talk spewing from his mouth as usual Marcelli delivered two of the bigger hits of the game.

Old School QB Tim Dougherty hits the ground hard after being upended by Mark Marcelli
The first of which left his older brother down on the field for a solid five minutes before being helped up. The second one sent Tim Doc to the sidelines after he was upended by the sure tackling DB. Dougherty didn't take long to exact his revenge though as he would put OS back on top 3-2 when he received a pitch from a stumbling Chris Crooks as he was being tackled.

New School showed their resilience, as Mike Trill moved out to WR and scored his first ever TB touchdown to tie the game back up at three. It was at this point that Cottom would score his second game ending TD in a row. The Turkey Bowl was yet again a resounding success, with this year's game being one of the most physical contests to date. How much longer can the participants aging bodies take this type of abuse? There's only one way to find out, be there next year: November 23rd 2006 at Pritchard Field.
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