October 6, 2007
BRYANT FOOTBALL MOVES TO 5-0 ON SEASON WITH HISTORIC 24-17 WIN
SATURDAY AT C.W. POST
Win is Bryant's First Ever Against Pioneers in Seven Meetings
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| Dan Curci had four tackles for a loss and two sacks as the
Bryant defense came up big in a 24-17 win at C.W. Post
Saturday. www.dspics.com
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BROOKVILLE, NY - Jerell Smith rushed for 125 yards
on 20 carries and quarterback Charlie Granatell completed 14 of 21
passes for 173 yards and one touchdown to lead the Bryant
University football team to a 24-17 win at C.W. Post Saturday
afternoon. The win extends Bryant's best-start to a season as
the Bulldogs improve to 5-0 on the year setting up a showdown for
first place in the Northeast-10 next week in Smithfield, RI with
conference co-leader Stonehill College.
The win marks the first-ever for Bryant (5-0, 5-0 NE-10) against
the Pioneers in seven meetings. Last year the Bulldogs fell
to C.W. Post in the final seconds in a thriller at Bulldog
Stadium. This time around, it was Bryant coming out on top,
playing the spoiler on C.W. Post's Homecoming on a warm and humid
day at Hickox Field in Long Island.
In the early going, it was all C.W. Post (2-3, 2-2 NE-10) as the
Pioneers, who scored twice on their first three possessions.
But the Bulldogs would answer, scoring 17 unanswered points to take
a 17-14 lead into the locker room at the break. Bryan Wood
got the visitors on the board, hauling in a 13 yard touchdown pass
from Granatell. Two Chris Bird field goals and a Chris Peaks
7 yard touchdown run accounted for the scoring.
After and Andrew Kroell field goal tied the game up at 17-17,
Smith would cap a 10-play drive to put Bryant back on top for good,
scoring from 14 yards out to make it 24-17. From, the Bryant
defense, led by Andre Whyte and Jay Stahl would come up big down
the stretch.
With under four minutes left and C.W. Post facing a fourth and
three from midfield, Stahl was able to deflect a pass attempt by
quarterback Nick Georghetti to turn the ball back over to Bryant on
downs. From there, Bryant was able to run the clock out,
picking up a crucial first down on a 3rd and 15 as
Granatell hit Sean Bergin for a 26 yard gain. The Bulldogs
would give the ball to Smith who chewed up the clock with some hard
running, giving Bryant its biggest win of the season.
Sophomore Paul Polomski of Franklin, Mass. led the defense
with a career-high 14 tackles - two shy of a school record. Dan
Curci (9 tackles) had four tackles for a loss and two sacks on the
afternoon while Marcus Lindsey added eight tackles as the Bryant
defense held CW Post to 265 yards of total offense in the game.
Next week's showdown for first place with Stonehill College
(4-1, 4-0 NE-10) will kick off at 1 p.m. at Bryant's Bulldog
Stadium.
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