Clancy (6 TDs), Defense (2 TOs, 3 Sacks) Lead Football to 51-9 NE-10 Road Win at Saint A's
WARRIOR DEFENSE YIELDS SEASON-LOW NINE POINTS, CLANCY TOSSES SIX TDs IN SATURDAY WIN
Links: Box Score
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Leading by just five after the first quarter, the Merrimack College football team would not allow another point the rest of the way thanks to stellar defense and momentum-changing turnovers, and a 31-point second half allowed the Warriors to cruise to a 51-9 road victory against Saint Anselm College in a Saturday afternoon Northeast-10 Conference battle at Grappone Stadium.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 51, Saint Anselm 9
Records: Merrimack (4-3, 3-3 NE-10) | Saint Anselm (0-7, 0-6 NE-10)
Location: Grappone Stadium | Manchester, N.H.
How It Happened
Despite the end result, the first half of the contest was much closer than the final score indicated, as the Warriors and Hawks battled tooth and nail over the first 30 minutes of regulation.
Merrimack opened the game's scoring on its first drive of the game before the Hawks responded with a touchdown of their own to cut the deficit to 7-6 midway through the first quarter. But the Warriors answered right back on their next possession, as senior Quinn McDonough (Medford, Mass.) sparked the visitors with a 90-yard kickoff return that pushed the Navy and Gold up, 14-6.
Saint Anselm tacked on a field goal late in the quarter to claw within five, setting the stage for a second quarter that saw both teams punt a combined three times before Saint Anselm came up with a big interception that could have pushed the home side should they have converted, but the Hawks turned it over on downs during their next possession, allowing Merrimack – and senior quarterback Joe Clancy (Newburyport, Mass.) – to march 95 yards over 12 plays capped by a 15-yard strike to junior Zach Ingalls (Westford, Mass.), to take the air out of the sails of Saint Anselm and give the Warriors a 20-9 advantage at the half.
From there on out, the Warriors would not allow a single point against the hosts, despite starting the third quarter with an interception on their first drive. The defense never shined brighter than after starting deep in its own territory following the interception, at the Merrimack 7-yard line, and coming up with an drive-defining six-yard sack by sophomore Jon Hooper (Pembroke, Mass.) after a costly holding penalty. The Hawks then promptly missed a 34-yard field goal, and that would be the closest the hosts would get to finding the end zone the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, the Warrior offense would rack up 21 points in the third quarter before tallying 10 more in the last frame, finishing with 489 yards on the day. Clancy would finish 38-for-56 with six touchdowns, two interceptions and 441 yards, while classmate Shane Ferguson (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) enjoyed a career afternoon with a personal best 150 yards and two scores. Freshman Justin Mount (Westford, Mass.), sophomore Jere Brown (Freeport, N.Y.), Ingalls and junior Steven Browne (Staten Island, N.Y.) would all haul in receiving touchdowns as well, while McDonough finished with 106 yards on two kickoff returns.
Hooper would lead the way defensively with eight tackles and two for losses totaling 18 yards, and also helped set up Merrimack's field goal in the fourth quarter after picking off Andrew Murphy in the Merrimack end zone and returning it 68 yards deep into Saint A's territory to turn aside another scoring chance from the Hawks. He, senior Artis Holt (Baltimore, Md.) and rookie Josh Hill (Glastonbury, Conn.) all finished with one sack apiece.
A Closer Look
- Merrimack outgained Saint A's by a 489-411 margin on Saturday
- Those efforts came despite totaling just 48 yards rushing on the day, as the Warriors generated 441 passing yards and added 183 more return yards
- Junior Nick Zwaan (Longmeadow, Mass.) finished 1-for-1 on field goals and 6-for-7 on point-after attempts, totaling nine punts on the day
- Despite Saint A's holding a 33:56-26:04 advantage in time of possession, the defense came through, totaling 96 tackles as a unit compared to just 70 for Saint A's
Up Next
Merrimack returns home to welcome nearby rival Bentley University on Homecoming Weekend next Saturday, Oct. 26, at Martone-Mejail Field. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
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