Skylanders Dominate Bulldogs in Record Setting Day

LANCASTER, PA - It was a record-setting and historic day for the Sussex County Community College football team on Saturday, Sept. 23, when the Skylanders traveled to Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and posted an impressive 54-14 victory to move the team's record to 3 - 0, and set a school record for points scored.

The Skylanders were led by sophomore quarterback James Laubstein (Bethany, CONN.) who was 11-for-21 for 173 yards and three touchdowns passing. He also rushed for 89 yards on nine carries.

"Any time you go into a game, you don't plan on breaking records," said first-year head coach James Robertson. "The game started to evolve and things just kept happening in our favor. We're still battling some penalty issues but we're gonna get those things cleaned up."

Justin Sellers (Upper Marlboro, Md.), led the team with three catches and 29 yards. Duke McDuffie (Brunswick, Ohio) had a 58-yard touchdown catch. Pacing the running attack was Jaiden Murphy (Cherry Hill, N.J.) with 19 carries for 141 yards and James Laubstein chipped in with nine carries for 89 yards.  Jaqae Alfred (Trenton, N.J.) led the Sussex defense with a total of five tackles, limiting Thaddeus Stevens (2 -1) to just 226 total yards. Also having a big game was Breon Askins (Philadelphia, Pa.) with four tackles, one assist, and two sacks. Also having a breakout day was Darry Felix (Trenton, N.J.) with 3 tackles, 2 assisted, and 2 interceptions.

The win comes off an impressive 38-7 victory on Sept. 16 against the Williamson School of the Trades at Don Smolyn Field at Lenape Valley Regional High School.

"Our offensive line really paved the way for our running backs to have great days, and we can't ask for anything else," said Robertson. "When you're able to run the football as well as we did, that's the success to winning games."

The Skylanders raced to an 18-7 at the half thanks to two Laubstein touchdown passes for 11 yards to AJ Piechota (Dover, N.J.) and 32 yards to Craig Shipps (Blairstown, N.J.), and one 6-yard rushing touchdown by Jonathan Galleno (Houston, Tex.). The Skylanders extended their lead to 24-7 after three-quarters thanks to a 39-yard run by Murphy. The Skylanders capped the scoring with an 8-yard rushing touchdown by Murphy, Laubstein's 58-yard pass to McDuffie, and two TD passes from Jaiden Mead-Cooper (Gaithersburg, Md.) to Donovan Smith  (Chattanooga, Tenn.) for 11 yards and Jamir Brown (Morristown, N.J.) for 13 yards.

Skylanders will look to move to 4-0 on Saturday, Sept. 30, when they travel to play national power Lackawanna at 1 p.m. at PENN FED Field in Scranton Memorial Stadium. The Skylanders have yet to beat the Falcons in their short existence.

"You can tell by the look on all the player's faces this week that they know how big this opportunity is and they're ready for it," said Robertson. "This will be a great test for our team. I don't think this moment is too big for our guys this year."

By KELLY BARTA, SCCC Sports Broadcasting Student