Brookville, N.Y. (October 25, 2003)—C.W. Post set a school record with its 17th-consecutive home win with a 56-7 victory over visiting Saint Anselm College in a Northeast-10 Conference game played in Brookville, N.Y. on Saturday.
The Pioneers wracked up 331 yards of offense in the first half, and scored 42 points, 36 of them coming in the second quarter alone. Wide receiver Jeremiah Pope had a big day for the Pioneers, as he went over the 2,000 yard receiving mark for his career and scored three first half touchdowns.
C.W. Post improves to 5-2 overall, 5-1 in the Northeast-10 while Saint Anselm remains winless at 0-7 both overall and in league play.
Saint Anselm moved the ball 52 yard on the game's opening possession but was forced to punt. The Hawks pinned the Pioneers on their own 18-yard line but saw the home team drive 82 yards in nine plays, capped by a 33-yard scoring strike from Neal Sharma to Pope.
The Hawks again pinned CWP deep in their own territory with a punt down to the eight yard line but the Pioneers again drove the length of the field with a little help. The Hawks were whistled for a phantom pass interference call on a 3rd and 10 and the Pioneers capitalized with a 14-yard strike from Sharma to Tom Casal on a ball that was deflected off three sets of hands before settling in for a score.
Miscues then began to plague the Hawks and the result was a 42-0 halftime lead by the Poneers. An interception at midfield set up a three play, 22-yard scoring drive to make the score 21-0 at the 12:18 mark of the second quarter, an interception on the CWP six yard line led to a four-play, 94- yard drive highlighted by a 59-yard pass from Sharma to Pope, and another interception on a deflected pass led to a one-play, 13-yard score sandwiched around a four-play, 52-yard scoring drive.
The Hawks got on the board at the 5:50 mark of the third quarter thanks to the defense. James Ward pounced on CWP reserve quarterback Ben Selmani and sacked the sophomore, forcing a fumble that was scooped up by David Heiner and returned 32 yards for a score.
CWP then scored the last 14 points on a 75-yard punt return by Pope and a 28-yard interception return by Chris Alceus to take a 56-7 lead with 14:28 remaining.
The Hawk defense held CWP to 105 yards in the second half. Ward led the defensive effort with eight tackles, 3.0 for a loss, and a sack with a forced fumble. Junior DB Michael DeMasi recorded his third interception and tied the school's career INT mark with nine.
The Hawks threw five interceptions all told and managed just 118 total yards of offense (64 coming after their first possession). Pat Turner paced the receiving corps with three catches for 34 yards while Derek DiMartino had 17 carries for 56 yards. The Hawks did run for 50 yards, marking the first time in four games the team has finished with positive yardage.
Pope led the CWP offense with 198 receiving yards on eight catches to run up the most receiving yards for a Pioneer wideout since 1998. Sharma finished the day 11-for-19 for 232 yards and five touchdowns.
Saint Anselm returns to action next Saturday when the Hawks travel to Loudonville, N.Y. to take on Division I-AA Siena College.
