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Saint Anselm 28, Millersville 10

MANCHESTER – The Saint Anselm College football team produced a well-rounded effort in Thursday’s season-opener under the lights, picking up a 28-10 victory over visiting Millersville University at Grappone Stadium.

Saint Anselm moves to 1-0 for the first time in a season since 2014, thanks to six team sacks and 10 pass breakups by the Hawks defense. Millersville (0-1) was limited to a field goal through three quarters before a late touchdown with 42 seconds left created the final score.

GAME STATISTICS

The Hawks scored first, doing so late in the first quarter, before Millersville answered with a field goal in the second quarter. Saint Anselm racked up the next 21 points, putting the game out of reach before the last-minute tally by the Marauders.

Junior quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) completed 28-of-40 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. He became the seventh quarterback in Saint Anselm history to reach 3,000 career passing yards, entering the day just 197 yards away from that milestone.

Three Hawks hauled in touchdown passes as seniors Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.), Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) and JC King (Fall River, Mass.) found the end zone. Senior Vincent Wagner (Staten Island, N.Y.) added a late rushing touchdown for Saint Anselm. Brown hauled in four passes for 47 yards, giving him at least one reception in all 21 of his career games on the Hilltop.

Junior Blaine Burkhalter (Burnet, Texas) recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game for the Hawks, finishing with 109 yards. Long finished with 92 yards on a team-best six catches.

After the team’s first three offensive drives ended with two punts and a missed field goal, Saint Anselm cashed in with 2:17 in the first quarter as King reeled in a four-yard pass from Willoughby to cap a five-play, 75-yard drive. The big play in the drive was a 61-yard pass play as Burkhalter reeled in the deep toss.

Near the midpoint of the second quarter, a nice defensive play by sophomore Najei Snyder (Deltona, Fla.) prevented a 55-yard touchdown by Millersville quarterback Jack Stagaard. On their first play of the drive, Stagaard rattled off a 53-yard sprint before Snyder, on his own, tracked down the would-be scorer with a nice tackle near the goal line.

The defense for Saint Anselm stepped up on first and goal, keeping the Marauders to a 20-yard field goal with 11:11 left in the opening half. In total, the Hawks forced Millersville into seven first-half punts to maintain a precarious 7-3 lead at the break.

Just minutes into the second half of play, the game swung on a mishandled punt return by Millersville. Sophomore Chase Hickey (Vineland, N.J.), forced to punt the ball away for Saint Anselm, sent it to the 18-yard line where it was mishandled by the Marauders return man. Sophomore Rio Ferguson (Northborough, Mass.) and company covered up the loose ball and put the Hawks immediately into the red zone.

Saint Anselm upped its lead to 14-3 on the very next play as Willoughby hooked up with Long on a 17-yard pass. Millersville responded with a 13-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a field goal attempt that rang off the right upright, sending the game into the fourth quarter with the momentum on the side of the hosts.

With 9:56 to go in regulation, long receptions by King and Long set up a 13-yard touchdown to Brown with 6:45 remaining. Following a Millersville punt just 1:14 after the Hawks scored, Wagner and sophomore quarterback Anthony Santino (Woodbridge, N.J.) churned out 33 yards on the ground before the former plunged into the end zone with two minutes to go.

The Marauders turned the ball over on downs and punted on their offensive drives in the fourth quarter, but scored in the game’s final minute after converting on fourth down with a 17-yard pass by backup quarterback Anthony Butler – he generated all 65 yards via passing plays.

Seniors Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) and Liam Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) each totaled 11 tackles and one tackle apiece. Sophomore Austin Spille (Austin, Texas) had one-and-a-half sacks totaling 26 yards in the fourth quarter alone. Junior Ahmad Brown (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) produced seven total tackles in the winning effort.

On special teams, Hickey downed four punts inside the 20-yard line and a strong return game helped Saint Anselm to victory. Brown had three punt returns for 32 yards with sophomore Bowen Lewis (Austin, Texas) logging two kickoff returns for 43 yards, including a game-long return of 25 yards.

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