Football Closes 2018 with Resounding Senior Day Triumph over Southern Connecticut State

Links: Box Score // Highlights

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College football team scored the first 28 points of the game and never looked back, closing its final season as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference in dominant fashion with a 31-14 victory against Southern Connecticut State in the finale of the 2018 season on Saturday at Duane Stadium.

The Warriors finish a 2018 season that saw them battle countless injuries on the defensive side of the ball, as well as a front-loaded schedule that had them play three of the league's – and region's – top three teams all in the first month of the year but still managed to finish a .500 record for the 14^th time in program history. Merrimack nearly ran the table from October onward, winning four of the final five games of the season, with its lone loss coming by a single point. The Warriors won five wins in the NE10 and finished with a winning record in league play for the 12^th time in school history, as well.

Afterward, the program honored the members of the Class of 2019 as part of a special Senior Day ceremony on the field. The group was part of a number of historic wins over the last four-plus years and helped the program earn victories against nearly early other team in the NE10 in that span. Off the field, they have helped solidify the football program's reputation as one Merrimack's most active teams in the community and were part of a team that was named the College's Athletics Community Service Team of the Year in back-to-back academic years.

The Essentials
Score: Merrimack 31, So. Connecticut 14
Records: Merrimack (5-5, 5-4 NE10) | So. Connecticut (4-6, 3-6 NE10)
Location: Duane Stadium | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 1,645
Duration: 2:53

How It Happened

• After an SCSU punt on the first drive of the game, Merrimack promptly scored on its first chance, going 58 yards over eight plays before freshman Christian Carter connected with classmate Johnny Rosario for a 25-yard touchdown strike to give the Warriors an early lead. The rookie quarterback scampered for eight yards earlier in the drive to move the chains before finding Rosario for his 15^th touchdown of the year.
• Early in the second, it was Carter finding the end zone again, this time on the ground for the first time in his career, as he took it in from two yards out to make it 14-0. But he wasn't the only one with big rushes on that drive, as rookie Matt Brehon and redshirt junior Marquis Spence had rushes of 15 and 13, respectively, to set up the score.
• Southern came the closest it would to scoring in the first half on its next drive, getting as close as the Merrimack 23 before stalling thanks to a holding penalty and tremendous defense by Merrimack's secondary to force a turnover on downs.
• Carter would find the end zone again with his legs for his second rushing touchdown of the day about 10 minutes later, capping off a seven-play, 65-yard drive in barely over 2-1/2 minutes to push the lead to 21-0. A third-down completion to Rosario brought the Warriors to midfield and a 35-yard strike to Spence put them in the red zone. Carter then took it in from 12 yards out on a 3^rd & 7 to make it a three-possession score.
• After redshirt freshman Daekwon Shepherd intercepted the Owls to deny them at the end of the first half, the Warriors opened the second half with the ball and needed only another 2:27 of game time to increase the lead to 28-0. Senior Cody Demers appropriately got involved in the action by hauling in his team-leading eighth touchdown of the season and 18^th of his career from 18 yards out to make it a four-score game. Carter went to his two favorite targets – Demers and Spence – twice on the way to that touchdown. Spence came away with a 35-yard completion on a 3^rd & 10 in Merrimack territory, and then Demers got them even closer with a 21-yard catch before the touchdown came a play later.
• Southern was held off the board until 4:35 remaining in the third; they would get only as close as 14 points after finding the end zone for the second time early in the fourth, but the Warrior defense yielded nothing else the rest of the way. Perhaps the biggest moment of the game occurred after Southern got the ball back on a fumble recovery during the ensuing kickoff after its second touchdown. The Owls stared that drive at the Merrimack 36, but a sack by redshirt sophomore Jake Ragusa on a 3^rd & 9 wound up being the difference, as Merrimack turned the Owls over on downs to take momentum right back.
• After senior Corey Resendes put a bow on the win with his ninth field goal of the season to account for the final margin of victory, the Warrior defense turned the Owls over once more  and then sealed the victory with an interception by sophomore Bryce Smith.

Highlights

• After missing the last two weeks with an injury, Carter returned to the lineup and didn't miss a beat, concluding his stellar freshman season with a 230-yard performance on 15-of-29 passing. He accounted for four touchdowns – two throwing, two rushing – and was not intercepted while tacking on another 47 yards on the ground.
• Demers put a bow on a sensational career with another 100-yard game, his fifth of the season. He had 117 yards on eight catches and a score, while Rosario hauled in the other touchdown on four catches for 45 yards. Spence was lethal as well, averaging 35 yards per catch for 70 yards.
• The Merrimack defense finished with four sacks, its second-highest total in a game this season. Two of them were by senior Avery Taylor, appropriately enough. Ragusa and junior Jack Lambert had the other two sacks.
• Redshirt sophomore Michael Mercuri, meanwhile, was on another level once again with a game-high 14 tackles (11 solo). Shepherd and Smith had the two interceptions in the game, as well.

Notes & Numbers

• Merrimack snapped a three-game skid against Southern Connecticut and evened the all-time series at 11-11 overall after the win on Saturday. It was the first victory for the Warriors since a 21-14 win in 2015.
• The Warriors had another game with 300-plus yards of offense, finishing with 332 on the afternoon (102 rushing, 230 passing). The team posted at least 300 yards of total offense every game this year.
• Merrimack also eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the ninth time on the season.
• Total Yards (Rushing-Passing-Total): 102-230—332 // 108-221—329
• Takeaways (INT/FR): 2/0 // 0/2
• Sacks: 4 // 0
• Total 1^st Downs: 16 // 20
• 3^rd Down Conversions: 6-12 // 9-19
• 4^th Down Conversions: 1-1 // 2-5
• Time of Possession: 22:55 // 37:05