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The Game: Stonehill College hosts Saint Anselm College for the 10th "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" at Timothy J. Coughlin (COG-lin) '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium for Senior Day this afternoon. The Skyhawks are looking to finish the season strong with an outside chance to reach the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for the second time in three seasons after posting a 21-14 triumph over rival Bentley University here last weekend. The Hawks have lost their last four following a 28-14 setback to Southern Connecticut State University in Manchester, New Hampshire, last Saturday.
Saluting Our Seniors: This afternoon marks the final regular season home game for Stonehill's 23 seniors. This year's seniors are: Dante Brito, Jr. (New Haven, Conn.), Peter Catal (Cornwall, N.Y.), Nick Chiocco (Mansfield, Mass.), Andrew Fonte (Quincy, Mass.), Hunter Geraghty (Wilton, Conn.), Steve Grzywacz (Manchester, N.H.), Ryan Hollis (Hawthorne, N.J.), Cole Hodges (Sherburne, N.Y.), Serge Jean-Baptiste (Norwalk, Conn.), Colin Markus (Monroe, Conn.), Jake Mikos (North Haven, Conn.), Dan Miner (East Greenwich, Conn.), Zack O'Connor (Norwalk, Conn.), Patrick O'Sullivan (Dorchester, Mass.), Cody Page (Sylmar, Calif.), Jake Rafferty (Lowell, Mass.), Deontae Ramey-Doe (Dorchester, Mass.), Moe Regan (West Roxbury, Mass.), Eric Schneider (Ventura, Calif.), Joe Welch (Orlando, Fla.), Corey White (Bergenfield, N.J.) and captains Gordon McLeod (Weymouth, Mass.) and Anthony Masucci (East Haven, Conn.). This class has been a part of 23 wins and the program's first Northeast-10 regular season championship.
Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk: Stonehill holds a 9-0 all-time record in the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" after a 23-16 victory over Saint Anselm during the regular season last fall. The "Ol' Bronze Hawk" is given to the winner of the annual football matchup between the Skyhawks and Hawks and was unveiled in 2006. Stonehill has held possession of the valued hardware each of the nine years so far, outscoring Saint Anselm 332-138 in that time. A little repair work had to be done to the Bronze Hawk in 2009 as it had a wing clipped while being loaded into the team's equipment van after Stonehill's 35-0 win in Manchester, in 2008. Stonehill has won ten-straight meetings overall between the two and is now 11-5 all-time against the Hawks.
Scouting The Skyhawks: Stonehill earned a bounce back win with its 21-14 triumph over rival Bentley here last Saturday, marking the first time the Skyhawks have won three in a row over the Falcons in the series' varsity era (since 1988). Stonehill boasts the No. 8-ranked defense in Division II, allowing just 265.5 yards per game (2nd NE-10). Junior Ryan Doherty (Methuen, Mass.) leads the Skyhawks with 56 tackles (17 solo), including 8.0 for a loss of 43 yards, with 4.0 sacks for a loss of 28, two forced fumbles, a QB hurry and fumble recovery. Classmate Anthony Leggio (Commack, N.Y.) is contributing 51 stops (18 solo), including 4.0 for a loss of ten, a fumble return (for a touchdown), a forced fumble and blocked kick. Senior Eric Schneider (Ventura, Calif.) has posted a team-high 11.5 tackles for a loss of 54 yards, with 7.0 sacks for a loss of 43, 23 tackles (12 solo), two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and QB hurry. Sophomore quarterback Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pa.) has completed 60.2-percent of his passes (145-for-241) with a Conference-best 18 touchdowns, averaging 205 yards per game. Senior Gordon McLeod (Weymouth, Mass.) has caught 33 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns.
Scouting the Hawks: Saint Anselm enters this afternoon's game having dropped its last four decisions after a 28-14 setback to Southern Connecticut State University last Saturday. Freshman QB Eric Fairweather (Londonderry, N.H.) completed 25 of 36 passes for 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while junior WR Ryan Monette (Hampton, N.H.) hauled in eight passes for 65 yards and a touchdown and added 90 return yards for 155 all-purpose yards on the day. Senior DB Carroll Bailey (Clinton, Mass.) registered a game-high 12 tackles, while senior LB Joel Jorgensen (Eldersburg, Md.) rang up 10 stops and forced a fumble. Saint Anselm is averaging 352.8 yards of offense and 20 points per game, while the defense is yielding 379.2 yards and 30 points per contest. Fairweather has completed 59.3-percent of his passes (67-for-113) for three touchdowns and four interceptions, with 106.6 yards per game through the air to go with 71.8 yards per game and five touchdowns on the ground. Senior RB Elad Covaliu (Rockville, Md.) is averaging 111.8 rushing yards per game with six touchdowns. Bailey leads the Hawks with 72 tackles (37 solo), including 1.0 for a loss of a yard, two interceptions and three pass breakups with a blocked kick. Senior Joel Jorgensen (Eldersburg, Md.) has added 58 stops (31 solo), including 6.5 for a loss of 24 yards, 4.0 sacks for a loss of 21 yards, three breakups, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
The Hall Calls: Stonehill held its 27th annual Athletic Hall of Fame induction last night at Martin Institute. This year's class included football alum Leo Meehan '75, the President and CEO of W.B. Mason Company, former women's tennis coach Sandy Xenos, the 1990 and 1991 Men's Soccer Teams, field hockey and lacrosse two sport athlete and Academic All-American Amy Bartlett '02 and women's basketball Academic All-American Julie Stockwell '00.
NE-10 Championship Weekend Focus: Stonehill enters the final two weekends of the regular season with an outside chance at qualifying for its second Northeast-10 Conference Championship appearance in three years. The Skyhawks sit in a three-way tie for third place in the NE-10 standings with LIU Post and Merrimack, holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over both teams. Stonehill is a game behind New Haven and two behind first place Assumption, meaning the Skyhawks at a minimum need to win its two remaining games today and at Assumption next Saturday. Stonehill also needs New Haven to lose to Pace (home) and Saint Anselm (road) to qualify as the Chargers hold the head to head tiebreaker over the Skyhawks.
#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: Senior rover Peter Catal (Cornwall, N.Y.) was named to the Northeast-10 Conference's weekly honor roll on Monday. He led a Stonehill defense that limited rival Bentley to 185 total yards and seven first downs, including 19 yards and no first downs in the first half, with six sacks as he posted a season-high ten tackles (five solo), including 4.0 tackles for a loss of 15 yards, with 1.0 sacks for a loss of six, a forced fumble, which led to a touchdown return and a quarterback hurry. Catal was also named Stonehill's Ace's Champions Choice Male Student-Athlete of the Week for his efforts.
DE-FENCE!: The Stonehill defense ranks second in the NE-10 for total defense (265.5 yds/gm), leading the Conference in rushing defense (118.5 yds/gm) and ranking second for passing defense (147.0 yds/gm) and third for scoring defense (20.5 ppg). Stonehill ranks 8th nationally in Division II for total defense and 16th in passing defense, while ranking 12th for first down defense (15.0/gm), 27th for rushing defense and 29th for scoring defense. Stonehill boasted the top ranked defense in the Northeast-10 in 2014, ranking No. 6 nationally.
The Rest of the Story: Stonehill ranks third in the NE-10 for scoring defense, allowing just 20.5 points per game. However, of the 164 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, seven on a touchdown off an interception to the Skyhawks six and seven off a fumble return for score. Opponents have scored just 112 points off offensive drives through eight games - an average of just 14.0 points per game.
On The Mark: Senior kicker Steve Grzywacz (Manchester, N.H.) enters today's game just four points shy of the program's career scoring record of 204 points scored by Eddie Vachon '11. Grzywacz has scored 200 points over his Stonehill career, holding the program records with 32 career field goals and 104 career PATs in 40 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 104 career PAT kicks broke the previous record of 87 by Pat Matthews, '95 at Merrimack in week two.
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 concludes a stretch of four of five in October at W.B. Stadium this afternoon. The Skyhawks is back on the road at Assumption to wrap up the regular season next Saturday before taking part in NE-10 Championship weekend.
Movin' On Up: Sophomore quarterback Matt Foltz (Mount Joy, Pa.) enters today's game ranked fourth on Stonehill's single-season list with 145 completions, just 22 shy of Logan Meyer's '14 single-season record of 167 set in 2013. Foltz's 1,640 passing yards this season ranks ninth on the program's single-season list, 626 behind Meyer's single season mark of 2,266 in 2012. Foltz is just 360 yards from joining Meyer as the only two 2,000-yard passers in program history.
Get Off The Field: Stonehill ranks second in the NE-10 and ranks 10th nationally for third down percentage defense, limiting its eight opponents to 28.6-percent conversion percentage (32-for-112) on third down.
A Team Possessed: Stonehill ranks tenth nationally in Division II for time of possession, ranking third in the Northeast-10 with an average 33:07 time of possession. The Skyhawks have won the possession battle in all five wins this season, and seven of eight games overall, holding onto the ball for over 36 minutes in three of the eight games. Stonehill had the ball for 40:31 in its week three win over Pace after it held the ball for 36:22 in their week one win at #11/14 Bloomsburg and 36-minutes flat in week two at Merrimack.
He's the Sack Man: Senior defense end Eric Schneider (Ventura, Calif.), a two-time All-Northeast-10 selection who missed last season due to injury, moved into second place on Stonehill's career sacks list with his 1.5 sacks against Bentley last week. His 20.0 sacks trail just record holder Dan Gamache '95 who had 34 career sacks. Schneider leads the NE-10 with 7.0 sacks this season. His 29.5 career tackles for loss (164 yds) is ranked seventh on Stonehill's career list.
Hey, You, Get Off of McLeod: Senior co-captain Gordon McLeod (Weymouth, Mass.) went over 100 career receptions in the Skyhawks week one win at No. 11/14 Bloomsburg and currently ranks third all-time at Stonehill with 130 career receptions and sixth with 1,716 career receiving yards, while his 14 career touchdown grabs ranks seventh all-time.
On Deck: Stonehill wraps up the regular season schedule next Saturday when it visits Northeast-10 Conference leaders Assumption College at 1 p.m. The Skyhawks will then take part in NE-10 Championship weekend with their seeding still very much up in the air.
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