MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College football team rallied from a 27-0 deficit, but could not complete the comeback on Saturday against No. 24-ranked Bentley University. The Hawks fell to the Falcons by a 34-21 margin at Grappone Stadium.
Saint Anselm drops to 1-3 overall and to 1-2 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Bentley remains undefeated, moving to 5-0 overall and to 3-0 versus the league – the Falcons are ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division II, according to the American Football Coaches' Association Division II National Poll.
Down 27-0 with just under 22 minutes left in regulation time, Saint Anselm struck for three consecutive third-quarter touchdowns, shrinking the Bentley advantage to 27-21 with 2:11 left in the game. Saint Anselm stood tall on defense as well, forcing Bentley into three punts and a turnover between the third and fourth quarters, but the visitors held on for the victory over the Hawks.
In the second half, Saint Anselm was unable to successfully close the gap despite putting itself in solid field position on multiple occasions. On three of the Hawks' final four offensive drives, Saint Anselm turned the ball over on the one-yard line (fumble), on the nine-yard line (on downs) and threw an interception near the goal line with 25 seconds left.
Saint Anselm held the statistical edges in total offensive yards (520-to-467), passes completed (47-to-23), and racked up 32 first downs, the most in a single game since the 2013 season, but Bentley was able to score touchdowns in all four of its trips to the red zone. Saint Anselm was in the red zone six times, but could only score points on three of those drives.
Hawks quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) threw for 456 yards in the game, pitching three touchdowns and completing 47 of his 73 passes on the afternoon. Willoughby's 47 pass completions ties him for second place on the single-game list and his 456 yards thrown is the third-most by any Saint Anselm quarterback in team annals.
He connected with eight different receivers, three of whom recorded at least 11 receptions on the day. Junior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) led the way with 138 receiving yards and a touchdown. Senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) reeled in a team-leading 12 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown with sophomore Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas) collecting 11 passes for 85 yards.
Junior Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) was Saint Anselm's leading rusher, carrying the ball seven times for 46 yards and hauling in in seven passes for 59 yards in a well-rounded effort.
Defensively, sophomore Ahmad Brown (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) had a career-high 13 tackles, including nine of the solo variety. Senior Aidan Gillis (Marblehead, Mass.) assisted on seven tackles and recovered a fumble for the Hawks that was forced out by junior Devin Williams (Cliffwood, N.J.) in the fourth quarter. Williams also added a team-best one-and-a-half tackles for a combined loss of two yards.
Bentley scored on three consecutive drives to begin the game. The Falcons registered their first touchdown on a 13-play, 70-yard drive before cashing in on a 12-play, 88-yard drive. The final touchdown drive began on their own four-yard line and went seven plays for 96 yards in just 2:21 of game clock.
On the flip side, Saint Anselm punted on its first three possessions, despite running 27 plays – the Hawks were only able to gain 81 cumulative yards in that span. To end the first half, Saint Anselm found itself in the red zone in the final 90 seconds of the stanza, but Willoughby threw an interception into the end zone that put Bentley into the locker room leading by a 20-0 score.
Bentley received the second-half kick-off and scored on an eight-play, 78-yard drive to create its game-high lead of 27 points with 10:37 left in the third quarter. Getting the ball back, Saint Anselm then scored its first points of the afternoon as a seven-yard touchdown pass from Willoughby to Brown at 6:28 shrank the Bentley lead to 27-7.
Saint Anselm forced a quick three-and-out on defense and swung the momentum with a score on the team's next offensive possession. Freshman Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) received an eight-yard touchdown toss from Willoughby, completing a drive that saw several big gains off catches from Wagner and two catches for a combined 28 yards from Long.
The backup quarterback for Bentley was inserted on a second-and-one on the team's next drive, but a costly fumble by him set Saint Anselm up at its own 44 yard line, down by just a 27-14 score. Willoughby threw to Burkhalter twice on the first two plays after the Bentley fumble, picking up a quick 33 yards and the team was on its way toward the end zone.
On second and goal, the Hawks attempted two runs with Willoughby, but a forced fumble from Bentley's Steven Paulino on the one-yard line gave his team the ball back. Saint Anselm did very well to respond defensively on the next drive, stalling Bentley at their own 35-yard line and forcing a punt.
Receiving the ball back on offense, the Hawks had a big play with under eight minutes to go in regulation time as Willoughby found Horton for a 27-yard reception, but the Hawks could not push the ball home on first and goal from the nine-yard line and turned the ball over on downs with 5:22 left.
Saint Anselm's defense stepped up for the third time in the second half, forcing a Bentley punt on fourth-and-11 with 4:13 left in regulation time. This time, Saint Anselm completed the drive as Willoughby launched an 11-yard touchdown to Long that cut the Hawks deficit to six points, 27-21, with 2:11 left in regulation time.
Bentley put the game out of reach at this point as Andrew Brazicki broke off a 43-yard run that ended when he intentionally slid short of the end zone at the one-yard line, forcing the Hawks into using two timeouts to stop the clock. Falcons quarterback Stephen Sturm took it from there, sprinting across the goal-line for a one-yard touchdown to elevate his team to a 34-21 lead.
Saint Anselm gained 50 yards in just 1:20 once it received the ball back, but Willoughby was forced into a desperation pass attempt that the Falcons picked off at their own 18-yard line. Bentley took a knee with 25 seconds left in the game, winding down the clock and securing the team's 10th consecutive victory dating back to the prior season.
Sturm completed 23-of-35 passes for 307 yards, throwing for three touchdowns and adding a rushing score for good measure. Brazicki had a rushing score of his own as well, netting 66 yards on the ground on eight carries. Zay Decias had six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown while Noah Neville had a team-leading eight catches for 89 yards and a score.
