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Saint Anselm 56, AIC 7

MANCHESTER – The Saint Anselm College football team racked up eight touchdowns (six receiving, two rushing) on Saturday, easing past American International College by a 56-7 margin at Grappone Stadium.

By scoring the third-most points in a single game in team history, Saint Anselm moves to 2-0 and exits the busy football Saturday as the only team in the Northeast-10 Conference with an undefeated record. The Hawks have allowed 10 or fewer points in back-to-back wins for the first time since late in the 2003 campaign.

GAME STATISTICS

Saint Anselm has now won eight of its last nine games played at Grappone Stadium since the start of the 2019 season, a feat never before accomplished in the modern era of Hawks football. American International, which was forced to punt eight times and committed seven turnovers, dropped to 0-2 following the non-league game – the two teams will meet in NE10 play on Nov. 12.

Junior quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) completed 21-of-31 passes, firing six touchdowns (single-game Grappone Stadium record for Saint Anselm) while racking up 246 aerial yards. Willoughby now has 31 career passing touchdowns for Saint Anselm in 11 career games played.

Senior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas) caught three passes for 38 yards, logging three touchdowns in the first quarter alone as 10 student-athletes caught at least one pass for Saint Anselm in the victory. With 113 career receptions, he moves onto the program’s top-10 list in that metric while his 14 career receiving touchdowns is tied for fifth all-time.

Sophomore Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) posted a team-leading six catches for 78 yards with Andrew Edwards (Cibolo, Texas) racking up 77 yards through the air.

Sophomore Rio Ferguson (Northborough, Mass.) led the Hawks with 52 rushing yards and was a standout on special teams, becoming the first in team history to block two punts in a single game. Through his team’s first two games, he now has two punt blocks and a fumble recovery on a punt attempt to his credit.

Defensively, the Hawks had four interceptions, the third-most in a single game in team history, and recovered three fumbles, the sixth-most in one contest. Senior Devin Williams (Cliffwood, N.J.) picked up two fumbles himself, matching a program record, and sophomore Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) made eight extra points by kicking on Saturday, setting a team record of his own.

Saint Anselm opened up a 42-0 lead, posting 28 points in the first quarter alone. Brown had the first three receiving touchdowns for the Hawks before Edwards hauled in his first touchdown pass at Saint Anselm with 22 ticks left in the opening stanza.

Junior TJ Morgera (Shrewsbury, Mass.) caught a five-yarder from Willoughby with 1:12 to go before halftime and classmate Carter Uhlman (Southington, Conn.) logged a seven-yard touchdown reception just 1:54 into the second half, creating the 42-0 lead.

After AIC got on the scoreboard near the midpoint of the third quarter, sophomore Bowen Lewis (Austin, Texas) crossed the goal line with his first career touchdown before Ferguson capped the day with a 42-yard rushing score, breaking tackles along the way, to create the final 56-7 margin of victory.

Juniors Ahmad Brown (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) and Devin Wood (Merrimack, N.H.) posted seven tackles apiece, leading the way, with senior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) adding 2.5 tackles for a loss that includes two sacks for 22 yards. He finished with six total tackles to his credit.

Junior Will Klein (Abington, Mass.) forced a fumble and broke up a pass and sophomore Thomas Hoffman (Essex, Vt.) had a 12-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. Senior Sulton Woolbright, Jr. (Temple Hills, Md.), sophomore Tighe Steineke (Holmdel, N.J.) and Wood posted interceptions as well – the final two offensive drives for the Yellow Jackets ended with picks.

Saint Anselm now turns its attention to Franklin Pierce, an opponent they will hook up with in Rindge on Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.

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