Sunday recap: A closer look at Bryant's win over Wagner

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University football team defeated Wagner College, 27-17, Saturday afternoon at Beirne Stadium. BryantBulldogs.com takes a closer look at some notes and notables from Saturday's game.

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 3-1 at home this season. Bryant has guaranteed itself a winning record at home for the third-straight season and for the 14th time in 18 years.

The Bulldogs improved to 16-10 against NEC teams at home since the 2009 season.

Bryant is also now tied with Duquesne and Wagner for the most league wins since the 2009 season (29).

Bryant is now 6-3 all-time against Wagner and has won each of the last two meetings.

A week after rushing for a program-record low -9 yards, the Bulldogs rushed for 142 yards on Saturday against Wagner. It is just the third time in seven games Bryant has rushed for 100 yards or more. The Bulldogs are 3-0 in those games.

Bryant posted two drives that were more than six minutes for the first time this season. The Bulldogs had a 14-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 6:51 in the second quarter and a 13-play, 69-yard drive that lasted 6:22 in the fourth quarter. The fourth-quarter drive helped Bryant salt away the victory. 

Junior Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) set a career-high with 180 kick return yards, including a 97-yard kick return for a touchdown on Saturday. He finished the game with a career-high 209 all-purpose yards.

Sewall's 180 return yards are the third most in a single game in program history, while his 97-yard return is the second longest in program history.

Sewall returned the opening kickoff of the second half 60 yards to the Wagner 30, setting up a field goal. Later in the third quarter, Sewall caught a kickoff at his own 3 and eluded a shoestring tackle before cutting the ball across field for the 97-yard score.

Thanks to his big day Sewall now ranks second nationally with an average return of 34 yards.

Sewall has now scored six touchdowns this season. He has four TD receptions, a rushing touchdown and a return touchdown. Sewall has also caught a two-point conversion and leads the team with 39 points.

Sophomore Brenden Femiano (Northport, N.Y.) returned to the Bryant lineup after missing the previous four games with an injury. He didn't miss a beat, rushing for 98 yards on 15 carries. He nearly posted his first-career 100-yard game but was tackled for a loss on his final run of the afternoon.

Femiano averaged 6.5 yards per carry and had long run of 38 yards. He is now averaging just under 80 yards per game and 6.6 yards per carry this season.

Junior Hunter Taute (Norfolk, Mass.) teamed with Femiano to provide the Bulldogs with a dynamite 1-2 punch in the backfield. Taute carried the ball a career-high 14 times for a career-high 59 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry and also finished with three catches for 39 yards. The 14 carries and 59 yards are the most by a fullback in Bryant's program history.

Taute had a hand in seven of the 14 plays on Bryant's first scoring drive. He carried the ball six times for 32 yards and caught one pass for 21 yards. Taute's final run of the drive was a four-yard TD run on 4th-and-2.

Taute has now carried the ball 37 times for 160 yards and a team-leading four touchdowns. He also has 15 catches for 128 yards.

Senior Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) set the program record for passing touchdowns on Saturday with the 57th of his career. He lofted a pass to the front corner of the endzone that classmate Taylor Barthelette (East Longmeadow, Mass.) made an outstanding catch on. Easton surpassed Charlie Granatell who had held the record since graduating in 2008.

Easton finished the game 14-of-25 for 172 yards and was intercepted once. It is the first time that Easton has been held to under 200 yards passing in back-to-back games since the first two games of the 2014 season, his first two with the Black and Gold.

Easton has now thrown for 1,800 yards this season which is the eighth most for a QB in a single season in program history. He needs just 200 more yards to become the first QB in school history to post three 2,000-yard passing seasons.

Easton has thrown for 6,403 yards in his career, good enough for 10th all-time in NEC history and the second most in Bryant program history.

Barthelette made two catches for 30 yards and hauled in his team-leading 6th touchdown of the year. His six reception TDs are tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history, while his 552 receiving yards are the ninth most.

Senior Ricky Perez (Miami, Fla.) knocked down a pair of field goals on Saturday, a 42-yarder and an 18-yarder. It is the fourth time in his career that he has kicked two field goals in a game.

Perez is now 6-for-8 this season and a perfect 4-for-4 from under 40 yards. His six field goals are sixth-most in a single season in program history.

Freshman LB Jesse Nemerowicz (Hudson, Mass.) led the Bulldogs in tackles for the third-straight game on Saturday. He finished with eight tackles and now has a team-leading 54 this year.

Nemerowicz leads all NEC freshmen in tackles and is in the top 10 in the NEC with 7.7 tackles per game.

Senior Marquise Watson (Hillside, N.J.) matched his season-high with seven tackles against Wagner. He now has 34 this year and 237 in his career. He needs just 12 tackles to tie Jason Riffe for the most tackles in program history.

Redshirt sophomore Dillon Guthro (Newburyport, Mass.) finished with a career-high seven tackles against Wagner. He picked up a sack for the third-straight week and now leads Bryant with 4.5 sacks on the season.