Football Edged by Bentley, 31-28
WALTHAM, Mass.- The Merrimack football team nearly pulled off a
second-half comeback but fell to Bentley 31-28, Friday night. The
Warriors move to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the Northeast-10. The
Falcons improve to 2-4 on the year and 2-2 in the league.
Bentley's Bryant Johnson capped off a 68-yard opening drive with
a four-yard rush into the endzone. The Falcons jumped out to an
early 7-0 lead. Bentley added a second touchdown in the closing
minutes of the first quarter on an 81-yard drive.
Merrimack responded with a score of its own in the second
quarter, pulling the score to 14-7. James Suozzo
(Everett, Mass.) connected with Omari Mobley
(Hanover, Pa.) on a 38-yard reception to get the Warriors
into the red zone. Jimon Hill (North
Chicago, Ill.) and Anthony
Smalls (Dorchester, Mass.) rushed the
ball to the one for Suozzo to punch it in.
The Falcons restored their lead to 14 points on a Jack Pizzotti
three-yard rushing touchdown. The score would remain 21-7 in favor
of the home team at halftime.
Suozzo led the Warriors on a 71-yard drive to open the second
half. The drive resulted in Suozzo putting the ball in the endzone
for his second one-yard rushing touchdown of the game. Greg
Molloy (Newmarket, N.H.) tacked on the extra point to make
it a seven-point affair, 21-14.
Falcons' placekicker Paul Branco extended Bentley's lead to 10
points, 24-14, as he split the uprights on a 31-yard field goal
midway through the third quarter.
Bentley increased its lead to 17 points on Johnson's second
touchdown pass. John Malone hauled in the reception with just over
a minute to play in the third quarter.
On the game's first punt, Isaiah Voegeli
(Hyannis, Mass.) appeared to have broke off a 60-yard
return to the house. The return was called back due to a Merrimack
penalty. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Suozzo made sure
Voegeli got into the end zone, launching a 40-yard bomb for the
wideout to run under. The sophomore hauled in the reception and
scampered the remaining 20 yards to the end zone to cut the deficit
to 31-21.
On the first play of Bentley's next drive, Garrett Boyd
(Newburyport, Mass.) forced a fumble and Radoslaw
Szwelicki (Southington, Conn.) pounced on the free
ball to give the Warriors the ball moments after their third
touchdown score. Suozzo took four straight chances throwing the
ball long but was unable to hook up with a receiver.
Merrimack brought the score within reach as Suozzo found
Greg
Abelli (Billerica, Mass.) in the end zone with under
two minutes to play. The Warriors now trailed by just three
points.
Merrimack held Bentley out of the end zone on the Falcons' final
drive of the game and managed to get the ball back with less than
10 seconds on the clock. The Warriors were pinned inside their own
10-yard line by a Bentley punt. Suozzo took the game's final snap
and rolled out to the right to buy time for his receivers to get
down field. The junior quarterback's pass attempt fell incomplete
as time expired.
Suozzo accrued 323 yards passing on 23-of-42 passing attempts.
He also threw two interceptions in the game.
Smalls finished the game with 71 yards rushing on 17 carries
while Suozzo ran for 63 yards on 11 attempts. Abelli amassed 94
receiving yards on 10 catches while Mobley hauled in six passes for
82 yards. Smalls and Abelli lead the Warriors in total offense with
145 yards and 134 yards respectively.
On the defensive side of the ball, Shawn Loiseau
(Shrewsbury, Mass.) racked up 12 tackles including three
for a loss. Josh Henry (Westport,
Conn.) and Szwelicki each totaled seven tackles for
Merrimack.
"We started slow and it didn't help that we only had four
possessions in the entire first half," said head coach John Perry.
"I think the guys responded well after halftime. We picked up the
intensity and played hard. The ball just didn't bounce our way
tonight."
