Manchester, N.H. (November 16, 2002)- Saint Anselm finished its season with three straight wins and five out of its last six with a convincing 36-18 upset victory over Southern Connecticut State in a Northeast-10 Football game played at snowy Grappone Stadium in Manchester, N.H.

Saint Anselm finishes the season at 5-5 both overall and in the Northeast-10 while SCSU, ranked 7th in this week's New England region poll, finishes at 8-3 overall, 7-3 in NE-10 play. The win kept alive a streak of at least 36 points for the winning team in this series with the home team winning all four games.

With 22 seniors playing their last game for Saint Anselm, it was sophomore tailback Derek DiMartino (Amherst, N.H./ Fall Mountain HS/ UMass Amherst) who stole the show, setting four single game records in the win. The speedster set records in rushing attempts (28), rushing yards (233) rushing touchdowns (3), and points (18) as the Hawks outgained the Owls 271-93 on the ground.

For the game, the Hawks outgained SCSU 433-378 in a game that saw eight touchdowns and 41 first downs.

Saint Anselm started the scoring at the 6:49 mark with DiMartino finishing off an eight-play, 84-yard drive with a one-yard plunge, the first of three on the day.

SCSU, who entered the game as the top-scoring team in the NE-10 with 34.3 yards per game, scored the next two touchdowns on a Derrick Guest (Roselle, Conn.) 13-yard pass from John Esquivel (Sacramento, Calf.), and an Esquivel one-yard keeper. Both extra points were missed and the Owls held a 12-7 lead with 338 to play in the half.

The Hawks got on the board before the half after a six-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 24-yard scamper by DiMartino, who was sprung by wide receiver Travis Pelletier (Deerfield, N.H./ Central), who took out two SCSU players with a series of great blocks. Quarterback Keith Comeau (Marblehead, Mass./ Marblehead) then found Pelletier for the two-point conversion and the Hawks took a 15-12 lead into intermission.

SCSU took an 18-15 lead on a 21-yard scoring pass from Esquivel to Louis Datil (Waterbury, Conn.), but again the extra point was missed and it spelled doom for the visitors as the Hawks dominated the final quarter with 21 unanswered points.

A spectacular five-yard, over-the-shoulder catch by Pelletier put the Hawks on top for good, 22-18 but the home team wasn't done, and neither was its receiving corps. Junior Matt Santiago (Clinton, Mass./ Clinton) out-jumped the defense for a 16-yard scoring pass and Pelletier again delivered a bruising block to spring a 51-yard touchdown run by DiMartino to close out the scoring.

DiMartino logged runs of 51, 31, 31, 24, 17, 17, 15, and 10. Pelletier had five catches for 77 yards while Santiago had seven catches for 45 yards. Comeau completed 17 of 28 passes for 162 yards and two TDs.

DiMartino also became the school's single season leader in rushing yards (951), rushing touchdowns (11), yards per rush (5.7), all-purpose yards 1,181, and tied the single season record for points with 66. Pelletier tied the single season record for touchdown receptions (7), and leaves his mark as the all-time leading receiver with 107 catches for 1,192 yards, 16 TDs, and single-season receptions (49).

Leading the Hawk defense was senior All-New England standout Lance Flagg (Simsbury, Conn./ Bridgton Acad.) and linebackers James Ward (Westerly, R.I./ Westerly), and Geoff Raby (Attleboro, Mass./ Attleboro). Ward and Raby led the way with nine tackles apiece, while Flagg recorded six tackles, 3.0 for a loss and 2.0 sacks. His efforts made him the all-time and single-season leader in tackles for a loss (TFL) and sacks. He leads the NE-10 in TFLs with 24.0 this season, giving him 60.0 for his career, and sets a school record with 9.5 sacks, giving him 21.5 for his career.

For Southern Conn. St., Esquivel completed 23 of 41 attempts for 285 yards and two TDs, while Datil caught nine passes for 151 yards and one score. Jeff Cupe (Windsor, Conn.) became the school's single-season passing yard leader with seven catches for 79 yards, giving him 1,051 for the season. The Owls also set team records for touchdowns in a season (53) total yards of offense (4,946, passing yards (2,743) and pass attempts (361).