EASTON, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College football team was toppled by the host Skyhawks from Stonehill College on Saturday by a 31-22 score at W.B. Mason Stadium.
Competing in the 16th iteration of the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" rivalry game, Saint Anselm dips to 1-5 overall and to 1-4 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. The Skyhawks move to 5-1 overall on the year, having won three out of their first four games versus NE10 foes.
Saint Anselm begins a two-game homestand on Saturday, Oct. 23, taking on Pace at 2 p.m. from Grappone Stadium. The Hawks then host American International the next Saturday at 1 p.m. before wrapping up the season with two road contests.
Saint Anselm carried a 15-10 advantage into halftime, thanks to two field goals by freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.), a 17-yard receiving touchdown by senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) and a safety as a snapped ball from center on a Stonehill punt attempt sailed out of the end zone.
Stonehill racked up 21 consecutive points to start the second half and held the Hawks scoreless in the fourth, overcoming the five-point deficit at halftime and locking down the win on their institution's Homecoming Weekend.
Each team was forced to punt on their first offensive possession, but it was Saint Anselm that got on the board first with a field goal at 6:44 of the first quarter. Freshman Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) had two catches for 21 yards on the eight-play, 45-yard drive to set up the 34-yard field goal conversion by Carroll.
Stonehill quickly responded just over two minutes later as Jermaine Corbett broke out for 75 net rushing yards across five carries, including a game-high run of 65 yards, to set up a four-yard sprint to the end zone with 4:27 left in the opening stanza.
The Hawks did well to immediately re-take the lead as time ticked off the first quarter scoreboard. Saint Anselm finished off an eight-play, 73-yard drive with the 17-yard touchdown pass by sophomore Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) to Long at 1:37. Senior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) had two huge catches on the drive, including one for 23 yards and another for 33 yards.
Stonehill tied the game at 10 on its next possession, using a 27-yard field goal by Perry Shelbred with 12:09 to go in the first half.
With under four minutes to go, a beautiful punt by Willoughby pinned Stonehill back to its own one yard line. The punt would pay dividends as the Saint Anselm defense allowed the Skyhawks to progress no further than their own nine-yard line. Forced to punt on fourth-and-two, the snap sailed over the head of the punter and out the back of the end zone for a safety.
Getting the ball back before halftime, the Hawks tacked on another field goal by Carroll with zeroes on the first-half clock, creating a 15-10 lead for Saint Anselm. The Hawks limited Stonehill to negative yardage on 10 carries in the second quarter while Anton Stoneking completed just one of his two passes in that time frame.
Both teams punted to begin the third quarter, but Stoneking engineered a nine-play drive that was capped by a 19-yard Corbett rush with 9:07 left to push the Skyhawks into the lead, 17-15. After taking the lead, the Stonehill defense forced another Hawks punt, allowing Saint Anselm to gain just 21 yards on five plays before giving the ball back on fourth-and-four.
Stoneking connected with Chris Domercant for a seven-yard touchdown reception near the midpoint of the third quarter, further elevating the home team to a 24-15 lead. Three pass plays for 12 or more yards quickly moved the Skyhawks down the field and set up the short pass for the Stonehill score.
Willoughby began his team's drive after the kick-off, but an interception by Stonehill led to another score for the Skyhawks, this time with 2:15 left in the third quarter. This time, it was Stoneking connecting with Cam Boes for a 10-yard reception in the end zone.
Shaking off the interception, Willoughby found Goda for a 75-yard touchdown on his first pass following the Boes' touchdown. This quick strike proved to be the last score for either team as the nice catch and run reduced the Stonehill lead to 31-22. Goda's reception was the ninth-longest pass play in the team's modern-day football history.
The Hawks defense stood tall to begin the fourth quarter, keeping Saint Anselm in the game, but Stonehill was able to run 20 plays for 78 yards, chewing up nearly 10 minutes of second-half game clock. The drive ended on fourth-and-two as Corbett attempted to get into the end zone on third-and-goal, but Saint Anselm stopped the play and got the ball back on downs.
Saint Anselm was not able to get anything going on either of its two final offensive possessions, running a total of seven plays for minus-12 yards down the stretch. Stonehill ran out the clock upon getting the ball back with 3:44 left in regulation time and ended the game with a 31-22 victory.
Willoughby completed 23 of his 44 passes on the day, throwing for 329 yards and connecting on two touchdowns. Goda reeled in five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown with Long totaling six catches for 63 yards and a score. Eight Hawks caught at least one pass on the day.
Junior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) had a team-best 11 tackles including five of the solo variety. Senior Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) also reached double-digit tackle totals, posting one of his team's three sacks as well – he had a 12-yard sack, the longest sack for a loss by either team.
Senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) moved up to ninth place all-time in Saint Anselm history with 239 tackles across his five-year career on the Hilltop.
Stoneking led Stonehill with 219 yards passing, throwing for two touchdowns while completing 14-of-26 passes. Domercant hauled in four catches for 81 yards and a touchdown while Corbett was the offensive star of the game, netting 254 yards on the ground and rushing home with two touchdowns. He averaged 8.2 yards per carry on 31 rushing attempts.
