New Haven, Conn. (November 4, 2006) – At Jess Dow Field on Saturday afternoon, the Saint Anselm football team dropped a 69-7 final to Southern Connecticut in the season finale for the Hawks.
 
The Owls struck quickly with a touchdown when quarterback Steve Armstrong (Nutley, N.J.) scored on a one-yard quarterback keeper to put the hosts in front with 11:58 left in the first quarter. SCSU's extra-point attempt was no good and the Owls held an early 6-0 lead.
 
After a three and out by the Hawks, the Owls took over and on the first play, Armstrong hit Tyron Marshall (Ellenwood, Ga.) in stride for what was seemingly a 65-yard TD reception. However, Marshall made an unnecessary acrobatic dive into the end zone and fumbled through the end line, resulting in a touchback and Saint Anselm ball. Just seconds later, Saint Anselm quarterback Geoff Stevens (Andover, Mass.) fumbled the handoff to running back Ryan Drago (Plymouth, Mass.) and SCSU recovered at the six-yard line. On second down, Armstrong hit senior Marcus Ganthier (Bridgeport, Conn.) on a four-yard TD pass for a 13-0 lead with 8:21 left in the first quarter. SCSU kept pouring it on as Armstrong scored his third TD of the game, hitting tight end Robert Felder (Jersey City, N.J.) on a 63-yard touchdown pass with 6:07 left in the opening quarter to push the lead to 20-0. The Owls' defense stepped up and scored next as freshman Andrew Pratt (West Haven, Conn.) picked off a Stevens pass and took it 28 yards for the score and a 27-0 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter. SCSU closed out the scoring in the first period with their fifth TD of the game, scoring on a nine-yard TD scamper by standout running back Brandon Toles (Washington, Md.) to make it 34-0 with 55 seconds remaining.
 
In the second quarter, Armstrong connected with Ganthier for a 10-yard scoring pass to push the lead to 41-0 with 10:17 left in the first half. The Owls found the end zone again after gaining possession following a fumble by Saint Anselm's Drago at the Hawk 17-yard line with 4:48 left in the first half. Armstrong found Marshall for the second time with 3:59 left and the Owls took a 48-0 lead into the halftime break.
 
Toles picked up where he left off on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, rumbling 75 yards up the far sideline to give the Owls a 55-0 lead with just 36 seconds gone in the quarter.  Toles scored again with 9:58 remaining in the third quarter to give the Owls a 62-0 advantage and in the process, set the Southern Connecticut single-season rushing record. Toles eclipsed the old mark of 1,639 yards, which was held by Rashaan Dumas in 1996.
 
Saint Anselm got on the board with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter when senior Pat Turner (No. Andover, Mass.) scored on a two-yard, end-around play to cut the lead to 62-7. The Owls answered though with a six-yard TD rumble by sophomore Marlon Thornton (Bloomfield, Conn.) to close out the scoring at 69-7.
 
With the loss, the Hawks complete the 2006 season at 0-10 overall and 0-9 in the Northeast-10. Southern Connecticut improves to 7-3 overall and 7-2 in the Northeast-10. The Owls will await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field as SCSU entertains postseason aspirations.