Warriors To Honor Seniors Against Fordham

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass - The Merrimack college football team is set to close their season this weekend against the Fordham Univeristy Rams.

The Warriors look forward to honoring 15 seniors during the pregame ceremonies - 

Beau Lanzidelle, Kyle Doney, James Wilborn Jr, Hayden Fisher, Jabari Echols, Nate Palanica Jr. (C), Nolan Gunning, Mike Johnson, Kelvin Cheridor, Aveon Smith, Will Jones, Kendal Sims,
Jason Compoh (C), DJ Frazier, Garry Rosemond Jr.

Who to Watch
- Junior Quarterback Ayden Pereira continued his career season this past weekend against Sacred Heart. Despite the loss, Pereira set a career game high with four total touchdowns. Pereira threw for two touchdowns and then ran for two more. His ground attack against the Pioneers was unmatched as he went off for a career high 169 yards. Pereira had hit a career milestone the week prior against New Haven where he scored his 10th td of the year. In Merrimack's last home game, Pereira hit his 1,000 career rushing mark.
- Of recent, its been junior Brendon Wyatt who has been the leader in the backfield. Wyatt has scored two touchdowns in the teams last three games. The Gaithersburg native opened up last weeks contest against Sacred Heart with a 63 yard touchdown on the ground. He totaled 93 yards, which was a season high.
- Quarterback Ayden Pereira leads the team in attempts (176), yards (776), and tds (7). Highlighted by 131-yard eff ort on the ground against Maine, Pereira hit career high milestone of 1,000 rushing yards that day. Running back Brendon Wyatt accounts for 334 of the teams rushing yards with three scores. Galamama Mulbah follows that up with 240 yards on the ground with two scores as well.

Defense Wins Championships
RJ Chapman is up to four interceptions this year after a highlight reel pick against undefeated Harvard three weeks ago.
- Senior linebacker Kendal Sims has been the backbone of the Warrior defense this year, leading the team in total tackles (68), tackles for a loss (6.0), sacks (3.5), and forced fumbles (2). He added his third fumble recovery of the season two weeks ago against Colgate.
- DJ Frazier leads the team in solo tackles (41), and is tied for fourth in the FCS with two blocked kicks.
- After a team leading performance last week against Sacred Heart, Jacob Wilson has asserted himself as one of the Warriors most impactful Freshman. In last weeks contest he totaled 8 tackles

Kicking Royalty
- Junior kicker Carlton Thai nailed his 15th fi eld goal of the season against Sacred Heart. The Alberta native has hit 4 fi eld goals from 40-49 yards, two of which came from 47.
- After his golden helmet winning performance against Central Connecticut in week four, Thai has proved to be the lifeblood of the special teams unit. He is 22-22 in PAT chances.

Matchup History
- Played for the first time last season. Merrimack won 19-3.
- Ayden Pereira totaled 131 yards in the air and 136 on the ground.
- Jalen McDonald set a career high with 67 yards receiving with a score.
- DJ Frazier had 5 total tackles and a blocked kick
- Kendal Sims tallied 5 tackles

Action gets started at 12pm noon! Be sure to follow along with all the live action on ESPN+ and NESN+