NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Competing for the first time since November 2019, the Saint Anselm College football team returns to action against a former Northeast-10 Conference rival this Saturday. The Hawks will battle with the Warriors from Merrimack College, who recently made the transition to full NCAA Division I membership, for the first time since 2018.

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

MERRIMACK COLLEGE WARRIORS (0-0, 0-0 NEC)
Roster | 2021 Schedule | 2020-21 Statistics | News | Game Notes (PDF)

Saint Anselm finished the 2019 season with four wins in its final six games and will look to carry that momentum forward, fueled by a 2020-21 academic year consisting of robust practices and strength and conditioning activities. The Hawks will take on the Warriors for the first time since 2018 when they were full members of the Northeast-10 Conference. The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision opponent will be the first for Saint Anselm since taking on Wagner to open the 2017 season.

Merrimack logged a 6-5 record in its first season as an NCAA Division I program in 2019, opening with a convincing 45-14 victory over Virginia of Lynchburg. Other victories included a 76-7 win over Mayville St., a nine-point win on the road at Delaware St., and a 24-10 win against Long Island University to end the season. The Warriors were 0-3 this past spring, falling to Bryant, Sacred Heart and LIU before the team's season finale against Wagner in early April was canceled.

Fans attending the contest at Merrimack must familiarize themselves with the Spectator Policy of the host institution. Live Statistics and Live Video will also be available for those interested in viewing the game remotely.

NE10 PRESEASON POLL

• Saint Anselm is projected to finish sixth in the Northeast-10 Conference, according to the league's preseason coaches' poll released on Monday. 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.

CHECKING OUT THE SCHEDULE

• The Hawks are currently slated to play 10 opponents in 2021, opening their schedule on Sept. 4 against Merrimack, a former member of the NE10 who began the transition of its 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.

WELCOME 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 18 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 17 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 20 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. Conant is 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 (McKninney, 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 Saturday's contest against Merrimack.