Skyhawks Fall To No. 25 Bryant, 34-6
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Cruz Parsons went 17-for-29 for 235 yards and a touchdown in the loss to No. 25 Bryant. |
Smithfield, R.I.- The two main factors that has helped Stonehill race out to a 4-1 overall start - defense and ball security - betrayed the Skyhawks on Saturday, as Bryant used a powerful running game to take a 34-6 win over visiting Stonehill in front of 5,364 spectators at Bryant's Bulldog Stadium.
The matchup, which featured the top two teams in the Northeast-10, took a turn in Bryant's favor on the third play from scrimmage when the Bulldogs' Alessandro Trabelesi forced a Cruz Parsons (Signal Hill, Calif.) fumble at the Skyhawk 10 yard line. Bryant cashed the turnover in when Charlie Granatell connected with Sean Bergin on a four yard score.
Unable to mount clock sustaining drives, Stonehill saw back-to-back drives for the Bulldogs end in field goals, upping their advantage to 13-0 early in the second quarter. A six yard touchdown run from Jerell Smith capped a seven play, 70-yard drive for Bryant, in which three different backs carried the ball, accounting for 42 of the yards.
Dana Burris' (Boston, Mass.) kickoff return set the Skyhawks up with their best field position of the half and Stonehill moved into Bryant territory with consecutive 14 yard completions from Parsons to David Pringle (West Haven, Conn.) and Bob Holland (Andover, Mass.). A third-and-ten completion to Jeffery Payne (West Haven, Conn.) gave the Skyhawks a fourth-and-three at the Bryant 26 but Parsons' pass for Holland fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs.
Bryant went to the air, getting completions of 11, 15, and 38 yards before Lindsey Gamble capped off the six-play 74 yard drive from seven yards out.
The second half opened with much of the same, as Gamble ripped off runs of four, seven and 14 before Granatell and Bergin connected for their second score, this one a 28-yard strike down the right sideline, giving the Bulldogs a 34-0 advantage.
Stonehill got on the board when Parsons connected with J.J. Niamkey (Quincy, Mass.) from 30 yards on fourth down, capping a 10-play, 76 yard drive.
Bryant outrushed the Skyhawks 252-46, as Smith had 105 yards on 15 carries and Gamble added 97 on 17 carries.
Junior Michael Greene (Plainview, N.Y.) making his second start of the season, along with Mike DeBye (Burlington, Mass.) each had 12 tackles, while Burris made eight tackles and an interception.
Parsons threw 235 yards on 17-for-29 passing, all season-highs, while his counterpart Granatell went 17-for-23 for 207 with two touchdowns and an interception.
For Bryant, Trabelesi had a monster game, recording five tackles, three for loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.
Stonehill now 4-2 overall and 4-1 in Northeast-10 action, returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Bentley at 1 p.m. at W.B. Mason Stadium.