MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College football team picked up a 24-16 victory over visiting Pace University on Saturday at Grappone Stadium.
The Hawks improve to 2-5 overall on the year and to 2-4 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. Pace, who entered with two consecutive victories in the all-time series with Saint Anselm, drops to 1-6 overall and to 1-4 versus the league so far in 2021.
The Hawks jumped ahead by a 17-0 margin in the first half and eventually scored on four drives in that time frame, building an 11-point lead at halftime. Pace responded with three of the game's final four scores, but the early advantage established by the Hawks offense created the eight-point margin of victory.
Saint Anselm limited Pace to just 27 net rushing yards, the fourth-lowest conceded by the Hawks in program history. The Setters averaged less than one yard per carry on the day, thanks to a Saint Anselm defense that combined for 13 tackles for a loss of 66 yards.
The Hawks also sacked the Pace quarterback six times for a combined deficit of 47 yards. So far in 2021, Saint Anselm has gotten to the quarterback 21 times – a stout offensive line for the Hawks has given up just 10 sacks on the season.
Saint Anselm scored a touchdown on its first offensive possession of the day. Sophomore quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) engineered a seven-play, 72-yard drive that culminated with a four-yard touchdown throw to junior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas), who finished the day with seven catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
On the second Hawks possession, freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) kicked home a 25-yard field goal to up the team's lead to 10-0 with 4:59 to go in the first quarter. Saint Anselm was able to get on the board twice in the first quarter thanks to the Hawks defense forcing three consecutive Pace punts to open the game.
The Hawks threw two second-quarter interceptions, but those were sandwiched by touchdowns from sophomore TJ Morgera (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and the second of the afternoon from Brown with 29 seconds left in the first half.
Morgera's first career touchdown was a 10-yard reception from Willoughby and Brown's was a 22-yard score – on each of those successful drives, Willoughby and the Saint Anselm offense needed just seven total plays.
Pace used one of those aforementioned interceptions to get on the scoreboard as a 21-yard rush by Brandon Sobotker capped a two-play, 35-yard drive to briefly slow down the Hawks. It would be the lone score for the Setters, who missed the extra point and entered halftime with just 120 yards of offense, compared to the 307 total yards for Saint Anselm at that point.
The Setters controlled the majority of second-half play, keeping Saint Anselm off the scoreboard while logging a 35-yard field goal by Ben Franchino before a two-yard touchdown pass to Franklin Castillo Diaz with 50 seconds left in the game created the final score and finished off a 16-play, 77-yard drive. Pace also had a successful onside kick following the Franchino field goal, but did not score on the ensuing drive.
Saint Anselm did extend each of its three drives to eight or more plays in the second half, but had to punt twice and turned the ball over on downs as a goal-line plunge by the Hawks was ruled not to have broken the plane of the end zone. The final possession for Saint Anselm came with 45 seconds to go as the Hawks defense recovered an on-side kick attempt by Pace, ending the game.
Willoughby finished with 281 passing yards, connecting on 23-of-33 passes on the day. To date, he has racked up 2,271 yards and thrown 16 touchdowns – through just seven games on the year, Willoughby ranks seventh in single-season history for passing yards and the 16 passing touchdowns ranks sixth in single-season team history.
Junior Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the way with 133 net yards on the ground, the top performance by a Hawks rusher in the 2021 season. In addition to Brown's big game through the air, Morgera had five catches for 52 yards with freshman Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) hauling in three passes for 32 yards.
Junior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) led the defense with seven tackles and two sacks for a combined loss of 12 yards. Sophomore Ahmad Brown (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) contributed with six tackles, two pass break-ups and one tackle for a deficit of one yard. Junior Max Tempchin (Silver Spring, Md.) had two-and-a-half tackles for a loss of seven yards, breaking up two passes on the day as well.
Freshman Thomas Hoffman (Essex, Vt.) had a seven-yard interception return for Saint Anselm, the team's third of the season and the first of his career. He also added a pass break-up in the game as well.
Pace quarterback Carlton Aiken was 21-of-38 through the air, throwing one touchdown. He was sacked six times on the afternoon by Saint Anselm, but still managed to find Ramir Tann-Davis for six catches for 90 yards. Sobotker had 53 net rushing yards and a touchdown on the day.
