November 2, 2007  

BRYANT FOOTBALL FALLS TO SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT 56-28

Charlie Granatell completed 24 of 41 passes against Southern Connecticut Friday.  The Bulldogs host Bentley next Saturday at noon at Bulldog Stadium. www.dspics.com

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --  Southern Connecticut freshman running back Jerom Freeman rushed for an NCAA Division II record 418 yards on 34 carries to lead the host Owls to a 56-28 win over Bryant University in Northeast-10 Conference action Friday night at Jess Dow Field.  

The good news for Bryant (7-2, 7-1 NE-10) is they will have a week to regroup before hosting rival Bentley College next Saturday still with a chance to claim the school's first Northeast-10 Conference Championship at Bulldog Stadium.  Kickoff is at noon.

Southern Connecticut (7-3, 6-2 NE-10), the preseason favorite to win the Northeast-10, rode the back of the conference's top tailback, scoring on its first two possessions on touchdown runs of 12 and 48 by Freeman to jump out to a 14-0 lead. 

Lindsey Gamble would add two touchdown runs of his own to keep the Bulldogs within striking distance.  Down 28-14 at the half, the Bulldogs would come out the locker room with all of the momentum on their side to start the third.  A Gamble 25 yard touchdown run followed by a Charlie Granatell 13 yard touchdown pass to Chris Arnold in the back of the end zone tied the game 28-28 with 9:17 left to go in the third. 

But that would be all of the scoring for the Bulldogs as Southern Connecticut's Chris Bergeski hauled in a 39 yard touchdown pass and Robert Felder followed with a 68-yard touchdown reception and the Owls would cruise from there. 

Freeman broke the previous NCAA record of 410 yards held by Andrew Terry of Ferris State in 2004. The Southern Connecticut running back had 131 yards after one quarter and 246 yards on 15 carries at the half.  He would finish averaging 12.3 yards per carry and five touchdowns including a 70-yarder in the second quarter.

Gamble finished with 90 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns in the game while Granatell completed 24 of 41 passes for 275 yards with six passes going to senior Sean Bergin who had 68 yards in the game. 

The two teams combined for 1,041 yards of total offense with Southern totaling 635 yards on 61 plays.

The Bulldogs will return home to host Bentley College next Saturday at Bulldog Stadium. Kickoff for Senior Day is noon.

POST GAME NOTES ...

* The team had to take an alternate route to the game, away from the normal trip down I-95. A heads up phone call alerted the team of a mid-day tractor trailer accident in East Lyme, CT closed the highway, forcing the team to take 146 North to the Mass Pike. From there, the two busses were able to take I-84 South to Hartford before connecting with I-91 to New Haven.  Despite the roundabout way to the field, the team arrived in plenty of time for warm-ups with time to spare.  In fact, the team didn't even miss out on the scheduled pre-game meal. 

* Friday's game with Southern Connecticut marked the seventh meeting all-time between the two schools.   Southern came into the game holding a 4-2 series edge.  The Bulldogs won the last meeting, 49-20 in Smithfield in 2006. The team's last visit to Jess Dow Field saw the Bulldogs fall 77-35 in the season finale.

* The Bulldogs have never won at Jess Dow Field in four visits.

* There are only two stadiums in the Northeast-10 Conference that Bryant coach Marty Fine has not walked away with a victory:  John Homer Field at American International and Southern Connecticut's Jess Dow Field.

* Bryant entered the game 22-6 in the team's last 28 regular season games (not including a postseason loss to West Chester in 2006).

* Friday's loss snapped a 10-game win streak in Northeast-10 Conference regular season.  The last previous loss came at home to CW Post in 2006. 

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