#17 Assumption Pulls Away in Second Half; Football Falls, 55-23, Saturday

9/24/2016 12:00:00 AM

Links: Box Score 

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College football team showed early on that it had the firepower to go toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the country, but 17^th-ranked Assumption College ultimately pulled away in an eventual 55-23 Greyhound victory on Saturday afternoon at Martone-Mejail Field.

The Essentials
Score: Assumption 55, Merrimack 23
Records: Merrimack (1-3, 1-2 NE-10) | #17 Assumption (4-0, 3-0 NE-10)
Location: Martone-Mejail Field | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 1827
Duration: 2:58
Weather: Mostly Sunny // 63 F // Winds NNW 10-15 MPH

How It Happened

• After a promising first offensive drive stalled near midfield, Assumption answered on its next possession, going 73 yards over nine plays in a span of 3:12 to take the lead with just under six minutes to go in the first quarter.
• Merrimack came right back to answer thanks to junior Derrick Villard's (Cromwell, Conn.) longest rush as a Warrior, as the tailback gashed through the defense for a 51-yard touchdown to level the game at 7-all, capping a seven-play, 75-yard drive in just over three minutes.
• That began a furious stretch in the game that saw both sides combine for 30 points in the span of just over 6:52 from the end of the first quarter to the early portion of the second.
• Assumption responded on its next drive, needing just four plays and just under 90 seconds to march 65 yards; quarterback Marc Monks scored on a 28-yard dump-off to Deonte Harris, as the latter dodged a defender and found daylight down the right side to make it 14-7 Greyhounds.
• As the game turned to the second quarter, redshirt sophomore Shamik Perry (Bowie, Md.) took Merrimack's third play of its next drive to the house, busting through the seam for a career-long 48-yard rush to immediately respond and get to within one (14-13) after the point-after attempt was blocked
• Assumption would need only two plays to answer, as a 62-yard gain from Monks to his tight end Justin Assad put the Greyhounds back in the red zone and Monks took it himself from five yards out to wrap up a 36-second scoring drive and push the visitors' lead back to eight (21-13)
• The furious scoring sequence concluded on Merrimack's next drive; the Warriors drove deep into Greyhound territory but had to settle for a field goal, as junior Stephen Camarro (North Reading, Mass.) knocked one in from 27 yards out to make it a five-point game (21-16) early in the second quarter
• On Assumption's next possession, senior Matt Clifford (Billerica, Mass.) came up with his first interception off the season off a tipped pass to give the offense great field position; senior quarterback Nick Davis (Oxnard, Calif.) moved the chains with a 17-yard completion to first-year sophomore Brenton Martin (Marietta, Ga.) and nearly had another first down on 4^th and 9, but that catch was just short and Assumption took over on downs late in the half
• Assumption capitalized off that, marching 73 yards over nine plays before Doug Santos found the end zone from four yards away to pump the lead back to double-digits (28-16); despite another Clifford interception with just over a minute left in the half, Merrimack entered halftime down by that same deficit
• After Merrimack was forced to punt during its first possession of the third quarter, Assumption found the end zone only three plays and 46 seconds later after Monks connected with Harris on a 3^rd & 13 thanks to a stellar catch and evasive maneuver by the latter
• The Greyhounds scored again on their next possession following another Merrimack punt, this time needing eight plays and just over four minutes to pull ahead by a 42-16 margin; two costly penalties helped put Assumption in scoring position, including an offside on a 3^rd & 3 and a pass interference call in the end zone
• The Warriors showed great resiliency on their next drive; after a bad snap backed the team all the way back to the Merrimack 1, the Warriors managed to escape that situation unharmed with big completions to junior Justin Mount (Westford, Mass.) and classmate Devin O'Reilly (Glastonbury, Conn.), and later in the drive freshman wide receiver Sebastian Lucas (Baltimore, Md.) hauled in a toss from Davis and turned on the jets for a 68-yard touchdown; it was Lucas' first career receiving touchdown as a Warrior
• That, however, was Merrimack's last score of the game, as Assumption added two more fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the game away

Turning Points

• Assumption answered both of Merrimack's first-quarter touchdowns in less than 90 seconds; in fact, Assumption's third touchdown of the game capped off a lightning-quick 36-second scoring drive, quickly taking the momentum right back.
• Down by just five points, Merrimack was threatening on its third-to-last drive of the second quarter and appeared to have a first down inside the Assumption 30; that first down was overturned after a measurement, however, giving the Greyhounds the ball back with just under six minutes left in the half. Assumption eventually scored with just over two minutes left to turn a five-point Merrimack deficit into a 12-point deficit.
• Assumption faced a 3^rd & 13 at its own 42 early in the third quarter, but Monks managed to lob a ball up for Harris down the right sideline and the latter went up and brought it down despite having a defender right in his face, then shook that defender with a stellar evasive maneuver and took it to the house for a momentum-changing touchdown.

Facts and Figures

• Merrimack's 237 rushing yards were the most in a single game in four seasons; the last time the team racked up more than today's total on the ground was when it totaled 243 rushing yards against Saint Anselm on Oct. 20, 2012, in an 81-35 victory
• Merrimack's 473 yards of total offense were the most in a single game since racking up 505 yards in a 52-6 win against Pace at home on Oct. 24, 2015
• Villard set a new career-high with 119 yards rushing, topping his previous mark of 104 yards set last Friday night at Bentley
• Perry also set a new career-high with 83 yards rushing, topping his previous single-game high of 44 which, coincidentally enough, was also set last week at Bentley
• Lucas had his best day so far as a Warrior, setting new career-highs with 107 receiving yards, averaging 35.7 yards per catch, and hauled in the only receiving touchdown of the day
• Redshirt sophomore Aaron Mack (Stoughton, Mass.) led the way with a career-high nine tackles
• Total Yards (MER // ASM): 473 // 531
• Rushing Yards: 237 // 285
• Passing Yards: 236 // 246
• 3^rd Down Efficiency: 55% (11-20) // 64% (7-11)
• Takeaways: 2 (2 INT) // 2 (1 INT, 1 FF)

Up Next
Merrimack will make the short trip to Easton, Massachusetts, where it matches up against Stonehill College to open up the October portion of the schedule on Saturday, Oct. 1. Kickoff from W.B. Mason Stadium is set for 1 p.m.

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