Manchester, N.H. (October 2, 2004)—The Saint Anselm defense keyed a fourth quarter rally that saw the Hawks score ten points in a span of 2:17 late in the action to defeat visiting Stonehill College, 19-10 in a Northeast-10 Conference Homecoming game at Grappone Stadium Saturday.
The win moves Saint Anselm to 4-1 overall, 3-1 in the NE-10 while Stonehill falls to 2-2 both overall and in the Northeast-10.
Trailing 10-9, Joe Imparato (Natick , Mass. / Xaverian Bros.) pulled down a spectacular one-handed interception on the Stonehill 22-yardline on a 3rd and five play. Four plays later,
Michael Garcarz (New Britain , Conn. / New Britain ) booted a 38-yard field goal with 3:27 on the clock to give the Hawks a 12-10 lead.
On the ensuing Stonehill possession, a 3rd-and-11 play from the 27 yard line was thwarted by DE
David Heiner (Farmington, Conn./Farmington), who sacked Cheiftains' QB Greg Borsari (Kingston, Mass.) and forced a fumble. The visitors recovered the ball all the way back on their 11 yard line. Then on 4th and 27,
Jason Landri (New Canaan , Conn. / New Canaan ) sacked Borsari for a nine-yard loss on the two yard line to give the Hawks another prime scoring opportunity.
Derek DiMartino (Amherst , N.H. / UMass Amherst) capitalized with a two-yard plunge to give the Hawks a 19-10 cushion with just 1:10 to play. The Hawks completed its defensive mastery when
Anthony Barese (Braintree , Mass. / Braintree ) hauled in his third interception in as many games to finish the action.
Stonehill had taken 10-9 lead with 10:33 to play when the Chieftains' Bob Powell (Weymouth, Mass.) capped a nine-play, 40-yard drive with a five-yard scoring plunge. The drive was made possible thanks to Chris Allen (Norwood , Mass. ), who fell on a fumble on a failed option play.
Heiner led a tenacious Saint Anselm defense, finishing his final Homecoming game with 15 total tackles (11 solo), 6.5 tackles for a loss (for 29 yards), 2.5 sacks (for 24 yards), the forced fumble, one quarterback hurry and a pass breakup.
The Saint Anselm defense, which entered the game leading all Northeast-10 schools in tackles for a loss and sacks, returned to form against the Chieftains with 17 tackles for a loss of 75 yards including seven sacks for a loss of 58 yards to go along with three big turnovers. In all, the Hawks held Stonehill to just 44 rushing yards on 47 carries.
Imparato's day ended with 10 tackles (seven solo) to go along with an interception and a pass breakup. DiMartino finished the day with 96 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns. It was the third straight game against Stonehill that he has rushed for at least two scores.
Prior to the fourth quarter fireworks, the game MVPs would have gone to each team's punter in a contest of field possession. Stonehill's Sean Donahue (Plymouth , N.H. / Plymouth ) averaged 39.0 yards on nine punts with a long of 53. Saint Anselm sophomore
Artie Kurshumi (Revere , Mass. / Revere ) averaged 43.7 yards on seven kicks (long of 60) with three kicks downed inside the 10-yard line and two kicks downed on the Stonehill one yard line late in the game.
Borsari completed 13 of 27 passes for 158 yards (two interceptions). The majority of his attempts went to senior wideout Matt Rainone (Cranston , R.I. ) who finished with six receptions for 90 yards.
Saint Anselm returns to action next Saturday as the Hawks host Merrimack in a Northeast-10 Conference game at Grappone Stadium slated for 1:00 PM.
