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Game Recap: Football |

Defense Places a Premium on Points as Football Tops Pace, 31-14

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Senior RB Elad Covaliu (Rockville, Md.) and junior RB Joe Hayman (Brandywine, Md.) combined for 182 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while junior WRs Ryan Monette (Hampton, N.H.) and Zach Bartak (Greenfield, Mass.) put together career days, to lead the Saint Anselm College football team to Saturday afternoon's 31-14 win against Pace University in both teams' Northeast-10 opener at Pace Stadium.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

  • Covaliu rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, while Hayman ran 13 times for 85 yards and a score.
  • Monette set career highs in both receptions (11) and receiving yards (76), while Bartak caught a career-best seven passes for a team-high 77 yards and a touchdown.
  • Junior QB Yianni Gavalas (Manhasset, N.Y.) connected on 26 of 41 passes for 243 yards, while tossing a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions.
  • Senior LB Joel Jorgensen (Eldersburg, Md.) and junior LB Josh Garrett (Riviera Beach, Fla.) each recorded 11 tackles, with Jorgensen getting to the quarterback for a pair of sacks.
  • Junior LB Kyrel Jaundoo (Mattapan, Mass.) recorded a sack, forced a fumble and came up with a pair of fumble recoveries, including one on Pace's final drive of the first half.
  • Senior K/P Shane Grayson (Ormond Beach, Fla.) made a 30-yard field goal, went 4-for-4 on extra points and bombed a school-record 75-yard punt.

For the foes…

  • Delaney Wallace ran for 110 yards on 14 carries, while Jhalen Bien-Aime added 91 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
  • Matthew Corrie racked up a game-high 12 tackles.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After throwing a pick in the end zone on their opening drive, the Saint Anselm offense put together a 10-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Covaliu to give the Hawks a 7-0 lead with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
  • Pace knotted the game with 1:16 remaining in the opening quarter as Micah Hunter jumped Gavalas' pass out to the right flat, intercepting the ball and returning it 41 yards to the house.
  • Saint Anselm turned the ball over on downs in each of its first two possessions of the second quarter, while the Hawks' defense forced a pair of Pace punts to neutralize the turnovers. The offense took advantage as it went 55 yards in just four plays, culminating in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Gavalas to sophomore WR A.J. King (Franklin, Mass.) that made it 14-7 with 4:11 to go before the half.
  • Pace tied the game again as a 57-yard run from Wallace set up a four-yard touchdown scamper for Bien-Aime with 13:16 remaining in the third quarter.
  • Grayson lifted the Hawks back into the lead with his 30-yard field goal that made it 17-14 with 6:19 to play in the third and set off a run of 17 unanswered points to close the contest.
  • Saint Anselm made it a two-possession game with eight seconds left in the third quarter as Hayman capped a nine-play, 59-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run that bumped the lead to 24-14.
  • Following a missed field goal and a turnover on downs on back-to-back Pace possessions, the Hawks sealed it by driving 49 yards in four plays, with Gavalas throwing a perfect ball to the back right corner of the end zone for Bartak, who made a fantastic leaping catch for the 17-yard score with 2:09 remaining.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

  • Saint Anselm amassed 458 yards of total offense, while Pace put up 355 yards, including 273 on the ground.
  • The Hawks threw for 243 yards, rushed for 215 and held the Setters to just 82 passing yards.
  • The Saint Anselm offense was just 4-for-7 in the red area, but the defense responded by stopping Pace on fourth down on all four conversion attempts, forcing five punts and allowing the Setters only one score in three red zone trips.
  • Pace narrowly won the turnover battle as it came up with two red zone takeaways and a pick-six to the Hawks' two takeaways.

NOTES

  • It was the eighth consecutive win in the all-time series for Saint Anselm, which now owns a 12-6 mark against Pace.
  • Grayson's punt fell just one yard shy of the Northeast-10's all-time record of 76, which has stood since 1998.

UP NEXT

  • The Hawks are back in action Saturday, Sept. 19 at noon when they open their home slate by playing host to defending NE-10 Champion Long Island University-LIU Post at Grappone Stadium.
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