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Highlights
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College football team saluted its seniors in fitting fashion, cruising to a 41-3 Northeast-10 Conference victory over Saint Anselm College on Saturday afternoon at Merrimack Stadium. After the game, the program honored 15 student-athletes graduating next spring as part of Senior Day.
The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 41, Saint Anselm 3
Records: Merrimack (3-5, 3-4 NE10) | Saint Anselm (1-7, 1-6 NE10)
Location: Merrimack Stadium | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 2179
Duration: 2:48
Rapid Recap
- Playing in its final home game this season and just its second game ever at the brand-new Merrimack Stadium, the Warrior offense had one of its best performances of the season on Saturday, compiling over 450 yards of total offense while matching its second-highest scoring output of the season en route to compiling 41 points.
- Merrimack found the end zone for the first of six times midway through the first quarter and took a lead it would never relinquish. Saint Anselm's only points on the afternoon came late in the opening frame by means of a 34-yard field goal, but after that, the Hawks never got closer than the Merrimack 48-yard-line on any of their remaining drives thanks to a phenomenal effort by the Merrimack defense, which allowed a season-low 155 yards of total offense, including a meager 55 passing yards, against the Hawks
- The Warriors found the end zone two more times in the second quarter thanks to a pair of big plays, including a forced fumble and a recovery that was returned for a score. They then used another long passing play to add to their lead early in the third before icing the contest with two more scores during the final frame.
How It Happened
- Quarter 1 – Saint Anselm won the toss and deferred, and Merrimack would get on the board on its second drive of the game after graduate student CJ Scarpa (Andover, Mass.) completed an 11-play, 84-yard drive with a five-yard pass to senior Justin Mount (Westford, Mass.) to put the Warriors in front. Saint Anselm would threaten late in the opening quarter, but the defense kept the visitors out of the end zone, as the Hawks would settle for a 34-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3 after 15 minutes of play.
- Quarter 2 – On Merrimack's next drive, senior Derrick Villard (Cromwell, Conn.) found the end zone from 53 yards away, accounting for his longest career rush, to push the Warriors in front by 10 (13-3). Then, Merrimack's defense got involved after redshirt freshman Jake Ragusa (Canton, Mass.) forced a fumble that senior captain Brian Carroll (Sudbury, Mass.) scooped up and returned 30 yards for another score, increasing the hosts' lead to 20-3 early in the second stanza. That score went unchanged over the remainder of the frame, as Merrimack's defense forced four straight punts to close out the half.
- Quarter 3 – Saint Anselm appeared to have life on the very first play of the second half after returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but a penalty negated the play and the Hawks would wind up punting six plays later. Merrimack capitalized on that, going 75 yards in just six plays thanks to a few big passes from Scarpa, including a 32-yard score to redshirt junior Cody Demers (Dracut, Mass.), who lunged to make an acrobatic catch in the end zone to make it 27-3. Meanwhile, the Warrior defense did not allow the Hawks to get into Merrimack territory all third quarter long.
- Quarter 4 – The Warriors added two more scores with Scarpa finding sophomore Sebastian Lucas (Baltimore, Md.) for his third touchdown of the afternoon. Meanwhile, the first career interception by senior Dan Cardillo (Wakefield, Mass.) helped set up Villard's second score of the afternoon, and that accounted for Merrimack's final margin of victory.
Notes and Notables
- Merrimack outgained Saint Anselm by over 300 yards in terms of total offense comparison, while the Warriors also made both of their forced turnovers hurt, with Carroll returning the one forced fumble for a score while Cardillo's interception led directly to Villard's second touchdown of the day.
- Merrimack also had 20 first downs on the day compared to only 11 for Saint Anselm, as the Hawks were only 1-of-17 on third down. Merrimack was just 5-on-15 on third downs for the day, as well, but benefitted from a number of big plays, with three of its six touchdowns coming on plays of 30 yards or more.
- Villard was 13 yards shy of his single-game career high, finishing with 153 yards on 19 carries, averaging 8.0 yards per carry with the two scores. He now ranks second in the league in both season rushing average (105.3) and touchdowns (8).
- Seven different Warriors caught at least one pass on the day as Scarpa completed 20-of-32 for 238 yards, three scores and just one interception.
- Ragusa had a fantastic day defensively in leading the team with nine tackles, in addition to the aforementioned forced fumble, and had one of the team's three sacks. Senior defensive lineman Tyree Holmes (Capitol Heights, Md.) had two quarterback hurries and was part of another sack, while the Warriors, as a team, totaled seven pass breakups and seven quarterback hurries.
Up Next
Merrimack concludes the 2017 season with back-to-back road matchups starting with a trip to Long Island to battle LIU Post next Saturday (Nov. 4). Kickoff against the reigning NE10 champions is set for 12 p.m.
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