St. Anselm rally falls short
Despite two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the St. Anselm College football team dropped a 17-14 decision to American International in Northeast-10 Conference action Saturday.
The Yellow Jackets scored the lone points of the first half as Kertis Hussey returned a punt 90 yards up the near sideline for the 7-0 halftime lead.
The two teams were nearly identical in total offense in the first half, with AIC outgaining the Hawks by a 149-131 margin.
After the Hawks came up empty on the opening drive of the second half, AIC quickly got into St. Anselm territory with a 65-yard pass to Devon LeGrier. The drive was capped by a 2-yard scoring run by freshman Fateen Brown to make it a 14-0 game with 10:37 left in the third quarter. Junior Dan Bassani completed the third-quarter scoring as he booted a 21-yard field goal with 2:14 left in the period for a 17-0 lead after three quarters.
St. Anselm got on the board early in the fourth, when quarterback Michael Pierce found a wide open Chris Chapman for his second touchdown in as many games to cut the lead to 17-7 with 13:21 on the clock.
After a turnover for each team, the Hawks got the ball back and drove deep into AIC territory behind a first-down run by Marc Wilson and a 15-yard AIC personal foul. The Hawks cut the lead to three with 2:53 left as Wilson found junior Marcel Bouie in the end zone for Bouie's third touchdown reception of the season.
A St. Anselm onside kick attempt failed as the Yellow Jackets recovered and held off the Hawks for the three-point victory.
Wilson led the Hawks with 71 yards rushing, while Pierce was 19 for 44 for 206 yards and one touchdown. Wilson was also the leading receiver with 70 yards on six receptions. Bouie also had six catches for 61 yards and one touchdown.
Senior All-America candidate Dan Bohenek led all players with 14 tackles overall, including nine solo stops.
The loss dropped St. Anselm's record to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the Northeast-10. American International now sits at 4-2 overall and is now 2-2 in the league.
St. Anselm is off next week before hosting Assumption for its Homecoming game on October 17 at Grappone Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
