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Written by: Dan Ryaboy
In a game that had everything the Falcons escaped upset-minded Pace with a 28-27 win. The winning touchdown came with 18 seconds left in the game as junior QB Bryant Johnson connected with Kelley Rowe with on an 8 yard touchdown strike.
The 8 yard connection capped off a 15 play, 91 yard drive which began with only 2:30 left in the game. It looked like the Falcons would suffer a loss as the Setters were deep in Falcon territory, but senior Chris Carroll came up with his team leading eighth interception of the season, giving the Falcons offense one last chance which Johnson and crew would capitalize on.
With the win the fourth ranked team in NCAA Division II Super Region One moved to 7-1 overall and maintained their tie for first in the NE-10. Pace, looking to celebrate its Homecoming with its first win since last October, fell to 0-7 overall and 0-5 NE-10.
The game was one of the most unpredictable games of the season as the teams combined for an astounding 14 turnovers; seven by each team including five interceptions thrown by Johnson.
The game-winning drive saw Johnson shake off the five earlier interceptions and complete 9 of 13 passes for 92 yards. Included was a completion on a fourth-and-two from the Pace 30 and a 16-yard completion to junior Wade Critides on a third-and-10 from the 24. With Bentley out of timeouts, Johnson spiked the ball on first down before connecting with Rowe on the game-winner.
The drive was a great example of the type of leader Johnson has been this season, as he took complete command of the team and showed the leadership skills that any great team needs to make a playoff run.
The Falcons got off to a very quick start to the game as they scored the game’s first points only three minutes into the game. Rowe punched it into the endzone on a two yard touchdown run capping off a 60 yard, 7 play drive.
The Setters would not take long to counter when, only 97 seconds later, senior Justin Polanis capped off a 4 play, 73 yard drive with an 8 yard TD scamper.
The high pace of the first quarter would continue as only 3 minutes later Pace would take a 7 point lead. Senior safety Marvin Taylor recovered a fumble and ran it in for a 58 yard touchdown to give the Setters a 14-7 advantage.
The back and forth first quarter would continue, as less than three minutes later senior running back Luis Cotto found the end zone from three yards out, tying the score at 14 with only 10:04 of the first quarter elapsed.
On the first play of the second quarter, a Pace punt inadvertently hit a Bentley player and the Setters recovered on the Falcon six. Two plays later, freshman Kyle Curran scored on a three-yard run, putting Pace back in front, 21-14. The Setters would hold on to this lead through the second quarter and took it into halftime.
Pace would receive the ball in the second half, and they wasted no time expanding their lead as 2:01 into the third quarter the Setters found the end zone again. This time it was red shirt freshman Joe Romanik connecting with junior speedster Eric Ortega for a 28 yard score. The Setters missed the extra point which in the end would prove to be the decisive point.
The Falcons started their next drive with great field position, beginning on the Setters 30 yard line after Pace was forced to punt from their own three and the punt only traveled 27 yards. Bentley took advantage and drew within six with 3:58 left in the third on a nine-yard touchdown run by junior Brett Scheuring.
That would be all the scoring until the game winning touchdown in the last minute of the game. This game was filled with all kinds of action as the teams combined for 806 yards (407 by the Falcons), and 47 first downs.
Johnson finished 29 of 58 for 338 yards, and completed passes to eight different players. Junior Kyle Tuthill caught 10 passes for exactly 100 yards, Rowe had six for 75, and Critides pulled in five balls for 98 yards.
Senior linebacker Matt Zahoruiko continued his sensational season as he had his second straight 15-tackle game, pushing his season total to 101. He also had an interception, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble for the Falcons.
The Falcons will look to take the momentum from their last second win as they return home for Homecoming to take on a very talented Assumption team.
The Greyhounds come into the game at 5-2, including a 4-1 record in the NE-10. The Greyhounds will bring an extremely explosive offense to Waltham, averaging 34.4 points per game.
The Greyhounds are an extremely balanced team as they have very efficient passing and running games. The Greyhounds passing game is led by Andrew Kupec who has thrown for 1195 yards and 12 touchdowns. The running game is led by Herb Woodward who has 972 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns on the season.
The Falcons defense will have to bring their A game to shut down this explosive offense, but look for the Falcons talented defense to rise to the occasion and make it tough on Assumption to put up big offensive numbers.
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