UNH moves easily past Ga. Southern
New Hampshire quarterback Trevor Knight passed for a pair of touchdowns to Neil O’Connor as the FCS Wildcats beat the Eagles, 22-12, yesterday at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala.
The game was originally to be played on Georgia Southern’s home turf in Statesboro, Ga., before it was decided to move it 350 miles west to Birmingham’s 71,594-seat Legion Field, where fans were offered free admission. The game drew 3,387 fans.
The victory for the Wildcats (20) snapped a seven-game losing streak to FBS teams.
Knight was 13-of-22 passing for 129 yards and ran for 55 more. O’Connor had 11 catches for 118 yards receiving.
The Eagles (0-2) lost a fumble at the UNH 30 on the game’s opening drive and the Wildcats drove the other way, scoring on Knight’s 10-yard pass to O’Connor. Evan Gray’s 2-yard run for a score made it 15-0 later in the quarter. The Wildcats’ final score came on an 18-yard pass to O’Connor in the third quarter for a 22-0 lead.
Holy Cross 20, Bucknell 0 — Diquan Walker ran for 72 yards on 10 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Crusaders (1-1) past the Bison (1-1) in both teams’ Patriot League opener in Lewisburg, Pa.
On the opening kickoff, the Crusaders’ Jack Haddon forced Omar Garcia to cough it up and Mark Ebo recovered at Bucknell’s 22-yard line. The Crusaders committed three penalties in their first four plays before Peter Pujals completed a 30-yard pass to Richie DeNicola to the 2-yard line and Walker ran it in from there.
Maine 60, Bryant 12 — Josh Mack ran for 255 yards on 13 carries and scored three times and Chris Ferguson threw for three touchdowns as the Black Bears (1-1) trounced the Bulldogs (1-1) in Orono, Maine.
Mack, who had 212 rushing by halftime, is the first Black Bears running back to rush for more than 200 yards since Marcus Williams’ effort on Nov. 8, 2003. Mack had scoring runs of 66, 60 and 13 yards, all in the second quarter.
Maine amassed 536 yards offense with 381 yards on the ground.
Bryant committed eight turnovers, losing three fumbles with five interceptions.
Stony Brook 35, Rhode Island 18 — Joe Carbone threw for a careerhigh 184 yards and Noah McGinty led the defense with 11 tackles as the Seawolves (1-1, 1-0) picked up their first Colonial Athletic Association win of the season, knocking off the Rams (0-2, 0-1) in Kingston, R.I.
Merrimack 31, AIC 21 — A record-tying performance by sophomore wide receiver Sebastian Lucas and a stellar showing by the defense powered the Warriors (1-1) past the Yellow Jackets (0-2) in a Northeast 10 clash in Springfield. Lucas had eight receptions for a single-game school record of 269 yards with two touchdowns, covering 64 and 97 yards. CJ Scarpa of Andover completed 22of-36 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns. Jake Ragusa of Canton had two sacks for Merrimack.
Southern Conn. 45, Stonehill 26 — Raymond Catapano passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 145 yards and another score as the Owls (1-1, 1-0) won their Northeast 10 Conference opener against the Skyhawks (1-1, 0-1) in Easton. Stonehill’s Matt Foltz was 27-of-44 for 335 yards with 14 completions (125 yards) going to Yarmouth’s Andrew Jamiel.
Endicott 29, Bridgewater State 28 — Joe Kalosky’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Sheilan Velazquez with no time remaining lifted the Gulls (1-1) to a thrilling Division 3 win over the Bears (0-2) in Bridgewater. Kalosky was 21-of-38 for 282 yards and four scores and Riley Shanley turned six receptions into 99 yards with a pair of TDs.
Bridgewater’s Alex McLaughlin of Littleton rushed 19 times for 152 yards and two scores.
Framingham State 29, Cortland State 14 — Quron Wright of Worcester ran for 167 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown jaunt, as the Rams (2-0) ripped Red Dragons (1-1) in Framingham. A 41-yard field goal by Brockton’s Ryan Clifford put FSU ahead to stay in the second quarter.
Husson 44, Dean 12 — John Smith ran for 159 yards with four TDs as the Eagles (2-0, 1-0 ECFC) beat the Bulldogs (0-1, 0-1) in Franklin.
RPI 36, WPI 14 — Ed Trimpert completed 11-of-17 passes with five scoring strikes and Middleton’s Mike Tivinis rushed for 88 yards as the New York-based Engineers (2-0) blasted the Bay State-based Engineers (0-2) in Worcester. Haverhill’s Johnny Ramsdell had a 26-yard TD catch for RPI.
Plymouth State 27, Mount Ida 0 — Quarterback Zack Edwards of Brookfield and receiver Jacob Szulc hooked up three times for aerial TDs as the Panthers (2-0) beat the Mustangs (1-1) in Newton.
Springfield 28, Kean 8 — Jordan Wilcox rumbled for a careerhigh 223 yards on the ground and scored three TDs to lead the Pride (2-0) past the Cougars (0-1) in Springfield.