Saturday, September 13, 2008

BRYANT FOOTBALL DEFEATS MERRIMACK 20-7 SATURDAY
Bulldogs (2-1) Host Monmouth College Next Saturday at 1 p.m.

BOXSCORE

The Bulldogs defeated Merrimack 20-7 before 5,530 fans, the second-largest to see a football game in school history at Bulldog Stadium.  www.dspics.com

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (9/13/08)  --- Junior tailback Jerell Smith (Brooklyn, NY) rushed for 130 yards on 27 carries to lift the Bryant University football team to a 20-7 non-conference win over Merrimack College before an overflow crowd of 5,530 fans on Homecoming & Reunion Weekend Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.

Bryant, with the win, improves to 2-1 on the season heading into next weekend's home game with Monmouth College (1 p.m.).  Merrimack, which turned the ball over seven times in the game, drops to 1-1.

The Bulldogs, who forced seven turnovers in last week's win over Southern Connecticut, took advantage of an early miscue by the Warriors to get on the board first.  A Paul Polomski (Franklin, MA) interception of a Kurt Leone pass midway through the first quarter led to a 31-yard field goal by Chris Bird, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. 

Bryant would never trail again.  In the second quarter, another interception, this time by Bryant freshman cornerback Samad Wagstaff (New Rochelle, NY), off a pass by Leone helped set up the Bulldogs' first touchdown of the game.  Wagstaff, who added another interception in the second half to give him five for the season, returned his first of the day 20 yards to midfield, giving the Bulldogs excellent field position.

Seven plays later, Lindsey Gamble (Roxbury, MA) plunged in from a yard out to make it 10-7. 

Smith would add a 20-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the second quarter to send the Bulldogs into the locker room up 20-0 at the break.

Smith, after a career-best 221 yards against Southern Connecticut last week, went over the 1,000 yard mark in his career Saturday.  His 130 yards against Merrimack gives him 1,063 yards, becoming the seventh player in school history to go over 1,000 yards rushing in a career.

Bryant quarterback Jay Graber (Clarksburg, NJ) completed 14 of 22 passes for 117 yards while Ross Giffune (Foxboro, MA) had a fine day, catching four passes for 43 yards including a long of 17. 

In addition to forcing seven turnovers, Bryant's defense held Merrimack's run-and-shoot offense to 278 yards in the game. Leone finished the game completing 12 of 36 passes for 143 yards.  Backup Mike Sarnese came on later in the second half to replace Leone and completed 4 of 14 attempts for 84 yards but was intercepted three times including once in the end zone by Andre Whyte (Bennington, VT).

Next week's game against Monmouth marks the first home game for the Bulldogs against a Division I opponent this season.  The game will be carried live on WOON-AM 1240 and on WJMF 88.7 FM.