Manchester, N.H. (September 26) -- Merrimack
used 601 yards of total offense to pull away from Saint Anselm as
the Hawks dropped a 41-31 final to the Warriors on Saturday
afternoon at Grappone Stadium.
Saint Anselm jumped on the board first as the Hawks took the
ball the length of the field with a 10-play, 68-yard drive. That
drive culminated in a 22-yard scoring pass on fourth down from
Michael Pierce (Andover, Mass.) to Marcel
Bouie (Stone Mountain, Ga.) for the 7-0 lead.
The Warriors and sophomore quarterback James Suozzo
(Everett, Mass.) evened things up at 7-7 on the final play
of the first quarter as Chris Laham (Westwood,
Mass.) pulled down a 67-yard scoring pass on the far
sideline. Laham pulled down the scoring pass just past the
outstretched hands of two Hawk defenders and ran the final 10 yards
for the TD.
Saint Anselm regained the lead with a 34-yard field goal by
Zack McCabe (East Freetown, Mass.) early in the
second quarter, his second field goal in as many weeks. It was
Merrimack that closed out the first-half scoring however as
Anthony Smalls (Natick, Mass.) rumbled in from
seven yards out off the left tackle for a 14-10 halftime lead.
Merrimack got off to a quick start in the third quarter as Laham
pulled in a five-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone. That
was followed by a 67-yard scoring run up the far sidelines by
Smalls as he outran the Hawk defense for his second touchdown of
the afternoon.
Saint Anselm answered back though with a scored of its own as
freshman wide receiver Craig Dennis (Atlantic City,
N.J.) pulled in a two-yard scoring pass on his fingertips
to cut the lead down to 27-17 late in the third quarter. The
10-point deficit was shortlived though as Suozzo took matters into
his own hands with a 66-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it
a 34-17 lead with 14:38 left in the game.
The back and forth battle continued as an eight-play, 64-yard
drive was capped off by a 24-yard touchdown pass from Marc
Wilson (Farmington, Conn.) to Ryan Fritch
(Winsted, Conn.). The touchdown reception was Fritch's
second in the last two games. Laham then made it a three-touchdown
day as the senior standout pulled down a nine-yard touchdown just
inside the corner of the end zone to make it 41-24 with 5:31
remaining.
After a blocked punt by Saint Anselm senior linebacker
Kevin Flynn (Wakefield, Mass.), the Hawks struck
on the next play with a 24-yard scoring strike to freshman
Chris Chapman (Bronx, N.Y.) to pull within 41-31
with under a minute remaining. The onside kick attempt was
unsuccessful for the Hawks as the Warriors sealed the victory to
remain perfect in league play.
Pierce finished the game 24-for-36 for 251 yards and three
touchdowns, while Dennis pulled down eight catches for 81 yards.
Defensively, Dan Bohenek (Bridgewater, Mass.) had
10 tackles, including eight solo stops. Freshman Ethan
Sylvain (E. Montpelier, Vt.) continued his stellar play
with nine tackles, including one sack, to go along with two
interceptions.
Merrimack piled up 364 yards on the ground, led by a 219-yard,
two-touchdown game by Smalls. Suozzo also added 151 yards on the
ground, in addition to his 237 passing yards as he accounted for
four touchdowns and 388 yards of total offense.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the
Northeast-10, while Merrimack is now 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the
Northeast-10. Saint Anselm returns to action on Saturday, October
3rd as the Hawks travel to American International for a Noon
kickoff in Springfield, Mass.
