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Stonehill Tailgating Information Tickets (Available at ticket booth at Noon): |
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| The Game: Stonehill College returns home where it will play its next two games looking to snap out of its three game funk as it hosts rival Bentley University for a Northeast-10 Conference football clash at Timothy J. Coughlin (COG-lin) '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium as part of Family Weekend at the College. The Skyhawks dropped a 28-14 decision at New Haven in their lone road game of the month of October last Saturday, while the Falcons have won three straight after a 1-3 straight after a 10-6 triumph over American International last weekend. Media Info: Live video of this afternoon's game is available on a pay-per-view basis ($6.99) via www.stonehillskyhawks.tv. Charlie Bergeron, the voice of the Skyhawks, is in his 18th season of broadcasting the action powered by Pack Network. 
20 Years Ago: Stonehill welcomes back its football alumni from its 1995 Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) Championship team to this afternoon's game. Head Coach Connie Driscoll's squad posted an overall mark of 9-2 during that magical campaign and captured their third ECFC championship with an 8-0 league mark. The year was highlighted by what was described by some as one of the best small college football games in New England history, as Stonehill ended rival Bentley's 37-game regular season winning streak with a dramatic 39-36 road victory over the Falcons in Waltham to take the conference crown and earn the school's only postseason berth in the 1995 ECAC IFC Bowl. The 1995 squad set the school record for victories in one season and eclipsed the 35-point plateau in a contest on six occasions en route to the league title. The team, which was inducted to the Stonehill Athletic Hall of Fame ten years ago in 2005, will be recognized at halftime.
Calenda Receives Academic Recognition: Stonehill sophomore kicker Charlie Calenda (Chelmsford, Mass.) will be honored at halftime of this afternoon's game for earning the Fred C. Petti Male Academic Award for having the highest grade point average for the 2014-15 academic year. Calenda earned a 3.97 GPA for his freshman year, the biology major has earned NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Athletic Director's honor roll status each of his first two semesters at the College and CRC Chemistry award from the Stonehill science department last year. Also receiving Petti Awards from the athletic department for the 2014-15 academic year are senior Trisha Pierson of the women's track & field team as the individual female award winner, while the softball and men's tennis programs received the team awards for having the highest team GPAs among the athletic department.One of the Best Small College Rivalries in the Country: This afternoon marks the 30th meeting all-time between these two programs in what is regarded by some as one of the best small college football rivalries in the country. Bentley holds a 21-7-1 advantage in the all-time series, but Stonehill has won two straight and four of the last seven. Stonehill head coach Robert Talley is 4-5 over his nine seasons against the Falcons and has produced the only two back to back wins in the series for the Skyhawks. A win this afternoon would mark the first three game win streak for Stonehill in the series. Bentley owns a 14 game win streak in the series which started a week after Stonehill's 39-36 win in 1995 and continued until Talley's second season in 2008, a 35-7 triumph here at W.B. Mason Stadium. Stonehill has won four of its last five against the Falcons here in Easton, including a 30-3 triumph here in 2013. 
#VoteChiocco: Fans can vote for senior defensive lineman Nick Chiocco (Mansfield, Mass.) for Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Captain through November 25 by going to espn.com/allstate. Fans can vote once per day per device for Chiocco, the first Stonehill football student-athlete named to the Good Works Team®. He is one of 11 out of the 22 honorees recognized from NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA out of a record 197 nominees from across all levels of college football. He was the lone Northeast-10 Conference student-athlete nominated and one of just three NCAA Division II student-athletes to earn a spot on the Good Works Team®.He's Honored: Sophomore quarterback Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pa.) was named to the Northeast-10 Conference's weekly honor roll on Monday. He finished with 219 total yards at New Haven last Saturday as he completed 20-of-36 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while adding a team-high 40 yards on 16 carries on the ground. He completed fourth quarter touchdown passes of nine and 16 yards. DE-FENCE!: The Stonehill defense ranks second in the NE-10 for total defense (277.0 yds/gm), rushing defense (124.1 yds/gm) and passing defense (152.9 yds/gm), while ranking fourth for scoring defense (21.4 ppg). Stonehill ranks 14th nationally in Division II for total defense and 18th in passing defense, while ranking 20th for first down defense (15.0/gm), 34th for rushing defense and 41st for rushing defense. Stonehill boasted the top ranked defense in the Northeast-10 in 2014, ranking No. 6 nationally. The Rest of the Story: Stonehill ranks fourth in the NE-10 for scoring defense, allowing just 21.4 points per game. However, of the 150 points the Skyhawks opponents have scored this season, seven came off a kickoff return, seven off a blocked punt for a touchdown, six on a one yard run after a goal line fumble by the offense and seven on a touchdown off an interception to the Skyhawks six. Opponents have scored just 105 points off offensive drives through six games - an average of just 15.0 points per game. 
On The Mark: Senior kicker Steve Grzywacz (Manchester, N.H.) enters today's game just five points shy of the program's career scoring record of 204 points scored by Eddie Vachon '11. Grzywacz has scored 199 points over his Stonehill career, holding the program records with 32 career field goals and 103 career PATs in 39 career games played. He surpassed the previous record of 20 made field goals set by Joe Crowley, '04, last fall and has converted 32 of 51 field goal attempts over his Stonehill career, beaking Crowley's all-time record of 39 field goal attempts as well. Grzywacz's 103 career PAT kicks broke the previous record of 87 by Pat Matthews, '95 at Merrimack in week two.Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: The Stonehill offense scored 27 points in the final quarter of its 40-37 comeback win at LIU Post, including 20 points in the final 62-seconds. The Skyhawks have scored just 37 points in the last three games since. Stonehill averaged 35.5 points per game in September, but just 12.3 points so far in October. Home Sweet Home: After playing three of four games in the month of September on the road, including overnight trips to No. 11/14 Bloomsburg in week one and LIU Post in week four, Stonehill is in a stretch of four of five in October at W.B. Stadium. The Skyhawks close out October next Saturday when it hosts Saint Anselm for the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" at 1 p.m. 
Movin' On Up: Sophomore quarterback Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pa.) enters today's game ranked fourth on Stonehill's single-season list with 133 completions, just 34 shy of Logan Meyer's '14 single-season record of 167 set in 2013. Foltz's 1,543 passing yards this season ranks ninth on the program's single-season list, 723 behind Meyer's single season mark of 2,266 in 2012. Foltz is just 457 yards from joining Meyer as the only two 2,000-yard passers in program history.Champions On and Off the Field: Brockton mayor Bill Carpenter welcomed the Stonehill football team as guests of honor at Brockton High School in recognition of their volunteer efforts during last winter's historic snowstorms. Members of the football team shoveled out homes of "at risk" elderly who had called the city's emergency hotline. Skyhawks NE-10 Presidents' Cup Celebration: Stonehill captured its fifth NE-10 Presidents' Cup in 2014-15 in wire-to-wire fashion as it led the standings following the fall, winter and spring seasons, accumulating 207.5 points to win the Cup by a dominant 18.5 points over two-time defending champions Adelphi. Academic Success: Stonehill College has been recognized for its academic performance with regard to graduation rate by earning a 96-percent Academic Success Rating (ASR) as released by the NCAA last year. The ASR considers the academic success rate of the institution based on the graduation rate of student-athletes while also giving credit for any student-athletes that transferred from the institution while in good academic standing. In addition to Stonehill's overall ASR of 96%, 12 of Stonehill's 16 athletic programs (cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field are combined by the NCAA) received perfect scores of 100%. Stonehill's 96% ASR ranks third among NE-10 institutions and ranks eighth overall in NCAA Division II. The football team has an ASR of 90% - signifigantly higher than the federal rate of 73%. Stonehill has earned the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award all four years of its existence for having an ASR of 90% or higher. Making an IMPACT: The Stonehill College football team is proud to have Nick Claudio (Mattapoisett, Mass.) as a part of its program through Team IMPACT (Inspire, Motivate, Play Against Challenges, Together) for his third season. Team IMPACT is a New England based non-profit that aims at improving the quality of life for kids facing life-threatening illnesses by creating unparalleled team based support systems with area college athletic teams. Nick is the latest from Team IMPACT to join the Skyhawk family as the football team joins the men's and women's basketball, field hockey and ice hockey teams to be involved with the program. Nick, 15-years old, was diagnosed with a brain tumor on his optic nerve in July, 2010, that put so much pressure on his optic nerve that it led to losing his vision. He has remained upbeat, being quoted as saying in a recent news article, "A loss of sight is never a loss of vision, you need to be able to look forward and keep moving." After losing his vision, he has adapted to life being blind by teaching himself braille, learning to ski and graduating from his elementary school at the top of his class. In July 2012, doctors found two additional tumors, one on his auditory nerve. In an effort to save his hearing, doctors opted to treat it with chemo and radiation rather than doing surgery which carries the threat of him going deaf. Leaders of the Pack: For the seventh-straight year, Stonehill College is partnering with Pack Network to provide live "Packcasts" of all home football and men's and women's basketball games along with other select athletic events. Fans can access the webcasts via www.stonehillskyhawks.tv. Viewers can opt to purchase single-game passes for $6.99 or purchase an "All-Access" pass for $59.99. All-Access pass members can view all Stonehill webcasts for the entire year, while also gaining access to the archives and be able to watch the webcasts at any time. Games can also be viewed on your iPad or iPhone. Getting Social: Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics now have two social media outlets to get updates on all 20 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @SkyhawkTalk on Twitter! Stonehill football also has its own Facebook and Twitter accounts: @SCskyhawksFB. On Deck: Stonehill is right back in action here at W.B. Mason Stadium next Saturday when it hosts Saint Anselm College for the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" on Senior Day at 1 p.m. |
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