Sunday recap: A closer look at Bryant's win on Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University football team opened the 2016 season with a 41-20 victory over Merrimack on Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium. BryantBulldogs.com now takes an in-depth look at the numbers from the victory.

Senior quarterback Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) had one of the most efficient games of his career, completing 13-of-20 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns. It is the seventh time in his career that he has completed 60 percent of his passes or better without an interception.

The four-touchdown game was the fourth of his career and his first since Oct. 31, 2015 at Holy Cross.

Easton's second touchdown pass pushed him into sole possession of second place on Bryant's all-time touchdown pass list. He passed Mike Croce and now has 46 in his career, just 10 shy of the program record held by Charlie Granatell.

Senior wide receiver Taylor Barthelette (East Longmeadow, Mass.) posted the first 100-yard receiving game of his career with seven catches for 109 yards and a career-high three TDs.

Barthelette is the first Bryant receiver not named Chad Ward or Jordan Harris to post a 100-yard receiving game since Matt Tracey on Nov. 20, 2010. Tracey caught seven passes for 113 yards against Duquesne. In that span Harris posted 14 100-yard games and Ward posted six.

He also became just the third player in program history to have three touchdown receptions in a single game. Barthelette is the first to post three TDs since Harris did it on Oct. 19, 2013 against Sacred Heart.

Brenden Femiano (Northport, N.Y.) and Christian Martey (Centreville, Va.) both set career highs in rushing on Saturday. Femiano rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, while Martey added 90 yards on seven carries. Femiano averaged 9.8 yards per carry and Martey averaged 12.9 on the afternoon.

A good chunk of Martey's total came on his last carry of the day when he broke off a 78-yard run. He was tackled a half-yard shy of the endzone. The 78-yard scamper is the fifth-longest run from scrimmage in program history.

Bryant played the entire game without its top two kickers on Saturday as Ricky Perez (Miami, Fla.) and Alex Malhas (Babylon, N.Y.) were both unavailable. Freshman Gavin Rowley (Hampstead, Md.) made his collegiate debut and took the kickoffs, averaging 42.4 yards per kick. He was asked to kick the ball short or on the ground for a majority of his seven kicks.

On PATs, the Bulldogs kicked three times and went for two on three occasions. Senior Drew Chretien (Coventry, R.I.), the teams punter, went 1-for-3 in PATs, while the Black and Gold converted 2-of-3 on two-point conversions. Easton connected with Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Joe Fine (Cumberland, R.I.) on the two conversions.

Senior Patrick Kenney (Camarillo, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with eight tackles on defense. He posted three solo tackles, five assisted tackles and one pass breakup, a bone-jarring hit on a crossing receiver.

With his second tackle of the game, Kenney became the 10th player in program history to post 200 career stops. He now has 206 in his career.

Senior Marquise Watson (Hillside, N.J.) finished second on the team with seven tackles and also picked up a tackle for a loss. He saw time at nose tackle and at linebacker during the game. Watson now has 210 tackles in his career.

Senior Raamah Vaughn (Fort Washington, Md.) had one of the best games of his career, posting a career-high seven tackles, all solo. He also posted his first-career interception in the fourth quarter. Vaughn read the pass perfectly and jumped in front of the receiver to intercept the ball in the front corner of the endzone.

Sophomore Danny Hughes (Shoreham, N.Y.) also picked up his first-career interception in the fourth quarter. Playing safety, Merrimack QB Nick Davis overthrew his receiver and Hughes was right there to make the interception.

A trio of Bulldogs also posted their first-career sacks in the game against Merrimack. Freshman Tomas Wright (St. Augustine, Fla.) picked up a solo sack late in the game as he corralled a scrambling Davis. Sophomore Anthony DiMatteo (Holbrook, N.Y.) and freshman Fernando Casanova (Jacksonville, Fla.) teamed up to sack Davis in the first half.

In his first game as the team's starting punter, Chretien punted four times for 130 yards and a 32.5 average. He put two punts inside the Merrimack 20 and the Warriors did not return any of the four.

Both teams were heavily penalized in the game as Merrimack was flagged 14 times for 124 yards and the Bulldogs were whistled 10 times for 84 yards.