Bryant now 3-1
Points were aplenty as the Bryant football team held off Robert Morris Saturday, 49-46.
SMITHFIELD – Bryant University’s football team seemed poised to deliver to their thousands of faithful fans in and around packed Beirne Stadium on Saturday afternoon a thrilling and fitting tribute: A lopsided Homecoming/Reunion triumph over outmanned Robert Morris University.
It didn’t work out that way, however, as the Colonials suddenly became “manned.”
RMU, located down Pittsburgh way, happened to take advantage of a couple of gifts and turned what had been a 42-24 blowout by the hosts into an astonishing 46-42 cushion with 6:46 remaining in regulation.
Those 22 unanswered points left quite a few fans/Bulldogs fans – call them extended family members of the coaching staff and players – mumbling and/or grumbling to themselves in the high reaches of the stadium.
Bryant nevertheless replaced that havoc with normalcy on what proved to be its penultimate possession. It matriculated 75 yards on nine snaps, ending on Middletown, R.I. resident/ sophomore running back Isaac McCray’s instinctive 26-yard TD bolt off left tackle with 3:09 left to seal the 49-46 come-from-behind victory in its Northeast 10 Conference debut.
McCray, a St. George’s Prep product, finished with 53 ground yards on 13 handles, but chipped in 27 more on a pair of catches. Another New Englander, Declan Burt, who’s listed as a 6-4, 210-pound tight end out of Lynnfield, Ma., tacked on another career outing. He collected 92 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions.
He played in only six games last year, but has seen significant time in Bryant’s four tilts so far.
“Those are my first-ever TD catches, but I’m just trying to whatever it takes to help the team win,” Burt stated after BU improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in league action. “Stats don’t matter to me – winning does.”
When pushed about his individual excitement level, he admitted, “it felt great to finally get into the end zone, but winning feels better. I really mean that.”
Offered McCray: “When we fell behind, we never thought we were in trouble. We never get too down on ourselves. We knew we had a few bad plays on offense and defense, but we kept our heads. We didn’t hang our heads low; we always looked forward to that next play.”
While the two “relative” locals had fine games, no one outdid senior receiver Vincent Nisivoccia of Nutley, N.J. He was responsible for a team-high 156 all-purpose yards, courtesy of eight catches for 115 yards, not to mention one punt return for 41 more.
“Like my guys said, I don’t care about stats; as long as we get the win, I’m thrilled,” he said. “I’m happy with this. Yes, we’re definitely capable of playing better, but I’m just happy to be able to help my team. That’s it.”
The Bulldogs didn’t look primed for victory after winning the coin toss and electing to receive. They quickly yielded a “three-andout,” and RMU gained 37 yards on its first three plays, but – on a first-and-10 from the Bryant 33 – a defender sacked senior signal caller Jimmy Walker (who previously had been at San Diego State) for a 10-yard loss, and senior Kodi Owukju recovered.
Not only that, but head coach James Perry’s bunch turned it into an 11-snap, 57-yard scoring drive, one culminating on senior quarterback Price Wilson’s four-yard shovel pass to redshirt junior Jean Constant with 7:26 left in the opening quarter.
Sophomore Luke Samperi converted his PAT boot (one of seven on the day) to gain the 7-0 advantage.
Seconds later, Bryant was the recipient of another present, this time freshman Alijah Jackson’s fumbled return of the ensuing kickoff. Junior Cam Morenzi, a Bristol resident who went to La Sall, pounced the loose ball at the RWU 33.
Ten plays later, Wilson tossed a three-yard screen pass to Shelton McNeal to make it 140.
On its following possession, Bryant flirted with the end zone once more before a holding call pushed it from the Colonials’ 6 to the 16, and Samperi missed a 34-yard field goal try wide-right less than two minutes into the second period.
At the 9:25 mark, sophomore Nick Bisceglia planted a 26-yard attempt to cut it to 14-3, yet – following senior workhorse Peter Corbett’s 23-yard return, Wilson needed only two approaches to center to score, this one a 29yard jaunt by Daniel Adeboboye’s 29-yard run off right tackle to snap a 21-3 advantage.
Morris, though, responded with perhaps its most impressive drive of the afternoon, maneuvering 75 yards on 14 snaps. Jackson dive over from the one and Bisceglia drilled the PAT to knife it to 21-10.
Undaunted, the Bulldogs returned the favor. Burt capped a 11-play, 75-yard possession with a terrific three-yard grab on the right sideline. When he took the pass from Wilson, a defender had him stopped inches from the goal line, but Burt stretched the ball over the pylon for the TD.
That gave the hosts what appeared to be a comfortable 28-10 cushion with 15 ticks left before the break. It took mere seconds into the third quarter for RMU to show Bryant it would be no pushover.
Junior Terence Stephens returned the kickoff 97 yards down the left sideline to the BU 3 – senior D’Marco Saunders saved the TD with a solid muckle – and Walker three five yards to Matt Gonzalez with 13:56 left in the session.
A scant 52 seconds later, the Bulldogs regained the 18-point bulge following Nisivoccia’s 41-yard return, Wilson’s 44-yard completion to McNeal and senior Brenden Femiano’s nine-yard hustle off right tackle.
The home defense quickly forced a “threeand-out,” but Wilson’s first pass caromed off the field umpire’s back and into the arms of RWU sophomore Myles Canton, and returned it five yards to the BU 24. On its second snap from scrimmage, Stephens galloped 19 yards around the left end to cut it to 35-24.
Again, however, Bryant answered, this time Burt snaring a simple toss in the right flat but racing 60 yards to paydirt. He actually broke a tackle at the Colonials’ 31 before scampering into the end zone.
With 9:59 left in the third quarter, four TDs had been recorded – get this: in 5:01. The next one changed the momentum in RMU’s favor, that after it rolled 78 yards in 3:48. Jackson finished it off with a two-yard jaunt and Bisceglia punched the extra point to slash it to 42-31.
On the fourth play of the final period, the Colonials capped a 73-yard possession with Walker’s two-yard right-side bootleg, and his two-point conversion aerial to Jackson pulled the visitors to a miniscule 42-39 deficit with 13:03 on the scoreboard clock.
Unimaginably, freshman corner E.J. Jimenez picked off Wilson again on Bryant’s fifth play from scrimmage, and Morris overcame an immediate 10-yard holding infraction to ramble 69 yards. On the eight play, Walker notched a one-yard TD keeper and Bisceglia nailed the PAT.
Just like that, with 6:46 remaining, the Colonels had registered 22 unanswered points and taken a 46-42 lead. The mammoth crowd drew silent – until McNeal’s 22-yard return gave the Bulldogs the pigskin at their own 25.
In the end, Wilson completed 25 of 38 aerials for 359 yards and four TDs (with two interceptions), while Walker finished 20-for-28 for 238 yards. Jackson led all RMU rushers with 109 yards on 27 carries, though hauled in two tosses for 27 more.
Stephens racked up a total of 186 all-purpose yards with 148 on kickoff returns (four), 31 on the ground (seven touches) and seven through the air (two).
“It’s definitely disappointing when that happens (you lose a big lead), but Coach Perry preaches to us every day to keep fighting, not to get down,” Nisivoccia stated. “He tell us that if something isn’t going your way, keep pushing, keep driving. He says, ‘We’re too good a team not to come out a winner,’ and that’s just what happened here.”
Robert Morris 0 10 21 15 –46
Bryant 14 14 14 7 – 49
BRY – Jean Constant 4 pass from Price Wilson (Luke Samperi kick) BRY – Shelton McNeal 2 pass from Wilson (Samperi kick)
RM – Nick Bisceglia 25 FG
BRY – Daniel Adeboboye 29 run (Samperi kick)
RM – Alijah Jackson 1 run (Bisceglia kick)
BRY – Declan Burt 3 pass from Wilson (Samperi kick)
RM – Matt Gonzalez 5 pass from Jimmy Walker (Bisceglia kick) BRY – Brenden Femiano 9 run (Samperi kick)
RM – Terence Stephens 19 run (Bisceglia kick)
BRY – Burt 60 pass from Wilson (Samperi kick)
RM – Jackson 2 run (Bisceglia kick)
RM – Walker 2 run (Jackson pass from Walker)
RM Walker 1 run (Bisceglia kick)
BRY – Isaac McCray 26 pass from Wilson (Samperi kick)