ELECTION RESULTS ARE IN: Bulldogs Number 3 In Region; Team Hosts Becker Saturday at Noon
BRYANT FOOTBALL HOSTS BECKER SATURDAY FOR SENIOR DAY
Bulldogs Ranked No. 3 Regionally
Records: Bryant 7-2 (6-2 NE-10) Becker
1-8
Date: Saturday, November 11, 2006
Time: 12:00 p.m. kickoff
Location: Smithfield, RI
Stadium: Bulldog Stadium (4,400)
Radio: www.BryantBulldogs.com (John McCarthy play by play,
Patrick Sullivan color)
TV: www.NE10.tv
Series: Bryant leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Bryant def. Becker, 55-7 in 2005 @ Smithfield,
RI
Coaches: Bryant - Marty Fine, 3rd year (18-10)
Becker - Mel Mills, 1st year (1-8)
THIS WEEK
The Bryant University football team, co-champions of the
Northeast-10 Conference, will host Division III Becker College this
afternoon for senior day at Bulldog Stadium. Prior to the
start of the game, Bryant will honor its senior class of
2006. A win today would set a new school record for
wins in a season, passing last year's mark of seven. The NCAA will
announce the Division II Football Playoff bracket Sunday at 5 p.m.
Bryant moved up three spots to No. 3 in the region following last
week's 35-16 win over Bentley College. The ranking is the
highest in the program's history, having achieved a No. 4 ranking
earlier this year. Bryant is in line to possibly host a first
round playoff game on Nov. 18 (No. 3 and No. 4 host a first round -
No. 1 and No. 2 receive a bye). The playoff bracket will be
announced Sunday at 5 pm on www.ncaasports.com.
NATIONAL RANKINGS - PERRY NO. 2
He may wear No. 5 on game days, but Bryant senior running back
Lorenzo Perry (Providence, RI) is currently ranked No. 2 nationally
in rushing with 188.7 yards per game average. Only Chadron
State's (Neb.) Danny Woodhead is ranked ahead of Perry with 224.3
yards rushing per game average. Perry is also ranked No. 4
nationally in scoring with 12.0 ppg and fourth with 204.6
all-purpose yards per game average. Other Bulldogs in the rankings
including junior quarterback Charlie Granatell (Franklin Lakes, NJ)
at No. 3 nationally in passing efficiency at 167.5. Chris
Wohlheter (Newark, OH) is ranked 30th in punt return average at
11.7 while Mark Gunther (Clarksburg, NJ) is 4th nationally with 1.3
sacks per game average. Defensive back Bryce Martins
(Uncasville, CT) is ranked in the top-20 in passes defended at No.
12 with 1.6 breakups per game. As a team, Bryant is
ranked No. 9 with 218.7 yards rushing per game.
LAST WEEK: Bryant 36, Bentley 15
The Bulldogs clinched a share of the 2006 Northeast-10
Conference Football title last Saturday thanks to a 36-15 win at
Bentley College. Quarterback Charlie Granatell completed 15
of 21 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns while Lorenzo Perry
rushed for 195 yards on 33 carries. The Bryant defense sacked
Bentley five times and held the Falcons to just 15 yards rushing
and 164 yards of total offense.
Bryant scored on its first drive of the game, putting
together an efficient six-play, 63-yard scoring drive. In
fact, the Bulldogs threw a little trickery into the contest,
calling for a reverse on the very first play of the game.
With the Bentley defense overplaying in anticipation the ball would
go to Perry, the Falcons were caught off guard as Perry handed to
Vince Norris who gained 21-yards on the play.
Bentley would trim the Bryant lead to 16-7
following a kickoff returned for a touchdown, but from there it was
all Bulldogs. Senior Alex Chaparro hauled in a five-yard
touchdown pass from Granatell with just over two minutes
left. After forcing Bentley to punt, Granatell and the Bulldogs
would score once more, just before the half as the junior signal
caller connected with Justin Kix in the back of the end zone for an
18-yard score to make it 29-7 Bryant at the half. For
Kix, it was his 13th career touchdown reception, tying Adam Ewing's
school record.
THE BULLDOGS VS. BECKER
This will be the second meeting all-time between Bryant and Becker
with the Bulldogs winning last year's encounter 55-7 at Bulldog
Stadium. Bryant racked up 587 yards of total offense with
backup Jesse Johnson rushing for 154 yard and Lorenzo Perry rushing
for 137 in the first half only.
All-Time Series History
Year Location Result
2005 Smithfield, RI 55-7 W
Bulldogs in the NE-10
Category Bryant
Scoring 33.2 (1)
Scoring Defense 15.3 (4)
Rushing Offense 218.7 (1)
Rushing Defense 119.0 (5)
Passing Offense 190.9 (2)
Passing Defense 148.8 (4)
Total Offense 409.6 (1)
Total Defense 267.8 (3)
Individual:
Rushing: Lorenzo Perry 188.7 (1)
Passing: Charlie Granatell 185.3 (1)
Passing Eff. Charlie Granatell 167.5 (1)
Receptions Justin Kix 3.62 (3)
Rec. Yards Justin Kix 61.6 (2)
All Purpose Lorenzo Perry 204.6 (1)
Scoring Lorenzo Perry 12.0 (1)
Tackles Andrew McLarty 8.7 (7)
PATs Bobby Heilmann 92.7% (1)
QUICK GLANCE AT BECKER
Becker comes into today's game 1-8 on the season following
last week's 28-3 loss to Husson at home. The only points of the
game came on a John DeNardi 20 yard field goal that gave the Hawks
a 3-0 lead. Becker rushed for 11 yards total against Husson and
passed for 80. Mel Mills begins his first year as coach
at Becker, replacing coach David Dunn. Located in Worcester,
Mass., Becker is a memebr of the Division III North Atlantic
Conference for all sports except football.
NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS out of 143 DIIschools
TEAM
Rushing 9th 218.7
Scoring 16th 33.2
INDIVIDUAL
Rushing Lorenzo Perry 2nd 188.7
Pass Effic. Charlie Granatell 3rd 167.5
Scoring Lorenzo Perry 4th 11.7
All Purpose Lorenzo Perry 4th 204.6
Punt Returns Chris Wolheter 30th 11.7 yards per
return
2006 Northeast-10 Preseason Coaches Poll
Team Points Record This year
1. C.W. Post (6) 96 10-3, 8-1
21-24 L
2. Southern Conn. (2) 88 8-3, 7-2
49-7 W
3. Bentley (1) 79 7-3, 7-2
36-15 W
4. Bryant 71 7-3, 6-3
----
5. American Int'l 58 5-4, 5-4
7-20 L
6. Merrimack 43 4-6, 3-6
34-7 W
7. Pace
(1) 37
3-7, 2-7 31-17 W
8. Stonehill 35 4-6, 4-5
35-14 W
9. Assumption 30 4-6,
3-6 45-21 W
10. Saint Anselm 13 1-9, 0-9 41-0 W
(first place vote)
BULLDOGS GETTING DEFENSIVE
The Bulldog Defense sacked Bentley five times in the game and
limited the Falcons to just 164 yards of offense. Bryant is
allowing just 119 yards of rushing offense and 148 yards passing
this year per game. Andrew McLarty is third all-time in
career tackles with 193 while junior Mark Gunther set a new school
record with his 12th sack of the season and 20th of his career vs.
Bentley. Bryant has 27 sacks this season, the fourth most in
school history.
NOW THAT'S EFFICIENT
Quarterback Charlie Granatell, third nationall with a 167.5 passing
efficiency, has not throw an interception since the last play of
the C.W. Post game. Since then, Granatell completed 13 of 17
passes vs. Stonehill; 9 of 19 vs. Saint Anselm in the wind; and 15
of 21 vs. Bentley last week, without an interception. During
those three games, Granatell also passed for seven
touchdowns.
PERRY RACKING UP THE YARDS ... AND POINTS
Senior tailback Lorenzo Perry, a two-time NE-10 Conference Player
of the Week and Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award winner as the New
England Player of the back in September, leads the NE-10 this
season with a school record 1698 yards rushing and is first with
188.7 yards per game. The school's all-time record holder
with 33 career rushing touchdowns, Perry has 17 TDs this
season for a conference best 108 points.
NOTABLES / RECORDS CHECK...
* Lorenzo Perry (Providence) went over the 100 yard
mark for the 15th time in his career vs. Bentley Saturday and now
has 3,033 career rushing yards - second all-time in Bryant
history.
* Perry has now rushed for 100 yards 15 times in 18 career games
and has gone over 200 yards rushing in six games career games -
including four times this season.
* Charlie Granatell (Franklin Lakes, NJ) set the all-time career passing touchdown record of 35 held by Tony Granieri with two vs. Saint Anselm on Oct. 21. Granatell now has 39 career passing TDs and is first all-time with 4,720 career passing yards and 361 career completions. Granatell has not thrown an interception in the last three games (37 attempts) and has thrown for seven touchdowns during that stretch. He is currently No. 3 nationally with a 167.5 passing efficiciency rating.
* Andrew McLarty (College Park, Md.) has posted at least 10 tackles in each of the last three games giving him 193 for his career. His 193 ranks McLarty third all-time behind Greg Wolniec's 227 and Greg Daniel's 206.
* Justin Kix (Shoreham, NY) has 13 career touchdown receptions. His 17-yard touchdown reception vs. Bentley Saturday tied him for the school record for career touchdown receptions. His next TD will set the all-time school mark, passing Adam' Ewing's 13. Kix is also Bryant's all-time career receiving leader with 105 career catches for 1,528 yards.
* Chris Wohlheter (Newark,Ohio) holds the school record with 396
punt return yards and 37 punt returns.
* Wohlheter (7 INTs) needs five interceptions to pass Jesse Lewis'
career record of 11 picks.
* With two sacks Saturday vs. Bentley, Mark Gunther (Clarksburg,
NJ) passed Ben Wellington's career record for sacks of 19.5 with
his 20th of his career.
NCAA NORTHEAST REGIONAL RANKINGS
Bryant is currently third in the NCAA Northeast Region, moving up
three spots from last week's poll. The NCAA will select the
playoff field on Sunday, November 12 with six teams from the
Northeast Region to participate in the tournament. The top
two teams will receive a bye with the No. 3 and No. 4 teams hosting
No. 5 and No. 6 for a first round game on Saturday, Nov.
18.
Nov. 6, 2006
1. Shepherd (9-0)
2. Bloomsburg (9-1)
3. BRYANT (7-2)
4. Merrimack (7-3)
5. Southern Connecticut (7-3)
6. California, PA (8-2)
- - - - - - - - - -
7. C.W. Post (7-3)
8. Slippery Rock (7-3)
9. West Chester (7-3)
10. American International (6-3)
11. Indiana, PA (7-2)
12. West Liberty State (7-3)
25 SENIORS HONORED SATURDAY:
Paul Wojciechowski (Ansonia, CT); Daniel Willis (Aiken, SC);
Vince Norris (Washington, D.C.); Alex Chapparo (Bergen, NJ);
Damion Kindle (Warwick, RI), Chris Reels (Warwick, RI), Damian
Gonsalves (Mashpee, MA); Tshombe Lambert (East Providence, RI);
Junior Jabbie (Silver Spring, MD); Wes Nottingham (Hackensack, NJ);
Andrew Howlett (Windsor, CT); David Soranno (Hackensack, NJ);
Mike Thompson (Oxford, CT); Todd Luebeck (Waldwick, NJ); Justin Kix
(Shoreham, NY); Andrew McLarty (College Park, MD); Justin Benevides
(Portsmouth, RI); Chris Peaks (Silver Spring, MD); Lorenzo
Perry (Providence, RI); Casey Factor (West Warwick, RI); Drew Shaw
(Gladwyne, PA); Andrew Verdura (Haverhill, MA); Brad Boyd (Milford,
MA); Alessio Trabelsi (Clark, NJ); Joe Knight (Billerica, MA).
