PREVIEW: Football welcomes nationally-ranked Bentley on Saturday

10/1/2021 3:00:00 PM

Last time out, Saint Anselm racked up over 450 yards of total offense to clinch a 42-7 victory over the visiting Ravens from Franklin Pierce University at Grappone Stadium. The Hawks were competing in their latest home opener in team history - the contest was played on Saturday, Sept. 25.

Bentley finds itself in the American Football Coaches' Association Top-25 National Poll for the first time in a dozen years, checking in at No. 24. The Falcons are in search of their 10th consecutive victory on Saturday against Saint Anselm. Bentley overcame a 14-0 deficit against American Int'l last time out, rallying for a 35-27 win over the Yellow Jackets.

Bentley was picked second in the Northeast-10 Conference's Preseason Coaches' Poll prior to this season. In 2019, Saint Anselm knocked off three of the league's top five programs in that season's preseason coaches' poll, downing New Haven, Assumption and Southern Connecticut State late in the year.

Fans attending Saturday's game at Grappone Stadium are asked to familiarize themselves with the College's ticketing and spectator policies.

THE LONE STAR STATE REPRESENTS ON THE HILLTOP

Saint Anselm sophomore Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) was named the NE10 Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week on Monday while junior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) earned the league's Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
Versus Franklin Pierce, Willoughby threw for 420 yards and three touchdowns while also picking up a rushing touchdown of his own in the win. His 420 yards are the ninth-most in a single game in team history and he finished the day with 29 completions on 46 pass attempts (63.0%).
Willoughby needs just 23 pass completions against the Falcons to have recorded the 10th most in Hilltop career history (104) through just four games. He is just 96 yards shy of reaching 1,000 for his career and on the season.
Brown had an all-around solid game for the Hawks, scoring a 68-yard receiving touchdown thrown by Willoughby and later adding a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown (second-longest in team history) within the third quarter's final six minutes. He finished with five catches for 181 yards and two punt returns for 63 yards (fifth-most in single-game history).
Brown's 12.85 career average yards per punt return currently ranks first in team history (min. five attempts)and his 26.12 career average yards per kick return is the top mark in team annals (min. 25 attempts).

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME

Saint Anselm defenders combined for seven sacks, the most in a single game for the Hawks since the 2005 season. The Hawks also conceded just seven points in the game, just the sixth time in modern-day program history that Saint Anselm has allowed seven or fewer points in any game. Fifth-year senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) also cracked the team's top-10 list for career tackles, logging 219 since joining Saint Anselm in 2017.

STOPPING THE RUSH

The nation's 10th-ranked rushing team (240.8 yards/game), Bentley, will face a Saint Anselm defense that has conceded an average of 3.95 yards per carry, a figure that currently stands as the sixth-best in team history.

THE BENTLEY BRIEFING

The Falcons are one of 23 teams in NCAA Division II without a loss to date. Bentley enters the contest against Saint Anselm with the nation's eighth-best turnover margin (1.5).
Avearging 5.4 yards per carry as a team, the Bentley run game is led by junior Nathaniel Larkins and his three 100-yard rushing contests.
The Falcons converted on four fourth-downs against American International last week.
Bentley has logged three defensive touchdowns on the year to rank third in the country.
The Falcons have blocked four kicks on the season, the second-most in NCAA Division II so far this season.

GRANITE STATE SHOWDOWN

Since the Saint Anselm football team returned as a varsity sports offering on the Hilltop in 1999, the Hawks have now racked up a 5-1 record against teams from the Granite State following last Saturday's victory over Franklin Pierce. Saint Anselm is 4-1 in the modern-day series against Plymouth State University and is 2-0 against Franklin Pierce.
Including the team's intercollegiate schedules prior to World War II (1934-1942), the Hawks now own a 10-3 record all-time in varsity intercollegiate competition against Franklin Pierce, Plymouth State and the University of New Hampshire (5-2 all-time).

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT HOME

Saint Anselm snapped a five-season losing streak in its home openers with its 42-7 win over Franklin Pierce on Sept. 25. The Hawks had last claimed victory in a home opener on Sept. 20, 2014 against Bentley, winning by a 38-34 margin as part of a five-game winning streak to open the year.
In the Hawks last home opener against an NE10 opponent, Saint Anselm came out on the losing end of a 57-54 slugfest against Stonehill that went three overtimes under the lights on Sept. 8, 2018.
The Hawks posted a 3-2 record at Grappone Stadium in 2019, its first season above .500 at home since the 2002 season (3-2 home, 2-3 away; 5-5 overall).

NE10 PRESEASON POLL

Saint Anselm was projected to finish sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference, according to the league's preseason coaches' poll released prior to the season. The Hawks have not placed sixth or higher in a season since the 2015 campaign (T-5th/10).
Bentley checks in as the No. 2-ranked team in this season's preseason coaches' poll, earning three first-place votes and trailing top-ranked New Haven by just seven points.

RAVENS RECAP

For the fourth consecutive game, Saint Anselm got on the scoreboard first, using a three-play, 52-yard drive to open the game that ended with a 50-yard passing touchdown to junior Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas) with just 56 seconds elapsed in the contest – last time out against Southern Connecticut State, the Hawks scored only 53 seconds into regulation time.
The Hawks forced a quick three-and-out before striking once again with just under four minutes elapsed in the first quarter. From 13 yards out, Wagner raced home for his first collegiate rushing touchdown after Willoughby hooked up with freshman Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) just two plays earlier, gaining 34-yards on the catch.
Saint Anselm kept Franklin Pierce off the scoreboard until late in the third quarter as the defense forced the visitors into six punts, two turnovers on downs and Williams' interception in the second quarter. On the other hand, Franklin Pierce forced a turnover on downs of its own and back-to-back Hawks punts before halftime.
With the score set at 14-0 entering halftime, Saint Anselm came out of the locker room with four consecutive touchdown drives to increase the lead to 42-0 heading into the fourth quarter.
As part of that huge 28-point third quarter, Willoughby's one-yard rush and Brown's 68-yard touchdown score upped the advantage to 35-0 near the midpoint of the stanza. Freshman Cade Horton (Scottsdale, Ariz.) reeled in his first collegiate touchdown with 1:54 to go in the third and Brown's 62-yard punt return came immediately after Saint Anselm's defense produced a three-and-out.
Franklin Pierce got on the board early in the fourth quarter, completing an 11-play, 53-yard drive with a three-yard rushing score by Michael Joyce with 11:22 to go. The Ravens finished the day with 276 yards of offense as the Hawks limited Franklin Pierce to a season-low seven points.

OWLS DELIVER THE OUCH

Two weeks ago, Saint Anselm rallied to tie the score at 31 in the final two minutes of Friday's contest at Southern Connecticut State University, but the host Owls walked-off with a 34-31 victory thanks to a game-winning field goal on an untimed down with zeroes on the clock.
Down by a 31-17 margin with 12:23 to go in regulation time, Saint Anselm engineered two scoring drives on offense that sandwiched a key defensive stop with just under five minutes to go. The game-tying play for Saint Anselm came with 1:49 to go in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 51-yard touchdown caught and carried by sophomore Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) across the goal line.
Immediately following Brown's dramatic touchdown, the Owls started off with great field position after a 28-yard kick-off return by Shawn Martin. Starting the game's final drive at 1:41, Southern Connecticut State was able to move the ball down the field with the clock ticking down, picking up a total of three first downs that included a pivotal 11-yard gain on fourth-and-10.
The Saint Anselm defense stood just tall enough to force Southern Connecticut State into attempting a 38-yard, game-winning field goal from the Hawks' 24-yard line. With one second left, the center for Southern Connecticut State delivered a bad snap to the holder – the ball was covered up and it appeared that the game was destined for overtime, deadlocked at 31.
With a flag on the play, it was ruled that a Saint Anselm defender on the line of scrimmage leaped over the team's center to try and block the field goal. With the game clock at zero, the penalty gave Southern Connecticut State an untimed final down to attempt another field goal. This time, the snap was delivered with precision and Szymon Gawlick converted from 27 yards away to send the hosts to victory. He finished the day with two field goals of at least 26 yards and made each of his extra point chances.
Hawks quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) finished the day with 29 of his 47 passes completed, connecting for three touchdown receptions. Despite throwing two picks, he tallied 330 yards through the air on the day – his primary target was Brown, who collected two touchdowns on nine catches for 154 yards. In two career games against the Owls, he has racked up 304 receiving yards on just 16 catches.
Senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) finished with a career-high 73 receiving yards, adding one touchdown. Sophomore Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas) had four catches for 39 yards with freshman Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) logging 28 yards on three receptions.
Defensively, Saint Anselm totaled 12 tackles for a combined loss of 34 yards on the day. Junior Brandon Hudgins (Boynton Beach, Fla.) had two sacks for a combined loss of four yards and senior Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) not only led the team with nine tackles, but he also had a hand in 2.5 tackles for a loss of yardage. Sophomore Jake Nadeau (Rutland, Mass.) recovered a fumble and brought it back 16 yards in the defeat.

DANCING IN DIVISION I

Saint Anselm opened the game at Merrimack in week one with nine straight points, using a field goal by freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) and a pick-six by fifth-year senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.). Saint Anselm forced a punt, two turnovers on downs, a fumble and an interception on Merrimack's first five offensive drives as it hung around early in the contest.
The interception return for a touchdown by Sullivan was his team's first since Isaiah Douglas '18 brought home a 30-yard pick at American International on Nov. 12, 2016.
Thanks to the Hawks defense, Merrimack led by just five points at halftime, 14-9. However, in total, Merrimack scored touchdowns on its final seven drives before the game's conclusion. In total, the Warriors racked up 577 yards of offense, generating an average of 7.6 yards per play, and threw for five touchdowns.
Saint Anselm found its way to 20 first downs in the team's 55-23 loss, but Merrimack was able to control the game with nearly double the time of possession (37:44-to-22:16) and wear down the Hawks defensive unit.

LAST TIME OUT vs. BENTLEY (NOV. 2, 2019)

Saint Anselm saw its three game winning streak snapped with a 41-35 loss at Bentley on Nov. 2, 2019.
Senior quarterback Eric Fairweather '20 logged three rushing touchdowns for Saint Anselm, doing so for the fourth time in his career. He became only the fourth student-athlete in team history with double-digit rushing scores in one season and exited the game only four off the all-time single season program record of 14 (Keith Charles '14, 2013).
Fairweather finished the day with 202 yards through the air, completing 16-of-32 passes, while throwing one touchdown to senior Shawn Donovan '20.
Then-sophomore Damien Williams (Oxon Hill, Md.) led Saint Anselm with a career-high 11 tackles, nine of the solo variety, while adding two takedowns for a combined loss of nine yards. Three Hawks logged interceptions on the day, including CJ Miller '20, Rob Green '20, and Seamus Oeser '20 – Green's return of 45 yards was the longest by Saint Anselm on the year.
Down by a 41-21 margin heading into the fourth quarter, the Hawks posted 14 points down the stretch to cut the hosts lead to only six points. Fairweather connected with Donovan for a 16-yard touchdown score with 12:14 to go before Chance Clency (High Point, N.C.) blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt. First-year Ryan Raybuck (Flower Mound, Texas) retrieved the loose ball, bringing it back 69 yards for the score.
With the score at 41-35 in favor of Bentley following Raybuck's return, the Saint Anselm defense stood tall and forced a punt with around 4:30 left to go in regulation time, giving the Hawks the ball in the game's final minutes. Bentley was able to stop Saint Anselm on fourth-and-18 and the Falcons ran out the clock to secure the victory.
The Falcons opened up a 13-0 lead before Fairweather's first rushing score, a five-yard sprint, put Saint Anselm on the board with the help of a point-after by Joey Cody '21. Bentley countered with a passing touchdown and an interception return for a score, creating a 27-7 lead with 11:52 to go in the first half.
The Hawks rattled off the game's next scores with one-yard and four-yard rushing touchdowns by Fairweather bringing Saint Anselm back to within six, 27-21, with 7:42 to go in the second quarter. Bentley closed the first half with an 84-yard catch and run by Austin Ryan, giving the Falcons a 34-21 lead at the break.
The Falcons recorded the only touchdown of the third quarter as Nathaniel Larkins had a 33-yard rushing score to up its lead to 20 points, 41-21. The Hawks opened the second half with four consecutive punts before posting touchdowns on back-to-back offensive drives – the day's final drive for Saint Anselm ended on downs with 1:37 to go in regulation time.
Bentley limited the Hawks to only 13 first downs on the day. The hosts' defense also stopped Saint Anselm on 10 of its 12 third downs and Bentley's offense piled up 509 total yards of offense on the afternoon.
Stephen Sturm led Bentley with three passing touchdowns, totaling 346 yards through the air on 24-of-33 passing. Drew Mahoney and Ryan each finished with over 100 receiving yards for the Falcons with the former reeling in two catches and the latter tallying the other touchdown score. Manny Resto led Bentley with eight tackles, including three for a combined loss of 27 yards.

CHECKING OUT THE SCHEDULE

The Hawks are currently slated to play 10 opponents in 2021.
Stonehill and Saint Anselm will renew their annual Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk on Saturday, Oct. 16. The rivalry reached its peak with a thrilling triple overtime contest to open the 2018 season – the Hawks booted a record five field goals, including three in overtime to extend the game, and Saint Anselm's defense posted 128 total tackles, the far-and-away team record.
Saint Anselm rounds out its NE10 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 6 against Assumption, a team that was overwhelmed by the Hawks to cap the 2019 season. The Hawks racked up 61 points to knock off the team picked to finished second in the NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll in 2019. The Hawks finished the season firing on all cylinders, racking up 721 yards of total offense, the second-most in any game in program history.
The Hawks will end the regular season with a non-league fixture against Bluefield State out of Bluefield, W. Va., a program that will make its debut in 2021. The College will become a residential campus for the first time in 52 years and has centered the dramatic transformation of its institution with the addition of 12 total sports, including football.

WELCOMING TO THE HILLTOP

Earlier this year, Head Coach Joe Adam, entering his sixth season with the program, introduced the 41 members of its incoming recruiting class this past spring. The class is one of the largest in recent memory for the Hawks football team.

LOOKING BACK AT THE SEASON-THAT-WAS

Saint Anselm concluded 2019 with a single-season record 12 student-athletes earning Northeast-10 All-Conference honors. The offense threw for over 3,200 yards in 2019, averaging just shy of 300 passing yards per game. Saint Anselm also scored over 300 points for just the third time in team history.
The Hawks racked up these statistics against an ambitious 11-game schedule in 2019 that included three non-conference games - all Hawks opponents combined to win 52 games at season's end, the strongest win total of any NE10 program's opponents.
The Hawks scored 304 points in 2019, the third-most ever scored in a campaign. The all-time record of 326 points was set in 2013 and just one season later, Saint Anselm logged 309 points.
Saint Anselm threw for 3,230 yards in 2019, just the fourth time since the modern-day Hawks program began in 1999 that the Hawks eclipsed 3,000+ aerial yards. The Hawks' 282 pass completions are the fourth-most in that same time frame.
The Hawks averaged 38.23 yards per punt in 2019, the all-time single-season record for Saint Anselm. The team's 21.9 yards on kickoff returns was also the top single-season performance in team annals.

THE LEADERSHIP GROUP

The foursome of Michael Boucher (Milford, N.H.), Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas), Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) and Damien Williams (Oxon Hill, Md.) were selected as team captains prior to the season, leading the Hawks into their 23rd season of modern-day intercollegiate football on the Hilltop.
Brown earned Third Team All-Conference honors twice in 2019, both as punt returner and as a wide receiver. He also earned placement on the league's All-Rookie Team after averaging 27.6 yards per kick return to rank in the top-20 in NCAA Division II - this figure is the top single-season performance in team history. His 641 receiving yards ranked second on the team and seventh in the NE10.
Sullivan is a returning team captain from the 2019 season where he earned First Team All-NE10 merits, recording 95 tackles that included 54 unassisted takedowns. Logging six games with at least 10 tackles, he posted a season-high 17 tackles against New Haven and averaged 11.6 tackles during the 2018 season, the sixth-best figure in NCAA Division II that year.
Williams enters the 2021 season after posting a career-high 51 tackles in 2019, logging five of those for a combined loss of 13 yards. Across his final four games on the season, Williams posted 29 tackles.

WHAT CAN "BROWN" DO FOR YOU?

Brown is a jack-of-all-trades option for the Hawks as he led Saint Anselm in both kick and punt return yardage as a freshman in 2019. Additionally, he was the team's second-leading receiver with 641 yards (seventh in the NE10).
He earned Third Team All-Conference honors twice in 2019, both as punt returner and as a wide receiver. He also earned placement on the league's All-Rookie Team after averaging 27.6 yards per kick return to rank in the top-20 in NCAA Division II - this figure is the top single-season performance in team history.
Brown's 1,254 all-purpose yards in 2019 was the eighth-most in modern-day history at Saint Anselm.

THE EXPERIENCED DEFENSE

Saint Anselm is set to have juniors and seniors start at 10 of the team's 11 defensive positions. Senior defensive end Aidan Gillis (Marblehead, Mass.), who has made 18 appearances in uniform for the Hawks since joining the team, ranked fifth on the team with 40 tackles in 10 games and classmate Ryan Sullivan, a safety, was second on the team with 95 tackles (including 54 unassisted). Damien Williams, a team captain alongside Sullivan on the defensive side of the ball, had 51 tackles and posted five of those tackles for a combined loss of 13 yards.
Defensive end Max Tempchin (Silver Spring, Md.) projects to be a key part of the defensive line, posting six tackles for a loss in 2019 for a combined deficit of 20 yards. Junior Brandon Hudgins (Boynton Beach, Fla.) also contributed as a first-year in 2019, posting 21 tackles including 4.5 for a loss of 12 yards.
Cornerback Chance Clency (High Point, N.C.), who has played in 21 career games for the Hawks, logged one interception in 2019 and broke up three passes as well, ranking just shy of the team lead with five break-ups. He also chipped in with 35 tackles on the year.
Linebacker Jamal Peterson (Pasadena, Md.) recorded 27 tackles in 11 games in 2019, providing additional experience at the linebacker position. He is joined by classmate Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) and junior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) atop the linebacker depth chart for the Hawks.

WHO'S UNDER CENTER?

The Hawks have graduated Eric Fairweather '20, one of the top all-around athletes in team history. In 2019, Fairweather concluded a stellar Saint Anselm career ranked first all-time with 34 career rushing touchdowns. Listed second all-time in rushing yards (2,225), his 6,110 passing yards are the third-most in a Saint Anselm career. He had a hand in 79 touchdowns across his career, the all-time team record.
Saint Anselm will turn to a talented group of signal-callers, led by the tandem of Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) and Perrin Conant (Kennebunk, Maine). Willoughby, a sophomore, is expected to start for Saint Anselm and is joined on the roster by four other quarterbacks for the Hawks. Entering the 2021 season, Conant was the only member of Saint Anselm to compete for the Hawks as a quarterback, completing seven-of-10 passes for 77 yards against Franklin Pierce on Oct. 19, 2019.

TAKING A "WIDE" LOOK

Other than Brown, the Hawks will look to a new group of wide receivers in its pass-focused offense. Senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) is set to start for the Hawks alongside Brown and sophomores Cade Horton (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas).
The Hawks also feature depth in the form of junior Quinton Quirrenbach (McKinney, Texas), a transfer from NCAA Division I Wagner, and sophomores TJ Morgera (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Carter Uhlman (Southington, Conn.).
Nicholas Fiorillo '20, a team captain in 2019, led the charge that season with 717 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Shawn Donovan '20 had nine of his team's 23 receiving touchdowns on the year.

WHAT'S THE RUSH?

Fairweather, his team's leading rusher in 2019, will not return, but the Hawks return a plethora of experience at the running back position. Christian Matthews-Byrd (Saddle Brook, N.J.), expected to be a top rusher for the Hawks this season, ranks eighth all-time in team history with 4.03 yards per carry since joining the team in 2018.
Logging 232 yards, Matthews-Byrd is followed by Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) and his 169 total yards on the year (Wagner also caught 10 passes for 96 yards, averaging just shy of 10 yards per reception for the Hawks in 10 games.).
In the final game of the 2019 season against Assumption, JC King (Fall River, Mass.) matched the team's all-time single game record with three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving. In only his third career game at the time, King broke out with 94 receiving and 65 rushing yards for 159 total yards.

ANCHORING THE OFFENSIVE LINE

The starting offensive line features three seniors and two talented sophomores that include James Daly (Braintree, Mass.) and Thomas Walton (Marshfield, Mass.). The seniors include left tackle Brian Kosicki (Franklin, Mass.), left guard Zion Hughes (Newark, N.J.) and right tackle (and team captain) Boucher. Senior Tom Cavanagh (New Providence, N.J.) is expected to return to the field in 2021 after missing time due to injury in 2019.

THE SPECIALISTS

The Hawks relied exclusively on Joey Cody '21 from a punting and place-kicking perspective in 2019 as he kicked each of his team's six field goals and made 23 of his team's 24 extra-points. He also logged 52 out of a possible 56 punts for Saint Anselm, eclipsing 2,000 yards. He took all 57 of his team's kick-offs as well.
Freshman James Cassidy (Spring, Texas) is set to handle punting duties while classmate Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) is projected to handle the place-kicking responsibilities for the Hawks. Six-foot-five inch first-year Chase Hickey (Vineland, N.J.) is also available for special teams duties.

Print Friendly Version