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| Senior Cruz Parsons was 10-for-12 for 102 yards and three touchdowns and had a 31-yard touchdown run in the 35-0 win over St. Anselm. |
Skyhawks Defense Keys 35-0 Shutout
Manchester, N.H. - Behind a defense that forced five turnovers and held the Northeast-10's leading rushing attack to 76 yards on the ground, Stonehill shutout host Saint Anselm, 35-0, to collect its third win of the season on Saturday afternoon at Grappone Stadium.
The shutout for the Skyhawks is their second under second-year head coach Rob Talley and marks their fourth straight win over the Hawks with the last two victories coming by a combined score of 91-7.
Stonehill, meanwhile, racked up 357 yards of offense with 255 of them coming on the ground. Sophomore Eddie Vachon (Newton, Mass.) had his second career 100-yard rushing game, totaling 101 on just 21 carries.
On the game's initial drive, Vachon chewed up huge chunks of yardage as the Skyhawks moved to the St. Anselm six. That's when on third down, Cruz Parsons (Signal Hill, Calif.) found Jon Kaloyanides (Cranston, R.I.) open in the endzone for a 7-0 lead.
After a short drive and eventual punt by the Hawks, Stonehill marched 65 yards on 10 plays - the final 28 coming on a dart from Parsons to Kaloyanides, who broke several tackles en route to paydirt.
Things stayed the same until the decisive third quarter when the Stonehill defense ratcheted up their performance, holding the Hawks to -2 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, the Skyhawks, produced 144 yards and had a season-high 21 points in the frame.
The first score came on a three-play, 59-yard drive that was capped by 39-yard dash to the endzone by senior Jeff Payne (West Haven, Conn.). Payne's run, which was a season-long, looked doomed from the start, as two St. Anselm defenders hit him before he reached the line of scrimmage. He was able to break free, however, and bounce to the outside, getting a key downfield block from David Pringle (West Haven, Conn.) to help him register his fifth rushing score of the season.
On St. Anselm's next possession, Hawks' freshman quarterback, Marc Wilson, was intercepted by Greg Sanzari (Centerport, N.Y.) setting up Stonehill at their own 43 yardline. Five plays later, Parsons faced a rush up the middle, moved left, pump-faked to get by a defender and sprinted across the field to the endzone for a 31-yard score.
A solid defensive effort on the next possession forced another St. Anselm punt. The snap was wild and freshmen Craig Scardapane and Stephan Neville (Foxboro, Mass.) converged on Geoff Stevens, dropping him at the three yardline. Two plays later, Parsons accounted for his fourth touchdown of the day - a six yard pass to Vachon that ended the day's scoring.
Wilson, who entered the game as the Conference's second leading rusher, was held to 65 yards on the ground and was 12-for-23 through the air for 123 yards and three interceptions.
In addition to Vachon's rushing yardage, Payne had 69 yards on 13 carries and Parsons collected 37. Parsons was extremely effective passing, going 10-for-12 for 102 yards and three touchdowns. Kaloyanides was his primary target hauling in six passes for 83 yards and two scores.
Stonehill, who had four turnovers last week in a loss to Merrimack, forced five this week, with Jeff Cuqua (Walpole, Mass.) and Bob Holland (North Andover, Mass.) recovering fumbles and Sanzari, Neville and Jon Kilborn (North Dartmouth, Mass.) all intercepting passes.
The Skyhawks, now 3-6 overall, improve to 2-5 in Northeast-10 play and host Bentley in the final game of the 2008 season beginning at 12 p.m. next Saturday.