NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack football team was upset
by Saint Anselm College 48-42 Friday night at Warrior Field.
The victory snaps a 34-game losing streak for the Hawks that began
on September 3, 2005.
Merrimack trailed by as much as 21, at 42-21 in the third quarter,
but they cut the lead to one score as J.D. Suozzo
connected with Patrick Easley from 24 yards out in
the final minute of the third. Four minutes later, Suozzo dashed
into the end zone from nine yards out and just like that, it was a
one score game, at 42-35.
Saint Anselm responded immediately as Luke St. Marie rushed 45
yards for the touchdown on just the second play of the drive,
extending the lead to 48-35 after the extra point failed.
Again, Merrimack responded as Suozzo connected with
Jeremiah Watts on fourth and 21 for 53 yards,
setting up a first and goal, where the freshman quarterback raced
into the end zone for his third touchdown rush of the game, this
time from five yards out.
Merrimack failed to recover the onside kick but got the ball back
on its own 20 after the Hawks went three and out, and punted into
the end zone for the touchback.
The Warriors nearly pulled off the incredible comeback as Suozzo
found Omari Mobley for a gain of 13, getting the
ball to the Hawks’ 29 with less than three minutes remaining.
But after three incomplete passes and an intentional grounding
call, Merrimack was faced with a fourth and 25 at the 42.
Suozzo launched it to the end zone, but Ryan
DiGregorio could not come down with it, ending any hopes
of the comeback.
St. Marie set the school record for rushing yards in a game with
241 yards on 28 carries. Wilson led the way at quarterback with 181
rushing yards and 114 passing yards. Saint Anselm set a number of
single-game records as a team, including most team rushing yards in
a game (439), most yards of total offense (553), total offensive
plays (98), most team rushing attempts (69) and most points in a
game (48).
Suozzo rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns, and threw for
289 yards on 23-of-49 passing with one score. Richard
Johnson tallied 160 yards on the ground on 20 carries and
caught six balls for 60 yards. Watts, who leads the conference in
catches, added nine more for 131 yards.
There were exactly 1,200 total yards in the game, including 439 on
the ground from Saint Anselm to 358 for Merrimack.
Merrimack (3-3, 2-2 NE-10) finishes the regular season in
conference with three of four on the road beginning with a 2 p.m.
matchup at Bentley College next Saturday.