October 20, 2007

BRYANT FOOTBALL DEFEATS SAINT ANSELM 49-21
Bulldogs Undefeated at 7-0

Chris Peaks rushed for three touchdowns in Saturday's win at Saint Anselm. The Bulldogs travel to Stony Brook this Saturday for a 4 pm game.

Manchester, N.H. (October 20) - Sophomore Jerell Smith (Brooklyn, NY) rushed for 135 yards on eight carries to lead the 24th-ranked Bryant University football team to a 49-21 Northeast-10 Conference win at Saint Anselm College Saturday afternoon.  Chris Peaks (Silver Spring, Md.) had 95 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns as the Bulldogs stayed undefeated on the season at 7-0.   

Bryant jumped on the board just five minutes into the opening quarter when Lindsey Gamble (Boston, Mass.) scored on a 19-yard touchdown run for the 7-0 lead. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 14-0 at the 4:40 mark when Peaks found the end zone from one yard out. Saint Anselm answered back early in the second quarter on an 11-yard touchdown catch by tight end Geoff Stevens (Andover, Mass.) from senior quarterback Nick Barese (Braintree, Mass.) to cut the lead to 14-7. The play was set up by a 53-yard pass to Corey Williams (Billerica, Mass.) from Barese.

Gamble found the end zone for the second time with 9:55 left in the second quarter on a 17-yard touchdown scamper and a 21-7 Bryant lead.  Peaks scored his second touchdown of the afternoon at the 7:45 mark, set up by an 83-yard run by Smith on the previous play. Following a Saint Anselm fumble, Smith pulled in a 12-yard touchdown pass from senior Charlie Granatell (Franklin Lakes, N.Y.) for the 35-7 lead with 2:10 left in the first half.

Peaks kept the Bryant offense rolling early in the second half as he scored on a 41-yard touchdown run just 1:19 into the half and the Bulldogs held a 42-7 advantage. With 6:16 left in the third quarter, senior Kevin Anderson (Plainville, Conn.) pulled in a six-yard touchdown on fourth and goal from quarterback Jay Graber (Clarksburg, N.J.) for his first touchdown of the season and a 49-7 lead. The Hawks answered with 3:40 left in the third quarter when freshman Luke St. Marie (Mill Creek, Wash.) scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run. The Hawks added another score with 1:52 remaining as Williams hauled in a 31-yard scoring pass from Barese to account for the 49-21 final.

Junior Conor Cahill (Salem, Mass.) led the Hawks with 48 yards rushing as the team finished with 96 yards on the ground. Barese was 19-of-31 for 215 yards on the afternoon, while Williams pulled down seven catches for 121 yards. That marks his second-straight 100-yard receiving game. For the Bulldogs, Smith picked up 135 rushing yards on eight carries, followed by Peaks with 95 yards and three TD scores. Granatell was 10-for-12 with one interception and 126 yards to lead the Bulldogs at quarterback.

Defensively, Nate Munzing (Gardiner, Maine) led Saint Anselm with 10 tackles, including nine solo stops. Alessio Trabelsi led Bryant with six tackles, including four for a loss and two sacks.

With the loss, the Hawks fall to 0-7 overall and 0-6 in the Northeast-10, while Bryant remains perfect at 7-0 overall and in league play. The Bulldogs will step out of league play next weekend when they travel to face Division I Stony Brook University on Long Island (4 pm).