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| Cruz Parsons tossed two touchdown passes in the loss at Bentley, both to David Pringle. |
Second Half Rally Falls Short
Waltham, Mass. - A valiant second half rally by Stonehill came up short as the host Bentley Falcons held off the visiting Skyhawks 17-14 on Friday night on Bentley Field in Northeast-10 football action.
With the win, the Falcons extend their winning streak over Stonehill to 14 games, dating back to 1995. The Skyhawks fall to 1-3 overall this season, including an 0-3 ledger in Conference action.
Down 17-0 to begin the fourth quarter, Kyle Griffin (Walpole, Mass.) intercepted Bentley signal caller John White and returned it 20 yards to the Bentley 21. Four plays later Cruz Parsons (Signal Hill, Calif.) found David Pringle (West Haven, Conn.) in the left corner of the endzone for an over-the-shoulder score.
After the Falcons marched the ball deep into Stonehill territory, White threw three straight incompletions, including one on fourth down giving the Skyhawks the ball with 8:17 left in the game. Parsons then fired a strike in between two Falcon defenders to Pringle on the left hash and he outraced everyone for a 70-yard score, bringing Stonehill to within three at 17-14 with eight minutes left.
A 40-yard return by the Falcons' Justin Haines gave Bentley the ball at midfield but another defensive stand by the Skyhawks gave the ball back to the offense with 5:25 left. Unfortunately, the offense only mustered six yards and was forced to punt.
On the next drive Bentley faced a third and seven but Greg Sanzari (Centerport, N.Y.) sniffed out a screen and dropped the Falcon receiver for a loss of two forcing a White punt. The snap on the punt was high but White, at 6-foot-5, snatched it out of the air and got off a punt that got a great roll and was downed at the Stonehill four.
Parsons next four passes fell incomplete, however, and the Skyhawks turned the ball over on downs.
Bentley scored single touchdowns in the first and second quarter - both on 1 yard runs - the first by Luis Cotto and the second by White.
Stonehill, which entered the contest the third best rushing team in the Northeast-10 at 143.7 yards per game, was held to just 58 yards on 30 carries, while the Falcons used six different ballcarriers to rack up 149 yards, led by fullback Matt Welch's 57 yards on 12 attempts.
Pringle finished with his second career 100-yard receiving game, posting 115 yards on four grabs to go along with his two scores, while senior Jon Kaloyanides (Cranston, R.I.) had two catches for 33 yards.
Defensively, for the Skyhawks, Sanzari registered a game-high 15 tackles, two and a half for loss and a sack, while both Anthony Tomasz (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Kevin Bonnett (Manchester, N.H.) each had career-highs with 10 stops.
Jon Kilborn (North Dartmouth, Mass.) had his second straight standout performance, registering seven tackles (six solo), two interceptions and a pass breakup. George Whetstone (Westwood, Mass.) continued his outstanding play, recording six tackles, three for loss and a pair of sacks.
Bentley was led by Michael Duffy who collected 13 tackles, three for loss to go along with a sack. Chris Carroll also had an excellent contest, breaking up two key passes and grabbing an interception that snapped Parsons streak of 59 passes without a miscue.
Stonehill is back in action on Saturday, October 4 when it travels to Iona for a 1 p.m. start in New Rochelle, while the Falcons visit Assumption next Friday.