Waltham, Mass. (September 5, 2003) – Saint Anselm used a staunch first-half defense to go to the locker room trailing just 7-3, but Bentley ran off 31 consecutive points to pull away, 38-3, in both squads' season opener Friday night.

The Falcons, ranked in the national top 25 by several publications, including ninth by Touchdown Illustrated, piled up four touchdowns and a field goal in 16:21 to defeat the Hawks 38-3.

Saint Anselm won the toss and elected to defer, giving the ball to a high-powered Bentley offense.  The Falcons used a balanced attack to gain 65 yards while eating over seven minutes off of the clock.  They would not score, however, as Hawks' cornerback Pat Hannon (Middleboro, Mass./ Middleboro) came up big, sacking Bentley quarterback Marc Eddy (Southboro, Mass.) for a one-yard loss on fourth-and-two on the Hawks' 10 yard line.

On the Falcons' second possession, Eddy kept the ball on an option play and ducked into the end zone from two yards out to open the scoring after an eight-play, 55-yard drive which was kept alive by a 15-yard pass to Russ Bonilla (Waltham, Mass.) on a fourth-and-12 play.

Early in the second quarter, Saint Anselm gained excellent field position after Joe Imparatao (Natick, Mass./ Xaverian Bros.) recovered a Bentley fumble on a punt. Five plays later, sophomore quarterback Shane Dinagen (Harrisville, R.I./Burrillville), making has first collegiate start, found Matt Santiago (Clinton, Mass./ Clinton) down the sideline for what appeared to be a game-tying touchdown. 

However, he was ruled out-of-bounds at the Bentley 15, and had to settle for the Hawks' initial first down of the game.

After gaining only one yard on the next three plays, Saint Anselm coach Geoff Harlan sent Michael Garcarz (New Britain, Conn./ New Britain) in to attempt his first collegiate field goal, which he nailed from 31 yards out, to cut the Falcons' lead to four.

Saint Anselm proved it would not go away as the squads traded punts until, with Bentley threatening, safety Brian Sundell (N. Easton, Mass./ Oliver Ames) picked off an Eddy pass in the end zone, ending the threat with 4:20 remaining in the opening half. In the half, the Hawks held the Falcons' high-octane offense to 186 total yards in the first half, coming up with the fumble recovery and an interception and forcing four punts.

The second half started in a bizarre fashion with the Falcons taking consecutive delay of game penalties before taking the field to kick off.  Saint Anselm moved the ball on its first possession and appeared to have some momentum until Ryan Ferguson (Plainville, Conn.) recovered a fumble and returned it 52 yards, setting up a Jeremiah Jacek (Scarborough, Maine/ Scarborough) field goal and beginning the barrage of Bentley points.

The dust would not clear until the Falcons had scored four touchdowns over the next 17 minutes.

Eddy, who was 20-of-41 for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns and went over 5,000 career passing yards with his effort, connected with Dallas Mall (Northboro, Mass.) on a four-yard strike at 3:23 remaining in the third quarter.  Two minutes and 37 seconds later, he connected with Lorenzo Marshall (Middletown, Conn.) on a 23-yarder.

At 11:54 to go in the game, Taj Washington (Boston, Mass.) got into the action, hauling in a 62-yard bomb for the score.  Not to be outdone, the defense wrapped up the scoring on a 39-yard interception return from Gerardo Perjusto (Lynn, Mass.).

Dinagen finished the night 13-for-27 for 106 yards but two interceptions. Sundell led the Hawks with nine tackles, and Matt Santiago finished the game with 131 all-purpose yards, hauling in three passes for 21 yards, and returning six kicks (three punts, three kicks) for 110 yards. Freshman punter Artie Kurshumi (Revere, Mass./ Revere) was called on nine times on the night, netting an average of 33.7 yards.

The Hawks begin the season 0-1 overall and in Northeast-10 Conference play, while Bentley improves to 1-0.  Saint Anselm returns to action next Saturday, September 13, in its home opener against American International.  Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.  The Falcons travel to North Andover, Mass., to take on Merrimack.