Bulldogs open 2015 with 27-3 victory over AIC on Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) threw for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns and senior Ryan Ferguson (Silver Spring, Md.) posted a career-high 12 tackles to lead the Bryant University football team to a 27-3 victory over American International in the 2015 season opener on Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium.

The Bulldogs (1-0) open the season with a victory for a third-straight year and have now defeated the Yellow Jackets (0-1) in each of the last three meetings. Saturday's game was played in front of a near sellout crowd of 4,272 fans.

Saturday's first half was a stalemate for the first 29 minutes as neither team could get anything going offensively. The Bulldog defense stood tall early, stopping a pair of AIC drives deep in their own territory. The Yellow Jackets took their first drive all the way to the Bryant 38 but were forced to punt. On their next drive, AIC drove to the Bryant 21 but turned the ball over on downs.

With the first half ticking away, the Black and Gold were finally able to catch a break on special teams. Lined up to punt from midfield, junior Marquise Watson (Hillside, N.J.) took the short snap and sprinted to the right, breaking two tackles on his way to a 17-yard gain and a first down. On the very next play, Easton connected with senior tight end John Lavin (Falmouth, Mass.) for a 33-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs on the board with 44 seconds to go in the half.

Bryant used another special teams play to set up its next score in the third quarter. Junior Charles Wingate (Englewood, N.J.) fielded a punt at his own 43 and snaked his way to the AIC 34. Sophomore Aaron Aryee's (Hartford, Conn.) first-career reception pushed the ball inside the red zone before Easton was able to find senior tight end Ryan Barrett (Holliston, Mass.) wide open for a touchdown. It was Barrett's first touchdown since Oct. 5, 2013.

AIC answered with a good drive of its own but was only able to come up with three points. Maurice Easterling gained 21 yards to kickstart the drive and Kwame Jarvis connected with Evan Graham for a 43-yard connection on the very next play to put the ball inside the Bryant 20. A personal foul penalty on the Bulldogs moved AIC inside the 10 but Ferguson made a pair of tackles on second and third down to force the Yellow Jackets to kick a 25-yard field goal.

The Bulldogs extended their lead late in the third quarter with a big defensive play from senior linebacker Aaron Dixon (Danbury, Conn.). Dixon intercepted a pass at the AIC 47 and then turned on the jets and took it all the way to the house for a touchdown and a 21-3 Bryant lead.

A six-play, 82-yard drive led to Bryant's final score of the day in the fourth quarter. Senior Ricardo McCray (Middletown, R.I.) broke three tackles to open the drive with a 21-yard run and then he broke free for a 42-yard run to put the ball inside the AIC 10. After an encroachment penalty on the Yellow Jackets, classmate Paul Canevari (Warwick, N.Y.) pushed it home from three yards out to finish out the Bryant scoring.

McCray finished the game with 112 yards on just 10 carries, while 10 different players caught Easton's 12 completions. Ferguson led the defense with 12 tackles and Patrick Kenney (Camarillo, Calif.) finished with nine stops and two tackles for a loss.

The Bulldogs will now have a week off before traveling to the Capital City to take on in-state rival Brown on Sept. 19. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.