BRYANT FOOTBALL HOSTS BECKER SATURDAY FOR SENIOR DAY
Bulldogs Ranked No. 3 Regionally

GAME NOTES (pdf)

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).