New Hampshire Football Report

Fairweather shines in loss

MANCHESTER – Seniors Eric Fairweather (Londonderry) and Kyle Hill reached offensive milestones for the Saint Anselm College football team in its narrow 31-28 loss to Merrimack College on Saturday at Grappone Stadium.

Fairweather led off the game with his 20th career rushing touchdown and Hill picked up the 20th touchdown catch of his career later in the contest. Fairweather became the fourth student-athlete to reach that milestone while Hill is only the second in program history to reach 20 career touchdown receptions.

Saint Anselm fell to 1-5 overall and in the Northeast-10. Merrimack improved to 3-4 overall and to 3-3 against league opponents.

The Hawks defense began the game strong, forcing a three-and-out before getting the ball back on the Merrimack 47-yard line. Fairweather was able to engineer a four-play, 47-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard TD run 2:07 into the contest. Senior Daniel Parisi added the point-after, creating a 7-0 lead for the Hawks.

After back-to-back three-and-outs by Merrimack and Saint Anselm, Johnny Rosario reeled in a 20-yard touchdown pass with 7:23 to go in the first, and, following the Corey Resendes point-after, the Warriors were able to draw even, 7-7. The seven-play drive featured five complete passes and a key seven-yard rush by signal-caller Christian Carter.

Merrimack turned the ball over on downs at the Saint Anselm 23-yard line, forcing the Hawks to go 77 yards for a go-ahead touchdown by junior Nicholas Fiorillo as time expired in the first quarter. Parisi was able to collect his second extra-point of the day, creating a seven-point lead for the Hawks, 14-7, after the first 15 minutes of play.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter as Cody Demers caught a 5-yard pass from Carter before Fairweather hooked up with Hill with 6:02 left in the first half, building a 21-14 lead for the Hawks. Saint Anselm marched 91 yards down the field for Hill’s touchdown, coming on a 13-yard pass from Fairweather.

A 19-yard touchdown pass by Carter to Marquis Spence following a Hawks timeout brought Merrimack and Saint Anselm even at 21 with 4:11 to go in the first half, countering the strong drive by Saint Anselm on the prior offensive series. The Warriors needed six plays and 1:51 of time to score the game-tying touchdown.

Merrimack captured the lead with a 26-yard field goal from Resendes with 9:08 to go in the third quarter. The Warriors added a defensive score later in the third quarter, picking up a Hawks fumble and returning it 15 yards to create a 31-21 advantage.

Sophomore Charles Elliott brought the Hawks to within three points, 31-28, with 3:03 left in regulation time after collecting a 17-yard Fairweather pass for the score. Saint Anselm attempted an on-side kick, but Merrimack recovered and was able to gain a game-ending first down thanks to Carter’s 8-yard gain.

Fairweather finished with three touchdown passes for 359 total yards, but was brought down four times. He also ran the ball 17 times for 80 yards.

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