WORCESTER, Mass. – The Saint Anselm College football team was downed by the Greyhounds from Assumption University on Saturday by a 44-35 score to conclude Northeast-10 Conference play.
Saint Anselm falls to 3-6 overall and to 3-5 against NE10 opponents. The Greyhounds improve to 5-4 on the season and to 5-2 versus league foes. The Hawks conclude their season on Saturday, Nov. 13, traveling to Bluefield State for a high-noon showdown.
The Hawks built up a 14-3 lead just minutes into the second quarter, but the Greyhounds tacked on four of the next five scores to establish a 30-21 advantage. Saint Anselm reduced the deficit to two points on two occasions late in the game, but Assumption used its potent run game to put the game out of reach late.
Saint Anselm limited the Greyhounds to just five completed passes on the afternoon, but backup quarterback Jake Cady stole the show in a relief role by racking up the first four touchdowns of his career, all on rushing attempts. He was the team's leader in rushing yardage (124) as Assumption ended the afternoon with 283 yards on the ground en route to the victory.
Saint Anselm had three passing touchdowns on the day as sophomore quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) found junior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) twice and sophomore Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas) once. Willoughby and junior Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) also found the end zone with rushing touchdowns.
Brown finished the game with a career-high 241 all-purpose yards, logging 149 yards through the air and 97 yards on kickoff returns. With two touchdowns on the day, he now has logged at least one touchdown in all but three games this season and has nine total on the year.
The Hawks held the distinct statistical advantages in total offensive yards (444-to-376), first downs (26-to-23), and committed four less penalties (nine-to-five), but the host Greyhounds scored on six of the team's seven chances in the red zone and punished Saint Anselm with all six of those strikes coming on rushes.
Receiving the opening kickoff, Assumption put three points on the board to begin the game as a stout Hawks defense kept the Greyhounds out of the end zone. Saint Anselm responded on its first offensive possession, marching down the field 50 yards and using a Wagner rushing touchdown to take a 7-3 lead with 9:35 to go in the first quarter.
Saint Anselm scored again just minutes into the second quarter, creating a 14-3 lead with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Willoughby to Brown to conclude an 11-play, 74-yard drive. The Saint Anselm defense was strong to begin the game, forcing back-to-back punts by Assumption following the game-opening field goal to set up the 11-point lead for the guests.
Assumption kicked its offense into high gear shortly thereafter, scoring touchdowns on the team's next two possessions. The hosts elected to make a change at quarterback and Cady took over from there – the junior quarterback ran the ball for 47 yards, marching down the field in just 3:36 before breaking the plane for his first career touchdown.
Saint Anselm punted once again before Cady navigated a six-play, 55-yard scoring drive that ended in Khaleed Exum-Strong's 10-yard rushing touchdown with 5:19 to go in the first half. With the point-after, Assumption stunned Saint Anselm by taking a 17-14 lead using just 12 plays on offense.
The Hawks opened the second half with a bang, receiving the opening kick-off and immediately scoring just one offensive play in. After Burkhalter fair-caught the opening kick-off in the end zone, Willoughby found him for a 75-yard passing touchdown that pushed the Hawks ahead once again, this time by a 21-17 margin following the point-after.
Once again, the ground game for Assumption was too much to handle as the Greyhounds took the lead for good on a 15-yard rushing score by Cady, pushing his team ahead by a 24-21 score. On the drive, he had 40 yards on the ground by himself as he was able to scramble around the backfield and find openings in the Saint Anselm defense.
Following an interception by Willoughby with 10:23 to go in the third quarter, Cady once again scored for Assumption, this time needing only a one-yard rush to find the end zone and increase his team's lead to 30-21 – the drive was helped along by a pass interference penalty called on Saint Anselm that netted the hosts 15 yards.
Exum-Strong looked to put his team ahead by a convincing margin with 4:33 to go in the third quarter, sprinting toward the end zone for what appeared to be another rushing touchdown with his team already in the lead by a 30-21 score. Senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) had other ideas, forcing a fumble on the sure-handed Exum-Strong – Saint Anselm recovered the loose ball in the end zone.
Willoughby stepped up in a big way for the Hawks with his team starting play on the 20-yard line following the touchback. Using all throwing plays, the Hawks offense concluded an 80-yard drive with a 29-yard touchdown from Willoughby to Brown to shrink the Assumption lead to 30-28 with 4:03 to go in the third quarter.
Down by just two points heading into the fourth quarter, Saint Anselm had completely swung the momentum as Sullivan picked off Cady just 1:41 into the stanza. The Hawks were looking to re-take the lead, but a Saint Anselm interception just three plays into its offensive possession led to Cady's fourth rushing touchdown of the day at 11:41.
Trailing by a 37-28 margin, Saint Anselm punched back as Willoughby found the end zone with a one-yard rushing touchdown, sneaking past the Assumption defense untouched to make things interesting with 5:08 to go in the game. Freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) made the last of his five point-after attempts on the day, reducing the Assumption lead to 37-35.
Exum-Strong, one of the top running backs in the NE10, put the game out of reach with three double-digit rushing gains before Raekwon Washington found the end zone for his first career touchdown with 1:45 remaining to effectively end the game.
Sullivan led Saint Anselm on defense with nine tackles, an interception and a forced fumble. Senior Aidan Gillis (Marblehead, Mass.) had seven tackles with classmate Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) finishing with five tackles, including one for a loss of three yards.
