NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Saint Anselm College football team 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.
Saint Anselm drops to 0-2 on the year and to 0-1 in league play following the team's Northeast-10 Conference opener. Southern Connecticut State improves to 2-1 on the year after winning its first conference game of the year.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Sept. 25, hosting Franklin Pierce on Homecoming Weekend. The team's home opener is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on the Hilltop.
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.
Winning the toss and electing to receive, Saint Anselm made the Owls pay shortly into the game. After a 49-yard kick-off return by Brown, he then caught a five-yard pass from Hawks signal-caller Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas). On the quarterback's very next play, he fired a 31-yard touchdown pass into the end zone that was reeled in by senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) with just 53 seconds elapsed in the contest.
With both teams trading three-and-outs, Southern Connecticut State tied the game with 10:39 left in the opening quarter. A 14-yard rush by Anthony Ligi preceded a 12-yard pass completion to Sam Rosen, setting the stage for a clutch 57-yard touchdown by Tyler Hodge to bring the score even at seven.
After another three-and-out by the Hawks, Southern Connecticut State forged ahead a 12-play, 55-yard drive that was capped by a nine-yard touchdown reception by Tylon Papallo with 5:09 left in the first quarter.
The Hawks responded with a 22-yard field goal by freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) with 12 seconds left in the opening quarter, cutting the Owls lead to 14-10. Saint Anselm controlled the time of possession in the first, leading Southern Connecticut State by nearly two minutes, but the home team maintained a four-point advantage heading into the second quarter.
Another lengthy drive by Southern Connecticut State produced another touchdown, this time a nine-yard catch by Izaiah Sanders to elevate the Owls to a 21-10 lead in the second quarter. Saint Anselm did well to respond with a touchdown of their own as Brown picked up a 10-yard touchdown reception with 6:20 left in the opening half to establish a 21-17 lead for SCSU at the break.
The offensive stats were relatively even for both squads at halftime, with Southern Connecticut State posting 237 total yards of offense, a total of just seven more yards than the Hawks. The key differentiator, however, was the 15 first downs for the Owls that ultimately helped lead to three passing touchdowns through the game's first 30 minutes.
Saint Anselm opened the third quarter with a key stop, but the Hawks could not finish off a seven-play, 27-yard drive that ultimately ended in a punt attempt. The Hawks did stand tall on defense, picking up a fumble by the Owls with 6:34 left in the third quarter – an offensive pass interference penalty and an intentional grounding call whistled on Saint Anselm, however, stymied any chance of a score.
Taking advantage of the disappointing Hawks offensive drive in the middle of the third quarter, the Owls upped the score to 24-17 with a 26-yard field goal by Gawlick with 1:04 to go in the stanza. Four offensive plays on that drive by Southern Connecticut State went for double-digit yardage.
Shortly into the fourth quarter, Saint Anselm was forced to punt on a fourth-and-two situation. Southern Connecticut State needed only four plays to gain 73 yards – the big play came on a 56-yard gain from running back TJ Gardner. His sprint set up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Sanders, his second scoring play of the game, to create a 31-17 lead with 12:23 left in regulation time.
The ball was given right back to Saint Anselm, but Willoughby threw his second interception of the game with 9:56 left on the fourth quarter clock. The Hawks were able to limit SCSU to just five yards on its next offensive series, forcing a punt on fourth-and-five with 8:27 to go.
Back under center, Willoughby led an eight-play, 50-yard drive that ended with his three-yard sprint into the end zone for his first collegiate rushing touchdown with 5:07 left. The quarterback hooked up twice with Long for a combined 14 yards of offense and the Hawks took full advantage of a pass interference play for 13 yards.
With a new quarterback to start the second half, Southern Connecticut State's Joe Bernard gained confidence throughout the third quarter but he was thwarted by the Hawks defense with exactly five minutes to go. Despite completing a 10-yard pass on second-and-11, a delay of game penalty on SCSU ultimately led to the hosts punting the ball back to Saint Anselm.
The Hawks then needed just two plays for 47 yards to counter, using Brown's fantastic 51-yard touchdown to dramatically tie the game. Carroll impressed for Saint Anselm throughout the game, making each of his point-after attempts and also booting home the aforementioned 22-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter.
Willoughby 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.
Long 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.
The quarterbacking tandem of Jackson Ostrowsky and Bernard combined to go 26-for-43 with four touchdowns and 278 yards. Sanders scored two touchdowns and was his team's leading receiver, picking up eight passes for 85 yards. Hodge did out-gain Sanders, needing just five catches for 89 yards.
The Owls defense had two interceptions for a combined return of 40 yards.
