MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College football team saw their comeback come up just short in Saturday's battle with New Haven for first place in the Northeast-10. The Hawks ultimately fell to the Chargers by a final score of 14-11.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm hits the road for their regular season finale against Bentley on Saturday, November 16th at 12:00 p.m. from Waltham, Mass.
Score: Saint Anselm 11, New Haven 14
Records: Saint Anselm (5-4; 5-2 NE10); New Haven (7-2; 6-1 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Grappone Stadium)
Date: Saturday, November 9, 2024
Attendance: 1,071
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The game started out slow after both teams traded punts early in the first quarter.
- Saint Anselm got the ball back with 8:02 remaining in the first and got across midfield after a 24-yard rush from freshman running back Jake Croce (Point Pleasant, N.J.). Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Drew Forkner (Plano, Texas) had his pass intercepted by New Haven's Chima Opara to get the Chargers out of trouble.
- New Haven looked to capitalize on the momentum from the turnover with a positive drive of their own. Chargers quarterback Daelen Menard got his team across midfield with a 17-yard pass to Josh Zamot. However, the Hawks defense stood its ground and forced three straight incompletions to turn the Chargers over on downs.
- After another exchange of punts, Saint Anselm got the ball back to open the second quarter. The home team put together a 12-play, 49 yard scoring drive in just under five minutes that ended in a 38-yard field goal by junior kicker Sean Hurley (Bayville, N.J.).
- New Haven responded with a couple of first downs to get into Saint Anselm territory once again. The visitors eventually faced 4th-and-3 from the opposing 30-yard line, but Menard's rush only got two yards and the Chargers turned it over on downs for the second time.
- The Chargers were able to force a punt and got the ball back with four minutes left in the first half. They needed almost all of that time to find the end zone after a 12-play, 55-yard drive to take the lead before halftime. Two passes from Menard to Matt Chandler for 29 yards set New Haven up with goal-to-go, and Menard finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown rush to give his team a 7-3 lead.
- Despite receiving the kickoff to start the second half, the Hawks were forced to punt after a quick three-and-out following a third down sack for a loss of nine yards.
- Justin Felder got the Chargers across midfield after a 19-yard run, but on 4th-and-3, they were turned away once again by the stout Hawks defense after a tackle by senior defensive back Brandon Potts (Bowie, Md.) that was short of the sticks.
- Saint Anselm punted two more times in the third, which gave New Haven the ball back towards the end of the quarter. Zaon Laney produced an 18-yard run for the Chargers to put them on the Hawks 16-yard line to start the fourth.
- A few plays into the final quarter, Laney carried the ball into the end zone from three yards out to extend New Haven's lead to 14-3 with 12 minutes remaining.
- The Hawks responded with a much-needed 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive of their own to keep the game close. Forkner helped drive his team down the field with 49 passing yards and 10 rushing yards, and Croce finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown rush. Forkner then connected with junior running back Jaidin Haynes (Sayreville, N.J.) on the two-point conversion to make it 14-11 with 3:56 left in the game.
- New Haven got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff and was able to run off the remaining time by picking up three critical first downs, including two following defensive penalties on Saint Anselm, to hold on for the three-point road victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- New Haven won the battle for total yards of offense, 263-176.
- The Chargers picked up 15 first downs in the game, while the Hawks moved the chains 12 times.
- New Haven also dominated on the ground and accumulated 156 rushing yards (3.5 yards per attempt) compared to just 63 rushing yards (2.2 yards per rush) for Saint Anselm.
- The Hawks held a slight advantage through the air with 113 passing yards compared to 107 passing yards for the Chargers. Both teams averaged a little less than nine yards per completion.
- Saint Anselm committed the only turnover of the game which came on an interception in the first quarter.
- The Hawks punted six times for a total of 199 yards (33.2 average), while the Chargers punted three times for a total of 121 yards (40.3 average).
- Each team committed six penalties in the contest with the Hawks losing 61 yards and the Chargers losing 53 yards.
- Time of possession was fairly even as New Haven controlled the ball for 31:18 while Saint Anselm had it for 28:31.
- Both teams also had similar third down conversion success. The Chargers went 6-15, while the Hawks went 6-14. New Haven also went 2-6 on fourth down.
- In the red zone, Saint Anselm and New Haven each scored twice on their only two trips.
- New Haven won the battle in the trenches with their offensive line not allowing a sack and their defensive front creating three sacks for a loss of 22 yards.
- For the Hawks, Forkner completed 13 of his 25 passes for 113 yards and an interception.
- For the Chargers, Menard completed 12 of his 25 passes for 107 yards. He also rushed four times for 19 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
- Haynes led the rushing effort for Saint Anselm with five carries for 28 yards and had a two-point conversion catch, while Croce rushed nine times for 18 yards and a touchdown.
- Laney led New Haven on the ground with 16 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown, while Christopher Ais ran the ball 18 times for 55 yards.
- Fifth-year senior wideout Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas) was the leading receiver for the Hawks with five catches for 32 receiving yards.
- Chandler and Zamot led the Chargers in the receiving game with four catches and 41 receiving yards each.
- Fifth-year senior Devin Wood (Merrimack, N.H.) and seniors Will Klein (Abington, Mass.) and Austin Spille (Austin, Texas) all finished the game with nine total tackles for the Hawks. Spille also added a tackle for a loss.
- Devin O'Malley led the defensive effort for the Chargers with 10 total tackles, two tackles for a loss of 12 yards, and a sack. Opara hauled in the lone interception of the game for New Haven and also forced a fumble.
- Hurley made his only field goal attempt from 38 yards away for the Hawks.
- This marked the 15th all-time meeting between Saint Anselm and New Haven. The Hawks fall to 4-11 against the Chargers in the series that began in 2009.
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