Offense Erupts in Football's 35-21 Victory at Pace

10/15/2016 12:00:00 AM

Links: Box Score 

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Merrimack College football team scored four uninterrupted touchdowns at one point and racked up nearly 450 yards of total offense en route to a 35-21 victory on the road at Pace University on Saturday at Pace Stadium. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Warriors, who won for the 16^th time in 16 tries against the Setters, as well.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 35, Pace 21
Records: Merrimack (2-5, 2-4 NE-10) | Pace (0-6 0-15 NE-10)
Location: Pace Stadium | Pleasantville, N.Y.
Attendance: 500
Duration: 2:46
Weather: Sunny // 60 F // Winds S 5MPH

How It Happened

• Both sides started the game with touchdowns on their first respective drives; first, Pace, quarterback Jason Habash found Marvin Jean Baptiste for a 62-yard touchdown completion, giving the Setters an early edge.
• But Merrimack needed only two plays of its own to find the end zone after senior Matt Clifford (Billerica, Mass.) took the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to midfield and a Pace penalty bumped the Warriors up 15 more yards. First-year sophomore quarterback Brenton Martin (Marietta, Ga.) gained 12 yards on Merrimack's first offensive play from scrimmage, and then junior Derrick Villard (Cromwell, Conn.) burst through the line for a 23-yard touchdown rush to tie the game early in the first quarter. Drive: 2 plays, 35 yards, 29 seconds
• After a Pace punt, Merrimack's offense used a much more methodical drive to take a lead it would never relinquish on its next possession; the Warriors converted on 3^rd & 1, 3^rd &7 and ultimately 3^rd & 3 from the Pace 4-yard-line, as Villard again punched in another tally to push the visitors ahead, 14-7. Drive: 11 plays, 61 yards, 5:12
• Pace looked to answer on its next possession and drove the ball as far as the Merrimack 20 but a Carey Wells-Jowers (Baltimore, Md.) tackle in the backfield on 3^rd & 1 forced the Setters to attempt a 38-yard field goal attempt, which missed wide left.
• As the game entered the second quarter, Merrimack capitalized on that missed field goal on another relatively quick scoring drive; Villard and redshirt sophomore Shamik Perry (Bowie, Md.) were the centerpieces of the ground-oriented sequence, as the latter set the tone with a 26-yard scamper before Villard gained nearly 20 yards over the next there plays. Perry helped move the chains on a 3^rd & 1 later in the drive before Martin connected with junior Devin O'Reilly (Glastonbury, Conn.) for a 36-yard touchdown completion, making it a 21-7 lead for the Navy and Gold. Drive: 9 plays, 79 yards, 4:21.
• After a Pace three-and-out, Merrimack's offense went right back to work, needing only five plays to find the end zone again; Martin was front and center on that drive, moving the chains on back-to-back quarterback keepers before threading another 37-yard dart to freshman Sebastian Lucas (Baltimore, Md.) – marking the second touchdown connection between the two first-year Warriors in as many weeks – to push the lead to 28-7. Drive: 5 plays, 56 yards, 2:40.
• Merrimack's defense, meanwhile, kept Pace at bay over the remainder of the half, as the Warriors entered the midpoint with a 21-point lead that would have been more if not for a missed field goal on their last offensive drive of the half.
• The third quarter started with Merrimack chewing up a whopping 7:17 of play clock in an impressive display of just how methodical its offense could be; no play went for longer than nine yards, but Merrimack converted on four 3^rd-and-short situations – including two that needed four down to move the chains – before Martin eventually capped off the drive with his third touchdown of the day and first of the rushing variety to increase the lead to 35-7. Drive: 16 plays, 65 yards, 7:17.
• Pace recorded its first touchdown since the game's opening minutes on its next drive, answering with an equally methodical drive that brought the game to the fourth quarter with Merrimack still on top by three possessions (35-14).
• The Setters would get one more score late in the contest to account for the final margin of victory, as Merrimack's defense finished with two forced fumbles, two sacks and five tackles for losses in an all-around impressive display from start to finish.

Facts and Figures

• Martin had a career day with his three touchdowns, including a career-best two passing scores, and finished 15-for-23 (65.3%) for 173 yards while adding 72 more on the ground.
• Villard piled up a team-high 96 yards rushing (5.3/carry) while Perry set a new career-high with 87 yards on 12 carries (7.3).
• Sophomore Enrique McFarlane (West Hempstead, N.Y.) led the defense with 12 tackles – two shy of his career mark – and had three tackles for losses and a sack; Wells-Jowers and classmate Josh Hill (Glastonbury, Conn.) split the other sack for the Warrior defense.
• Total Yards (MER // PAC): 436 // 295
• Rushing Yards: 263 // 94
• Passing Yards: 173 // 201
• 3^rd Down Efficiency: 63% (10-16) // 44% (7-16)
• Takeaways: 0 // 2 (1 FF, 1 INT)

Up Next
Merrimack returns home for its most anticipated home game of the year, as the Warriors welcome Southern Connecticut State on Homecoming Weekend next Saturday (Oct. 22) beginning at 1 p.m. at Martone-Mejail Field.

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