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Junior Jeff Payne rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries in the win over St. Anselm. |
North Easton, Mass. - Stonehill used a devastating ground attack to rebound from their only loss of the season, posting an impressive 56-7 win over Northeast-10 Conference foe, St. Anselm on Saturday afternoon at W. B. Mason Stadium.
The 56 points scored by Stonehill are the second most points scored in a game in program history, sitting behind only a 57-point performance in a win over MIT in 1994.
The Skyhawks had two rushers top the 100 yard mark for the first time in five years, as junior Jeffery Payne (West Haven, Conn.) and freshman Eddie Vachon (Newton, Mass.) combined for 294 yards on 40 carries.
Payne, who became the first Stonehill runner to go over 150 yards (152) since Rob Olivar racked up 158 yards in 2002 against UMass-Lowell, had three scores and 187 yards of total offense.
Vachon meanwhile, collected his 142 yards on just 16 carries and added two scores. He equaled Payne's touchdown total with a 28 yard scoring catch, giving him 170 all-purpose yards.
The scoring started for Stonehill midway though the first quarter when Payne capped off an eight play, 77-yard drive with a three yard score. After forcing a Saint Anselm punt, the Skyhawks scored three plays later when Cruz Parsons (Signal Hill, Calif.) completed a 67 yard bomb to sophomore David Pringle (West Haven, Conn.), upping their advantage to 14-0 as the first quarter came to a close.
Payne scored his second touchdown of the day when he went in from 25 yards out to finish off a 10-play, 71-yard drive that ate up 6:02.
A poor punt by the Hawks set Stonehill up on the St. Anselm side of the field when Vachon took a handoff 18 yards and then a screen pass 28 yards to paydirt on the next play, with the last four coming through the air as he outraced the Hawk secondary and dove for the pylon.
The defense didn't yield a yard on St. Anselm's next possession forcing another Hawk punt. The Skyhawks then embarked on a 10-play, 81 yard drive that saw Payne and Vachon take turns racking up huge chunks of yardage. Payne crossed the goal line with 25 seconds left in the half, giving Stonehill a commanding 35-0 lead.
Jeff Cuqua (Walpole, Mass.) forced a fumble that was recovered by Kevin Bonnett (Manchester, N.H.) on St. Anselm's opening drive of the second half which the Skyhawks quickly turned into a touchdown on the legs on Parsons from three yards out.
A 41-yard kickoff return by Corey Williams set the Hawks up at the Stonehill 39 but an interception four plays later by Dana Burris (Boston, Mass.) at the nine yard line and his subsequent 36 yard return gave the Skyhawks another opportunity to score. Vachon capped off eight straight running plays, including a fourth-and-one conversion by Payne, with a 10 yard TD run.
Stonehill wrapped up their scoring when Vachon again ended an all running drive, this time a six play, 44- yard sojourn, with a 12 yard scoring scamper.
St. Anslem's finally got on the board when Conor Cahill scored from three yards out with under a minute to play.
A week after scrounging up only 175 yards, the Skyhawks rebounded and posted 531 yards of total offense and six rushing touchdowns.
The defense bounced back as well, holding the Hawks to just 179 yards of offense, and an average of only 1.8 yards on their 29 rushes.
Parsons, who opened the game 1-for-5 passing, settled down and went 8-for-11 the rest of the way, accounting for two scores in the air and one on the ground, while passing for 187 yards.
Ranked third in the country in turnover margin entering the game, the Skyhawks forced three more and recorded four sacks on the day, two coming from senior Tony Camarota (Hudson, Mass.).
Making his first career start at linebacker, junior Michael Greene (Plainview, N.Y.) had a team-high seven tackles, while senior Mike DeBye (Burlington, Mass.) and junior Kyle Griffin (Walpole, Mass.) each added six stops. Burris, making his first start of the year, had five stops, two pass breakups, a sack and an interception.
In the last three games against St. Anselm, Stonehill has outscored the Hawks 121-23.
With the win, the Skyhawks improve to 4-1 overall and 4-0 in the Northeast-10. Bryant, who knocked off C.W. Post 24-17, will host Stonehill next Saturday at Bulldog Stadium with first place in the Conference on the line.