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Drew Willoughby, Saint Anselm offensive line

PREVIEW: Football to battle SCSU under the Friday night lights

9/17/2021 8:00:00 AM

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Saint Anselm College and Southern Connecticut State University football teams open up Northeast-10 Conference play on Friday under the lights at Jess Dow Field. The Hawks will play their first NCAA Division II opponent of the season while the Owls look to rebound from a 33-point loss in the season's second week.

SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (0-1, 0-0 NE10)
Roster | 2021 Schedule | 2021 Statistics | 2019 Statistics | News | Game Notes (PDF)

SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY OWLS (1-1, 0-0 NE10)
Roster | 2021 Schedule | 2021 Statistics | 2019 Statistics | News | Game Preview

Saint Anselm opened its season against NCAA Division I Merrimack on Saturday, Sept. 4, falling by a 55-23 margin. The very next week, the Warriors took on No. 24-ranked Holy Cross and toppled the Crusaders by a convincing 35-21 margin.

The Hawks had the rare week two bye and will not play their first home contest at Grappone Stadium until Saturday, Sept. 25 against Franklin Pierce. It is the latest home opening game in Saint Anselm football history. Like Southern Connecticut State, the Hawks have just four home games on their 2021 slate of contests.

RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT
  • Friday marks the lone night game for Saint Anselm on the 2021 regular-season schedule. The Hawks played three night contests in 2019, logging a 1-2 record in those games.
  • Southern Connecticut State will compete in five night games this season. The Owls opened against NCAA Division I Central Connecticut State on Friday, Sept. 3 under the lights and logged a 28-21 victory. Last week against Stonehill in a night game played at W.B. Mason Stadium in Easton, Mass., the Owls were grounded by a 54-21 score.
NE10 PRESEASON POLL
  • Saint Anselm was projected to finish sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference, according to the league's preseason coaches' poll released prior to the season. The Hawks have not placed sixth or higher in a season since the 2015 campaign (T-5th/10).
  • In 2019, Saint Anselm knocked off three of the league's top five programs in that season's preseason coaches' poll, downing New Haven, Assumption and Southern Connecticut State late in the year.
  • The Owls were picked to finish seventh in the league, according to this year's preseason coaches' poll. SCSU was 2-8 last year, earning wins against Franklin Pierce and Bentley, who finished the year as the NE10 Champion.
WEEK ONE RECAP
  • Saint Anselm opened the game at Merrimack with nine straight points, using a field goal by freshman Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) and a pick-six by fifth-year senior Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.). Saint Anselm forced a punt, two turnovers on downs, a fumble and an interception on Merrimack's first five offensive drives as it hung around early in the contest.
  • The interception return for a touchdown by Sullivan was his team's first since Isaiah Douglas '18 brought home a 30-yard pick at American International on Nov. 12, 2016.
  • Thanks to the Hawks defense, Merrimack led by just five points at halftime, 14-9. However, in total, Merrimack scored touchdowns on its final seven drives before the game's conclusion. In total, the Warriors racked up 577 yards of offense, generating an average of 7.6 yards per play, and threw for five touchdowns.
  • Saint Anselm found its way to 20 first downs, but Merrimack was able to control the game with nearly double the time of possession (37:44-to-22:16) and wear down the Hawks defensive unit.
LAST TIME OUT vs. SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE
  • In 2019, Saint Anselm ran its winning streak to three games with a 25-24 win over the visiting Owls on Oct. 26.
  • The win lifted Saint Anselm to its first three-game winning streak since 2014 when the Hawks handed their opponents five consecutive defeats (Sept. 6-Oct. 4, 2014).
  • With the Owls driving in the game's final minute, then-freshman Sulton Woolbright, Jr. (Temple Hills, Md.) punched the ball away from SCSU's Jaylynn Cundiff and Ryan Morris '21 collected the loose ball, sealing the victory for the Hawks.
  • At the start of the fourth quarter, Saint Anselm capped an eight play, 67-yard scoring drive with a Shawn Donovan '20 19-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Eric Fairweather '20, giving the Hawks the one-point advantage that held up as the final score.
  • Fairweather finished 24-for-43 on the day, throwing for 347 yards. He threw for three touchdowns and ran home for another, giving him a hand in 67 career scores (37 passing, 29 rushing, 1 receiving) for the Hawks to set the all-time program record. Yianni Gavalas '17 held the original record of 64 (52 passing, 12 rushing) across his four-year Saint Anselm career.
  • Donovan hauled in three touchdown receptions from Fairweather, matching the all-time single game record that was reached only six times prior, five times by Justin Bernard '15. Saint Anselm had not featured a three touchdown performance since Ahkeen Williams '15 picked up three scores against Bentley on Nov. 16, 2013.
SCOUTING THE OWLS
  • Southern Connecticut State won its first game of the season in dramatic fashion, downing Division I Central Connecticut State. With the score tied at 11 exiting halftime, Richard Williams, Jr. picked off the CCSU quarterback on the Owls' 10-yard line and returned it 90 yards to give Southern Connecticut State a 21-14 lead.  
  • The Owls put the game away with a 51-yard touchdown pass that was caught by Izaiah Sanders - with 7:27 to go in regulation time, the Owls established a 28-14 lead. The hosts would score a late touchdown, but Sanders' score held up as the game-winning touchdown.
  • Last time out against Stonehill, quarterback Jackson Ostrowsky was an efficient passer, throwing for 271 yards after connecting on 25-of-31 passes. He threw for a touchdown and also ran home for a score on his own.
  • Tylon Pappalo was his team's leading receiver against Stonehill, racking up 123 yards on just five catches. One of those receptions was a 56-yard touchdown.
  • On defense, Kwadir Delgado-McIntyre and Hasan Dominick lead the team with 15 total tackles across the first two games of 2021.
CHECKING OUT THE SCHEDULE
  • The Hawks are currently slated to play 10 opponents in 2021, including their season-opening contest against Merrimack on Sept. 4. The Warriors are a former member of the NE10 who began the transition of their entire athletics department to NCAA Division I in 2019-20.
  • Schedule highlights include a Homecoming showdown with Franklin Pierce on Saturday, Sept. 25 - the game will mark the latest home opener for the Hawks in modern-day team history. The Ravens were downed by the Hawks in the first-ever meeting between both programs, 50-10.
  • Stonehill and Saint Anselm will renew their annual Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk on Saturday, Oct. 16. The rivalry reached its peak with a thrilling triple overtime contest to open the 2018 season – the Hawks booted a record five field goals, including three in overtime to extend the game, and Saint Anselm's defense posted 128 total tackles, the far-and-away team record.
  • Saint Anselm rounds out its NE10 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 6 against Assumption, a team that was overwhelmed by the Hawks to cap the 2019 season. The Hawks racked up 61 points to knock off the team picked to finished second in the NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll in 2019. The Hawks finished the season firing on all cylinders, racking up 721 yards of total offense, the second-most in any game in program history.
  • The Hawks will end the regular season with a non-league fixture against Bluefield State out of Bluefield, W. Va., a program that will make its debut in 2021. The College will become a residential campus for the first time in 52 years and has centered the dramatic transformation of its institution with the addition of 12 total sports, including football.
WELCOMING TO THE HILLTOP
  • Earlier this year, Head Coach Joe Adam, entering his sixth season with the program, introduced the 41 members of its incoming recruiting class this past Spring. The new group of Hawks will open NE10 play on Friday, Sept. 17 against Southern Connecticut State on the road under the lights. Saint Anselm defeated the Owls by a 25-24 score on Oct. 26, 2019, running its then-winning streak to three games.
LOOKING BACK AT THE SEASON-THAT-WAS
  • Saint Anselm concluded 2019 with a single-season record 12 student-athletes earning Northeast-10 All-Conference honors. The offense threw for over 3,200 yards in 2019, averaging just shy of 300 passing yards per game. Saint Anselm also scored over 300 points for just the third time in team history.
  • The Hawks racked up these statistics against an ambitious 11-game schedule in 2019 that included three non-conference games - all Hawks opponents combined to win 52 games at season's end, the strongest win total of any NE10 program's opponents.
  • The Hawks scored 304 points in 2019, the third-most ever scored in a campaign. The all-time record of 326 points was set in 2013 and just one season later, Saint Anselm logged 309 points.
  • Saint Anselm threw for 3,230 yards in 2019, just the fourth time since the modern-day Hawks program began in 1999 that the Hawks eclipsed 3,000+ aerial yards. The Hawks' 282 pass completions are the fourth-most in that same time frame.
  • The Hawks averaged 38.23 yards per punt in 2019, the all-time single-season record for Saint Anselm. The team's 21.9 yards on kickoff returns was also the top single-season performance in team annals.
THE LEADERSHIP GROUP
  • The foursome of Michael Boucher (Milford, N.H.), Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas), Ryan Sullivan (Stoughton, Mass.) and Damien Williams (Oxon Hill, Md.) were selected as team captains prior to the season, leading the Hawks into their 23rd season of modern-day intercollegiate football on the Hilltop.
  • An offensive lineman, Boucher has competed in 19 games across a three-season career at Saint Anselm.
  • Brown earned Third Team All-Conference honors twice in 2019, both as punt returner and as a wide receiver. He also earned placement on the league's All-Rookie Team after averaging 27.6 yards per kick return to rank in the top-20 in NCAA Division II - this figure is the top single-season performance in team history. His 641 receiving yards ranked second on the team and seventh in the NE10. 
  • Sullivan is a returning team captain from the 2019 season where he earned First Team All-NE10 merits, recording 95 tackles that included 54 unassisted takedowns. Logging six games with at least 10 tackles, he posted a season-high 17 tackles against New Haven and averaged 11.6 tackles during the 2018 season, the sixth-best figure in NCAA Division II that year.
  • Williams enters the 2021 season after posting a career-high 51 tackles in 2019, logging five of those for a combined loss of 13 yards. Across his final four games on the season, Williams posted 29 tackles and heads into the upcoming season with 13 career games under his belt.
WHAT CAN "BROWN" DO FOR YOU?
  • Brown as a jack-of-all-trades option for the Hawks as he led Saint Anselm in both kick and punt return yardage as a freshman in 2019. Additionally, he was the team's second-leading receiver with 641 yards (seventh in the NE10).
  • He earned Third Team All-Conference honors twice in 2019, both as punt returner and as a wide receiver. He also earned placement on the league's All-Rookie Team after averaging 27.6 yards per kick return to rank in the top-20 in NCAA Division II - this figure is the top single-season performance in team history.
  • Brown's 1,254 all-purpose yards in 2019 was the eighth-most in modern-day history at Saint Anselm.
THE EXPERIENCED DEFENSE
  • Saint Anselm is set to have juniors and seniors start at 10 of the team's 11 defensive positions. Senior defensive end Aidan Gillis (Marblehead, Mass.), who has made 18 appearances in uniform for the Hawks since joining the team, ranked fifth on the team with 40 tackles in 10 games and classmate Ryan Sullivan, a safety, was second on the team with 95 tackles (including 54 unassisted). Damien Williams, a team captain alongside Sullivan on the defensive side of the ball, had 51 tackles and posted five of those tackles for a combined loss of 13 yards.
  • Defensive end Max Tempchin (Silver Spring, Md.) projects to be a key part of the defensive line, posting six tackles for a loss in 2019 for a combined deficit of 20 yards. Junior Brandon Hudgins (Boynton Beach, Fla.) also contributed as a first-year in 2019, posting 21 tackles including 4.5 for a loss of 12 yards.
  • Cornerback Chance Clency (High Point, N.C.), who has played in 21 career games for the Hawks, logged one interception in 2019 and broke up three passes as well, ranking just shy of the team lead with five break-ups. He also chipped in with 35 tackles on the year.
  • Linebacker Jamal Peterson (Pasadena, Md.) recorded 27 tackles in 11 games in 2019, providing additional experience at the linebacker position. He is joined by classmate Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) and junior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) atop the linebacker depth chart for the Hawks.
WHO'S UNDER CENTER?
  • The Hawks have graduated Eric Fairweather '20, one of the top all-around athletes in team history. In 2019, Fairweather concluded a stellar Saint Anselm career ranked first all-time with 34 career rushing touchdowns. Listed second all-time in rushing yards (2,225), his 6,110 passing yards are the third-most in a Saint Anselm career. He had a hand in 79 touchdowns across his career, the all-time team record. 
  • Saint Anselm will turn to a talented group of signal-callers, led by the tandem of Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) and Perrin Conant (Kennebunk, Maine). Willoughby, a sophomore, is expected to start for Saint Anselm and is joined on the roster by four other quarterbacks for the Hawks. Entering the 2021 season, Conant was the only member of Saint Anselm to compete for the Hawks as a quarterback, completing seven-of-10 passes for 77 yards against Franklin Pierce on Oct. 19, 2019.
TAKING A "WIDE" LOOK
  • Other than Brown, the Hawks will look to a new group of wide receivers in its pass-focused offense. Senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) is set to start for the Hawks alongside Brown and sophomores Cade Horton (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas).
  • The Hawks also feature depth in the form of junior Quinton Quirrenbach (McKinney, Texas), a transfer from NCAA Division I Wagner, and sophomores TJ Morgera (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Carter Uhlman (Southington, Conn.).
  • Nicholas Fiorillo '20, a team captain in 2019, led the charge that season with 717 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Shawn Donovan '20 had nine of his team's 23 receiving touchdowns on the year.
WHAT'S THE RUSH?
  • Fairweather, his team's leading rusher in 2019, will not return, but the Hawks return a plethora of experience at the running back position. Christian Matthews-Byrd (Saddle Brook, N.J.), expected to be a top rusher for the Hawks this season, ranks eighth all-time in team history with 4.08 yards per carry since joining the team in 2018. 
  • Logging 232 yards, Matthews-Byrd is followed by Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) and his 169 total yards on the year (Wagner also caught 10 passes for 96 yards, averaging just shy of 10 yards per reception for the Hawks in 10 games.). 
  • In the final game of the 2019 season against Assumption, JC King (Fall River, Mass.) matched the team's all-time single game record with three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving. In only his third career game at the time, King broke out with 94 receiving and 65 rushing yards for 159 total yards.
ANCHORING THE OFFENSIVE LINE
  • The starting offensive line features three seniors and two talented sophomores that include James Daly (Braintree, Mass.) and Thomas Walton (Marshfield, Mass.). The seniors include left tackle Brian Kosicki (Franklin, Mass.), left guard Zion Hughes (Newark, N.J.) and right tackle (and team captain) Boucher. Senior Tom Cavanagh (New Providence, N.J.) is expected to return to the field in 2021 after missing time due to injury in 2019.
THE SPECIALISTS
  • The Hawks relied exclusively on Joey Cody '20 from a punting and place-kicking perspective in 2019 as he kicked each of his team's six field goals and made 23 of his team's 24 extra-points. He also logged 52 out of a possible 56 punts for Saint Anselm, eclipsing 2,000 yards. He took all 57 of his team's kick-offs as well.
  • Freshman James Cassidy (Spring, Texas) is set to handle punting duties while classmate Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) is projected to handle the place-kicking responsibilities for the Hawks. Six-foot-five inch first-year Chase Hickey (Vineland, N.J.) is also available for special teams duties in Friday evening's contest at Southern Connecticut State.
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