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Two Sport Star Shines In Title Game Win Over Montana

Chattanooga, TN– Former Oakland Raider Howie Long may be Villanova’s most famous football player, but it would be hard to argue against Matt Szczur as Villanova’s most important football player.  Szczur scored two touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 23-21 win over Montana in Friday’s FCS Division I National Championship game.

Szczur totaled 227 yards from scrimmage to carry the third-seeded Wildcats (14-1) past the top-seeded and formerly unbeaten Grizzlies (14-1).  The junior receiver ran for a career best 159 yards on 14 carries (most from the Wildcat

Matt Szczur scored 15 TDs in 2009

formation) and had four catches for 68 yards.  He scored Villanova’s first touchdown of the night on a 5-yard run with 3:34 to go before halftime and scored their last TD to give his team a 23-14 lead with 11:04 remaining in the game.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to break as much as I did,” Szczur said after the game.  ” The offensive line came out, and I hada great second half. They gave me an opportunity to make the big plays as well as Coach [Andy] Talley and Coach [Sam] Venuto giving me the opportunity to run the ball.”

FCS Title Game Box Score (PDF)

Szczur was one of the most versatile players in the country all season.  While the 5’10 junior is listed as a wide receiver, he has packed several sections of the Villanova stat book:

Rushing:  108 carries for 813 yards and a team-high 10 TDs

Receiving:  51 catches for 610 yards and 4 touchdowns

Passing: 4-for-4 for 22 yards and 2 TDs

Kick Returns:  30 for 816 yards (27.2) and an 87-yard touchdown

He was named the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association’s Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Year, but his versatility reaches beyond the football field.  Szczur is also a member of the baseball team, and it’s only fitting that he’s

Szczur is MLB draft eligible in 2010

listed as both a catcher and outfielder on Joe Godri’s Wildcat roster.

Szczur led VU with a .346 average last spring after missing his freshman baseball season due to injury.  He’ll take a short break and then begin training for the Feb. 19 baseball season-opener at Norfolk State.  The Erma, N.J. native still has a season of football eligibility remaining, but he was caught off guard Friday night when asked about his plans for the future.

“That’s a hard question to answer. You put me in a bind right now,”  Szczur said.  ” We’re going to see how my baseball
season turns out. After baseball season, I’ll probably end up entering the draft, but I love these guys.
[Chris] Whitney, Terry [Thomas], all these guys are my best friends. We started as freshman, and we
wanted to do something. We accomplished it, so I don’t want to leave those guys. It’s a hard decision to
make, but it’s a good decision to make.”

He was drafted in the 38th round of the MLB draft by the L.A. Dodgers out of high school.  If he goes in the June draft it is still possible that Szczur could play in the minor leagues next summer and then return to the gridirion with the Villanova football team next fall.   That’s something current Chicago Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija did in 2006 when he was playing both baseball and football at Notre Dame.

Now if Szczur could only pass his hair style along to Howie Long.

Note:  Szczur and others have been included in the exclusive Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports throughout the fall.  We’ll have a new installment coming soon!

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Wildcat Two Sport Star’s Wildcat Run Sparks Comeback

Matt Szczur has 13 total TDs in 2009

VILLANOVA, Pa.–Junior wide receiver Matt Szczur ignited the offense with a 62-yard touchdown run from the wildcat formation and executed a fake punt that eventually led to a one-yard quarterback sneak by junior quarterback Chris Whitney , as No. 2 seed Villanova (13-1) advanced to the title game of the Division I Football Championship with a 14-13, come-from-behind victory over William & Mary (11-3) on Friday night at Villanova Stadium. The Wildcats scored touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters to rally for the win, which set a new program record for single-season victories (13).

BoxScore (PDF)

Villanova’s offense stagnated for much of the game against the nation’s top rushing defense, but Szczur changed that with a big run at the 9:03 mark of the third quarter for the Wildcats first points of the game. The score trimmed a 10-point deficit down to 10-7 and got the ball rolling for Villanova through the rest of the game. Whitney’s one-yard run at the 10:57 mark of the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats their first and only lead of the game.

After a 40-yard field goal by Tribe kicker Brian Pate made the score 13-7 in favor of William & Mary at the 2:13 mark of the third period, the Wildcats started their next drive from the Tribe’s 48-yard line following a 31-yard kickoff return by Szczur. On 4th-and-8 from the 46-yard line near the end of the quarter, Szczur executed a fake punt for a nine-yard rush and a Villanova first down at the Tribe 37. A review of the play by the instant replay booth confirmed Szczur’s spot.

On the same drive early in the fourth quarter, senior wide receiver Brandyn Harvey caught a 16-yard pass on 3rd-and-7 from the William & Mary 22-yard line. He was initially ruled out of bounds at the six-yard line and the pass an incompletion, but the call was overturned based on an official review in the booth.

Szczur batted .346 in 2009

The Wildcats turned the game around with their backs up against the wall due to a 10-0 halftime deficit against a William & Mary team that entered the game giving up fewer than 12 points per game to its opponents.

Szczur ran for 92 yards on eight carries and Whitney picked up 37 net yards (62 gained, 25 lost) on 17 rushes. Through the air, he was held to 7-of-20 accuracy for 98 yards. Harvey caught a team-high three passes for 65 yards on the night.

Szczur (pronounced SEE-zur) is also a member of the Villanova baseball team.  He and more than 35 others have been included throughout the fall in the Collegebaseball360.com Two Sport Reports, as we chronicle college baseball players’ exploits in their other sports.

Top-seeded Montana takes on Appalachian State in the second semifinal game on Saturday at 4 p.m. on ESPN. The winner advances to meet the Wildcats next Friday evening at 8 p.m. in an ESPN2 broadcast of the national championship game.

(Release)