Springfield, Mass. (November 3) -- On a rainy and windy Saturday afternoon, the Saint Anselm football team dropped a 30-9 final to American International in Northeast-10 Conference play.
The Yellow Jackets jumped on top just 5:11 into the first quarter when A. Akingba scored his first of two rushing touchdowns on the afternoon as AIC took a 7-0 lead. Calvin Hall scored for AIC with 12:18 left in the first half and the Yellow Jackets had what seemed like a commanding 14-0 lead. The Hawks, who played inspired football throughout the afternoon against a rather vocal AIC squad, bounced back with a defensive stop as Dan Bohenek (Bridgewater, Mass.) picked off a Rob Parent pass and returned it 45 yards to the AIC 17-yard line. The Hawks found paydirt shortly thereafter as senior quarterback Nick Barese (Braintree, Mass.) found Corey Williams (Billerica, Mass.) for an 11-yard touchdown to close within 14-6 as the extra point attempt was blocked.
After the two teams went into the half at 14-6 in favor of AIC, the Yellow Jackets scored on an Akingba touchdown and a safety to push the advantage to 23-6 with 5:58 left in the third quarter. The Hawks forced another turnover on an interception by Brian Tormollan (Waterville, Maine) that the team turned into points with a 25-yard field goal from freshman Dylan McSparren (Portsmouth, R.I.). Freshman running back Luke St. Marie (Mill Creek, Wash.) picked up nearly 60 yards on the drive to set up the field goal, including a pair of first-down runs. AIC's Marcus Cameron scored the final touchdown of the game with 6:52 left on a one-yard rush to account for the 30-9 final score.
St. Marie led the Hawks with 59 yards on the ground as the team gained 94 total rushing yards. Hall led AIC with 64 yards and a touchdown, while Akingba had 58 yards and a pair of scores. Parent was 12-of-21 for 211 yards on the afternoon.
Defensively, Saint Anselm All-America candidate Casey Larson (Pascoag, R.I.) enjoyed a monster afternoon with 12 total tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss, a half sack and a fumble recovery. Mike Fraser (Peabody, Mass.) also finished in double digits with an 11-tackle effort. Richard Reicher and Terrence Holley led AIC with seven tackles each.
The Hawks fall to 0-9 overall and 0-8 in the Northeast-10 with the loss. The team is back in action on Saturday, November 10th as the team hosts Southern Connecticut for a Noon start at Grappone Stadium. Prior to the start of the game, the Hawks will honor the Senior Class that will be playing in its final game in the Blue and White.
