FOOTBALL TURNS IN A STRONG EFFORT AT ALBANY; BULLDOGS COME UP SHORT 20-17
October 17, 2009
BRYANT FOOTBALL TURNS IN SOLID EFFORT AT ALBANY
Bulldogs Come Up Short 20-17 To First-Place Great Danes
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| Aaron Bryant had 13 tackles plus blocked and recovered an Albany punt in the second quarter. www.dspics.com |
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| Jason Riffe led the Bulldogs with a career-best 14 tackles against Albany Saturday. www.dspics.com |
ALBANY, N.Y. - The Bryant University football team turned in a solid four quarters against Albany, the two-time Northeast Conference Champions, only to come up just short in falling 20-17 Saturday afternoon at University Field. Albany, winners of a nation's best 17-consecutive conference games, improves to 5-2 on the season and 4-0 in the NEC while Bryant drops to 3-3 on the season and 2-1 in league play.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Bulldogs were the first to strike. After a Franck Tebou (9 tackles) third-down sack of Albany quarterback Vinny, Bryant's Aaron Bryant blocked Bobby Woods' ensuing punt and recovered the loose ball on the Albany 34 giving the Bulldogs excellent field position to open the second quarter.
Two Mike Croce passes to Vinton South moved the ball to the Albany 10 yard line where Chris Bird drilled home a 27-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs up 3-0.
Albany, which defeated nationally-ranked Maine at home two weeks ago, countered with a pair of field goals of their own to take a 6-3 lead into the locker room at the half. The Great Danes had a chance to score just before the end of the half but a 33-yard field goal as time expired was wide left.
Bryant would start strong in the second half, using a little trickery to regain the lead as junior running back Mike Canfora took a handoff from Croce but threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to South in the end zone to make it 9-6. The extra point attempt by the Bulldogs was blocked.
The Great Danes would charge right back as Esposito (280 yards passing) connected with Jason Poore on a 34-yard touchdown pass and hit Andrew Smith with a 5-yard touchdown at the start of the fourth to give the hosts a little breathing room at 20-9.
Bryant was not done as Jerell Smith capped an 8-play, 44-yard drive with a 2 yard touchdown run to make it 20-15. Croce hooked up with Tim Mastrino on the two-point conversion to close to within 20-17.
Albany would go to their talented running back, David McCarty. McCarty, who led all rushers with 118 yards on the day, helped Albany move the ball down to the Bryant 17 and opting to turn the ball over on downs with just five seconds left.
Leaving the Bulldogs with one last play, Croce connected with James Mullane for 20 yards to the 36 yard line in what would prove to be the final play of the game.
Croce finished the game completing 22 of 35 passes for 234 yards. Tight end Matt Tracey had a big day, catching 5 passes for 66 yards while Khalel Pritchard had four catches for 82 yards.
Albany's Tim Bush caught 10 passes for 135 yards while Jason Poore hauled in eight passes for 73 yards on the afternoon.
Defensively, Jason Riffe recorded a career-best 14 tackles while Bryant had 13 stops to go with his blocked punt and recovery in the second quarter.
Bryant will return home next Saturday to host Central Connecticut (1 pm) for Parents & Family Weekend at Bulldog Stadium. The game will be carried live on WOON 1240 AM.
POST GAME NOTES ...
- The loss was Bryant's first in NEC play after opening the year 2-0 with wins over Wagner and Robert Morris.
- Jerell Smith's fourth-quarter touchdown run was the third of the season (all by Smith) for the Bulldogs. It was also Smith's 13th career rushing TD. He needs two more TDs to pass Tony Granieri for fifth all-time and three to move into fourth place.
- Smith now has 2,461 career rushing yards in three seasons, third-best in school history.
- Mike Croce threw for a career-best 234 yards against Albany, completed 62.9 percent (22 of 35) passes without an interception. He has thrown just one interception all season (vs. Hofstra in week 2). His previous best was 209 yards against Hofstra.
- Croce has 999 yards passing this season.
- Chris Bird's 27-yard field goal was his sixth of the season and 21st of his career.
- Bryant is now 1-2 on the road this season
- The 22 pass completions by Mike Croce were a season-high.
- Jason Riffe's 14 tackles were a season-best and ties him for the fifth-most in school history. The school record is 16 held by Greg Daniel and Greg Wolyniec.
- Don Smith recorded his 15th career sack against Albany, moving him to within a half-sack of Jay Stahl who is fourth all-time with 15.5.
- Senior Paul Polomski had 8 tackles against Albany, moving him into third-place all-time in school history with 209. Andrew McLarty holds the school record with 229 while Greg Wolyniec is second with 227.