Saturday's NE-10 Conference game matches the Greyhounds of Assumption against the Hawks of Saint Anselm in a 1:00 PM kickoff at beautiful Grappone Stadium on the campus of Saint Anselm.
Saint Anselm comes in licking its wounds after a 63-14 whitewashing at the hands of LIU C.W. Post on Saturday.
The loss was the second straight for Head Coach Geoff Harlan's Hawks after a week two victory over UMass Lowell.
Assumption comes into today's game a hungry team. The Greyhounds have yet to find their way into the win column despite putting up 36 points last week.
The game has all the makings of a high-scoring thriller. Both teams have the ability to put up points, while both defenses are surrendering better than 38 points per game.
Opposing quarterbacks are completing better than 66-percent of their passes against Saint Anselm.
The Hawks, who have found a good running game this season, will look to pound the ball on Assumption's last-ranked run defense, which is giving up over 288 yards per game.
The Hawks continue to move the ball better than anyone with 79 first downs in four games while both teams are among the least penalized in the NE-10.
Saint Anselm leads the all-time series between the two schools, 2-0. The series has featured two close games with Saint Anselm pulling out victories of 37-29, and 21-11 last season.
The Hawks come into today's game after a pride-shattering 63-14 loss against the league favorites. One week after allowing 15 plays of 10 yards or more in a 33-17 loss against AIC, the Saint Anselm defense surrendered 12 more of those plays against C.W. Post.
"Our kids walked away from that game embarrassed," stated Head Coach Geoff Harlan. "They learned a harsh lesson about being prepared to play each week."
The Pioneers' shortest scoring play was 33 yards with touchdowns also coming on an interception (42 yards), punt return (85 yards) and kickoff return (93 yards). In C.W. Post's six other scoring drives, the Pioneer's averaged just 1:07 of possession before finding the endzone with their longest drive taking just four plays.
The Hawks finally tallied their first points as Travis Pelletier (Deerfield, N.H./ Central) snagged Keith Comeau's (Marblehead, Mass./ Marblehead) 16-yard pass with 4:43 left before intermission to make the score 42-7.
Sophomore Kevin Ridgley (Amesbury, Mass./ Amesbury) moved into the starting tailback position for the Hawks on Saturday. Despite a modest day running the ball, he provided the Hawks with a touchdown on a 15-yard option pass to Jeff Farragher (Clinton, Mass./ Clinton) in the fourth quarter.
Freshman David Williams (Holliston, Mass./ Williston-Northampton) made his first collegiate start at quarterback for the Hawks and completed his only two passes of the day for 22 yards.
"Turnovers and big plays continue to plague this team," said Harlan. "We are more mature than we have ever been but our veterans are not stepping up and playing to their capabilities. Our young players are doing some good things, however."
Players whom Harlan referred to are running back Robert Pike (Haverhill, Mass./ Haverhill) who is second on the team with nine receptions; defensive players Jim Ward (Westerly, R.I./ Westerly) and Gavin Russell (Gaylordsville, Conn./ New Milford); and the offensive line.
Despite a dominating performance against his defense on the gridiron Saturday, junior Ryan Sullivan (Windham, N.H./ Bishop Guertin) had a solid overall day, totaling 9.5 tackles including a season-high nine solo efforts to earn a place on the NE-10 Honor Roll.
"We didn't rehash last week's game during our practice for this week," said Harlan. "we just put that game away and started focussing on ourselves, doing what we need to do to win."
This week, senior captain Jon Turner (Foxboro, Mass./ Foxboro) will return to the starting tailback position. Comeau will get the start at quarterback and Sullivan will be moved from cornerback to safety along with Justin Peledge (Wakefield, Mass./ Malden Catholic) and Shaun St. Onge (Wolfeboro, N.H./ Kingswood).
In the defensive backfield, freshman B.J. Rogers (Bloomfield, Conn./ Trinity-Pawling) will get his first collegiate start at cornerback while sophomore Josh Sarette (Goffstown, N.H./ Trinity) takes over the other cornerback spot. Rogers will also switch off with Peledge and Farragher in punt and kickoff return opportunities.
Hawk fans can also be on the lookout for speedy Portsmouth, N.H. native Ryan Kajander (Portsmouth) who made an appearance in the backfield last week after recovering from an injury suffered during preseason.
On the defensive line, senior Will St. Jean (Londonderry, N.H./ Trinity) has been cleared to play following an injury and will look to improve upon his three sacks which ranks second in the NE-10.
Assumption allowed 475 yards through the air and on the ground in a 52-36 loss against Bryant last week. The Hounds were down, 24-7 at halftime and never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way, dropping to 0-4 this season.
"Assumption is a scary team to face because they are hungry for a win," said Harlan. Their quarterback (Charges) brings a great deal of leadership to their team. They can move the ball but have been plagued by turnovers as well."
Assumption received a solid performances from freshman running back James Bucci (Johnston, R.I./Johnston), who rushed for 49 yards, caught five passes for 33 yards and scored on a nine-yard run.
The Hounds scored a pair of touchdowns in both the third and fourth periods to close the scoring gap. Chad Carges (N. Attleboro, Mass./ Bishop Feehan) threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to Josh Howlett (Wilmington, Mass./ Wilmington) and 36 yards to sophomore R.J. Coleman (Elma, N.Y./ Iroquois Central) ) in the third, while Bucci rambled nine yards for one score and threw a 30-yard option pass.
Freshman corner Aaron Lacharite (Lawrence, Mass./ Central Catholic) was impressive for the Hounds with nine tackles. Freshman linebacker Brian Gordon (Quaker Hills, Conn./ Waterford) had six tackles and two quarterback sacks.
Junior running back Billy DeMalia (Shrewsbury, Mass./ Shrewsbury) has been bothered by a hip flexor injury since the first week of the season and is expected to miss the next six-to-eight weeks, which could mean the entire 2001 campaign. DeMalia rushed for 1290 yards with 15 touchdowns last year and led the conference in all-purpose yards.
Carges is completing nearly 54-percent of his passes while Comeau is under 50-percent. Comeau has thrown for 828 yards, however while Carges has racked up just 521.
"I think we match up really well against them," said Harlan. "We are a lot bigger and our players look at this game as one they can win."
Senior linebacker Geoff Raby (Attleboro, Mass./ Attleboro) is fifth in the NE-10 in total tackles with 28.5. He leads the NE-10 with three forced fumbles. Craig Welton (Biddeford, Maine/ Biddeford) has been a benefactor of Raby's big hits, by recovering three fumbles.
Assumption's Peter Leonard (Worcester, Mass./ St. Peter-Marian) has recovered three fumbles of his own and has forced two others.
