Football
Football Hosts Southern Connecticut For Season Finale Saturday
November 1, 2004
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Southern Connecticut Owls (7-2, 6-2 NE-10)
at Bryant University Bulldogs (4-4, 4-4 NE-10)
Saturday, November 6, 2004 @ 12:00 p.m. kickoff
Bulldog Stadium (4,400) ? Smithfield, R.I.
TOP STORY:
Bulldogs Host Southern Connecticut Saturday For Senior Day
The Bryant football team returns home this Saturday to host the Owls of Southern Connecticut in the final game of the 2004 season and the final home game for 17 Bryant football seniors at Bulldog Stadium. All seniors will be honored prior to the 12 p.m. kickoff. The Bulldogs will be looking to rebound from last Friday?s 42-0 loss at first-place Bentley in Waltham, Mass. Southern Connecticut, tied for fourth in the conference with Merrimack, enters Saturday?s game with the Bulldogs 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the NE-10. Last Saturday, the Owl?s rolled to a 42-0 win over Saint Anselm in New Haven, Conn. This will be the fourth meeting all-time between Bryant and Southern Connecticut with the Owls winning the last two, both of which were in New Haven. The lone Bryant win came back in the first meeting in 2001, 17-7 at Bulldog Stadium. At 4-4 overall, Bryant and first-year coach Marty Fine have surpassed last year?s win total of three.
LAST TIME OUT:
Bentley 42, Bryant 0
The Bentley College Falcons showed why they are the top team in the Northeast-10 Conference this season with a 42-0 win over the visiting Bulldogs last Friday night in Waltham, Mass. Bentley quarterback Marc Eddy completed 29 of 46 passes for 384 yards and three touchdowns while Dallas Mall caught eleven passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. With his three TD passes, Eddy broke the NCAA Division II record for career touchdown passes with 118 and became the second player in New England history to record 10,000 yards of total offense. The Falcons, which held Bryant to 248 yards of offense, set a school record with 33 first downs. Bryant freshman signal caller Charles Granatell completed 15 passes for 166 yards with Justin Kix catching four passes for 51 yards and Nick Nappi on the receiving end of three passes for 40 yards. Senior defensive back Jesse Lewis had a strong game on the defensive side, finishing with a career-best 14 tackles including ten solo stops. Andrew McLarty had nine tackles while Greg Daniel, Joe Kugler, and Rich Fay each had a sack. Freshman Chris Wohlheter and Tomi Okunfolomi picked off an Eddy pass in the game.
THE BRYANT-SOUTHERN CONN. SERIES
Today will be the fourth meeting all-time between Southern Connecticut and Bryant with the Owls leading the series 2-1 including wins in the last two meetings. Last year in New Haven, SCSU quarterback Mike Abate threw for three touchdowns in a 28-21 win. Jesse Lewis had a blocked punt in the game of which Joe Kugler scoped up and ran eight yards into the endzone for Kugler?s first career touchdown. Chris Peaks had 17 carries for 75 yards in the game.
Series at a glance:
2001 W 17- 7 (at Smithfield)
2002 L 21-37 (at New Haven)
2003 L 21-28 ( at New Haven)
LOOKING AT THE OWLS:
Southern Connecticut is coming off a 42-0 win over Saint Anselm at home last Saturday. Quarterback Mike Abate tied a season-record with four touchdown passes. The senior matched a school mark of 25 touchdown passes for a season set in 2002 by John Esquivel. He hooked up with Naciki Reid for scores of 44 and 12 yards and threw and 8-yard strike to Artie Gallant. he also connected with Justin Bell for a 3-yard TD pass. The Owl?s put the game away early, scoring on two of their first three plays. Tailback Kofi Wilson scored on the Owls? second play with a 53-yard touchdown run 47 seconds into the contest. Abate completed 14 of 24 passes for 238 yards and Gallant led the receivers with five catches for 98 yards.
The only losses for the Owls this season were to Bentley (34-26) in the season-opener in Waltham, Mass., and to C.W. Post 14-7 at home. The Owls, under the direction of 20th-year coach Rich Cavanaugh, rolled to a 55-21 win over Merrimack and 51-27 win in a non-conference battle with Rowan. Cavanaugh became the Owls? all-time leader in career victories this season. The longest tenured coach of any of Southern?s five head football coaches, Cavanaugh?s team have a record of 111-90-1. Quarterback Mike Abate entered last week ranked 15th nationally in NCAA Division II for passing efficiency and was 22nd nationally in total offense. Last season, Abate passed for 2,236 yards and 24 touchdowns. The Owls have seven former members of the University of New Haven football team, including all-American linebacker Sarth Benoit. New Hvaen dropped its football program in January of 2004.
LOOKING BACK AT THE OVERTIME THRILLER VS. SAINT ANSELM
Chris Peaks? (Silver Spring, Md.) 17-yard touchdown scamper in the second overtime proved to be the difference as Bryant edged Saint Anselm by a score of 28-21 at Bulldog Stadium on Oct. 16. Peaks rushed for 57 yards on 21 carries while freshman quarterback Charles Granatell completed 13 of 23 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Saint Anselm led 3-0 at the half but Bryant roared back with a pair of third quarter touchdowns in the third to take a 14-3 lead. Granatell hit Shane Cheltenham with an 11-yard score and Peaks scored from 17 yards out to help lead the Bulldog comeback. Saint Anselm would answer as Derek Dimartino caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Shane Dinagen. Following a four-yard touchdown run by Granatell that staked Bryant to a 21-10 lead midway through the fourth, the Hawks would rally, scoring on a two yard pass to Michael Garcarz with 3:54 left. Garcarz would force overtime with a 32 yard field goal with only six seconds left in regulation. However, Garcarz would miss a 26-yard field goal in the first overtime that would have won the game for the Hawks and helped give Bryant another shot. On the Bulldogs first possession, Peaks broke through a huge hole up the middle to the game-winner.
BULLDOG BITES
??With 166 yards passing vs. Bentley last Friday, freshman quarterback Charles Granatell passed Tony Granieri?s record for yards passing in a season. Bryant, which ran an option offense for the past couple of seasons, has attempted attepted 192 passes for 1,228 yards.
? Senior defensive end Delano Dryden has 6.5 sacks this season and needs only one sack to break Ben Wellington?s career sack record of 19.5. Dryden has 19 for his career.
? Chris Peaks has 928 career yards rushing (579 this season). He needs only 72 yards to reach 1,000 for his career.
NORTHEAST-10 CONFERENCE LEADERS
A look at Bryant in this week?s NE-10 Conference statistical rankings:
Rushing - Chris Peaks 4th 72.4 ypg
Passing - Charles Granatell 5th 147.8 ypg
Total Offense - Charles Granatell 6th 133.8 ypg
All Purpose- Chris Peaks 8th 91.4 ypg
Punt Returns - Chris Wohlheter 4th 10.4 ave.
Punting - Mike Lajterman 2nd 38.7 y/punt
PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
Tailback Chris Peaks went over 100 yards rushing for the third time this season with a career-high 131 yards vs. Stonehill on Oct. 9. Peaks was named to the Northeast-10 Conference weekly honor roll on Sept. 27 for his performance in the win at Pace. Peaks had 118 yards rushing and scored three times - two rushing and one receiving. It marked the second honor roll recognition this season for Peaks.
Peaks This Season Att. Yards TD
Sept. 4 at AIC 11 51 yards 0 TD
Sept. 11 vs. Merrimack 11 35 yards 0 TD
Sept. 18 vs. Assumption 30 111 yards 0 TD
Sept. 25 at Pace 25 118 yards 2 TD
Oct. 2 vs. CW Post 14 32 yards 0 TD
Oct. 9 at Stonehill 29 131 yards 0 TD
Oct. 16 vs. St. Anselm 21 57 yards 1 TD
Oct. 29 at Bentley 15 49 yards 0 TD
Total 156 579 yards 3 TD
CHARLES IN CHARGE
Freshman quarterback Charles Granatell has completed 90 of 185 passes this season for 1,182 yards. He has also thrown ten touchdown passes this season including a 62-yarder to freshman Jon Zenquis against Merrimack. In the win at Stonehill, Granatell had 149 yards and 3 touchdowns to help lead the Bulldogs to victory. Against Bentley on Friday, Granatell completed 15 of 32 passes for 166 yards. He was also sacked three times by the Bentley defense.
Granatell This Season A - C - I Yards TD
Sept. 4 at AIC 29-12-3 218 yards 1 TD
Sept. 11 vs. Merrimack 31-13-2 139 yards 1 TD
Sept. 18 vs. Assumption 14-7-1 137 yards 2 TD
Sept. 25 at Pace 24-15-1 162 yards 1 TD
Oct. 2 vs. CW Post 10-4-2 32 yards 0 TD
Oct. 9 at Stonehill 22-11-1 149 yards 3 TD
Oct. 16 vs. St. Anselm 23-13-0 179 yards 2 TD
Oct. 29 at Bentley 32-15-0 166 yards 0 TD
Total 185-90-10 1,182 yds. 10 TD
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
? The 36-yard FG by Pete DiMartino vs. Stonehill was just one yard shy of the school record of 37 yards by Rocco Navarro.
? The 3 touchdown passes by Granatell vs. Stonehill was the fifth time a Bryant quarterback has thrown three TDs in a game. The record is four by Tony Granieri vs. Stonehill in 2001.
? Pete DiMartino has made all 16 PAT attempts this season.
BULLDOG SENIORS 2005 (16)
24 WR Demetrius Bobo (District Heights, Md.)
33 FB Adam Brown (Oaklyn, N.J.)
58 OL Anthony Carullo (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.)
36 WR Shane Cheltenham (Lynn, Mass.)
95 WR Matt Cutler (Yarmouthport, Mass.)
5 DL Delano Dryden (Riverdale, Md.)
17 DB Ian Johnson (Salem, N.J.)
49 LB Joe Kugler (Katonah, N.Y.)
29 DB Jesse Lewis (Elizabeth, N.J.)
2 DB Dashon Loyd (Willingboro, N.J.)
20 DB Thomas Major (Pearland, Texas)
28 DB Pat Murphy (East Greenwich, R.I.)
27 DB Ch? Perez (Bridgeport, Conn.)
93 DL Matt Ramos (Milford, Conn.)
46 FB Drew Shaw (Gladwyne, Pa.)
81 WR Justin Williams (Randallstown, Md.)
end -
BULLDOGS ON THE INTERNET
All nine Bryant football games will be broadcast live on the internet at www.BryantBulldogs.com. The games are made available for free courtesy of Stretch Internet. John McCarthy of WEEI calls the action live and Coni Fichera provides expert analysis. Jacob Van Ryan will join McCarthy for the Bentley game.
