Laham, Suozzo Lead Football to 42-21 Win over Stonehill in Conference Opener
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Chris Laham (Westwood,
MA) caught nine passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns,
while James Suozzo (Everett, MA) threw for 324
yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 114 and two scores as
the Merrimack football team won its conference opener 42-21 over
Stonehill College Friday night in front of 1,217 fans at Warrior
Field.
Anthony Smalls (Dorchester, MA), not to be
outdone, scampered for 180 yards, eight shy of his career high set
last week, on 22 carries, including a 52-yard run in the third
quarter. For Laham, his three scores give him 31 for his career,
most in school history.
The Warriors played near-perfect football in the first quarter,
tallying 21 first-quarter points and six more 54-seconds into the
second, taking an early 27-0 lead. The defense then stood out in
the second half, limiting the Skyhawks to just 120 yards and no
points to preserve the victory.
After Suozzo rushed in from five yards out to get Merrimack on the
board, the sophomore quarterback gained 18-yards on a
fourth-and-two from the Stonehill 43 on their second drive for the
first down. On the next play, he connected with Laham for a
touchdown, the 29th in Laham's storied Merrimack career,
which broke Elfren Quiles school record for career scores.
Just 5:05 later, Suozzo hit Laham again for his 30th career score,
this time from 26-yards out giving the Warriors the 21-0 lead.
On the ensuing drive, Tony Johnson (Lynn, MA)
forced a fumble from Skyhawk quarterback Tim Morrison, with
Nick DesJardins (Somerville, MA) recovering it,
and five plays later, Suozzo scampered in from one-yard out, giving
the hosts the 27-0 lead just 16:54 into the game.
Merrimack racked up 260 yards in the first 16 minutes, including
131 receiving yards from Laham.
But the second quarter was a different story, as Morrison
connected with three different receivers, Jordan Smith, Daniel
Oakes and Eddie Vachon for touchdowns to cut the lead to 27-21 with
1:27 remaining in the half.
Suozzo marched the offense down the field with the clock ticking
down, connecting with Laham from 25-yards to get them down to the
15-yard line with two seconds remaining, setting up a 31-yard field
goal from Pedrom Tand (Northboro, MA) as time
expired in the first half.
Suozzo and Laham picked up where they left off in the third, as
the Warriors marched down the field in 10 plays, going 80 yards in
3:35 resulting in Laham getting his third score of the game, this
time from 10-yards out, giving the Warriors the 36-21 lead.
After the Warriors drove down the field twice into the red zone
only to emerge without any points, DesJardins came up big again,
recovering a fumble in the end zone for the touchdown, the first of
his career and the first for the defense this season, extending the
lead to 42-21 after the extra point failed.
The Warriors totaled 630 offensive yards in the win, just 17 shy
of the school record set last year against Saint Anselm.
Laham's 211 receiving yards was 18 shy of the Quiles'
all-time mark.
Morrison finished with 269 passing yards on 25-of-45 passing with
three touchdowns. David Pringle was his receiver of choice,
catching 11 passes for 98 yards, while Vachon rushed for 53 yards
and ran for another thirty-six.
Shane Brown (Wakefield, MA) led the Warrior defense with
12 tackles, while Shawn Loiseau (Shrewsbury, MA)
added ten. DesJardins, who recovered two fumbles, including one for
a score, added five tackles.
Merrimack (2-1, 1-0 NE-10) goes for its third straight win at
Saint Anselm next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.
