Know the opponent: Sacred Heart
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – With the 2017 Bryant University football season less than two months away, Bryant Athletics will take a look at all 11 opponents the Bulldogs will face this season.
The Bulldogs return to Smithfield in week 10, welcoming Northeast Conference rival Sacred Heart to Beirne Stadium. The game will be streamed nationally on ESPN3.
Opponent: Sacred Heart (Website)
Date|Time: Saturday, Nov. 4 | 12:00 PM
Location: Beirne Stadium (Smithfield, R.I.)
All-time series: Sacred Heart leads, 5-4
First played: Sept. 9, 2000 | Sacred Heart 19, Bryant 15 (Fairfield, Conn.)
Last played: Nov. 19, 2016 | Bryant 42, Sacred Heart 34 (Fairfield, Conn.)
Series History: Bryant and Sacred Heart will be meeting for the 10th time in program history this year. The Pioneers hold a 5-4 lead in the all-time series, but the Bulldogs are coming off a 42-34 victory in the 2016 season finale. Bryant's win snapped SHU's three-game win streak in the series and was just the second win for the Bulldogs in Fairfield. Also, the 42 points the Black and Gold put up last year are the most they've scored against the Pioneers in the series.
Last time they met: Senior QB Dalton Easton threw for a program-record 391 yards and four touchdowns and classmate Patrick Kenney posted a career-high 14 tackles to help the Bulldogs rally from a 14-point first-quarter deficit in the 2016 regular-season finale.
Sacred Heart jumped out to a 14-0 lead just three minutes into the game thanks to a pair of Bryant turnovers. The Bulldogs quickly responded, outscoring the Pioneers 28-3 the remainder of the half. Taylor Barthelette made an acrobatic catch for a touchdown, Hunter Taute tied the game with a one-yard plunge and then-junior Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) caught two TDs in the final 3:26 of the half to make it 28-17.
Brenden Femiano (Northport, N.Y.) would add a nine-yard TD run and Aaron Aryee (Hartford, Conn.) hauled in a 67-yard TD pass in the third quarter to put the game away. Sewall finished with a career-high 136 receiving yards, while the defense held off a Pioneer offense that ran 91 plays.
Throwback: Bryant's only other win in Fairfield came on Friday, Sept. 16, 2011. The Bulldogs hit heavy traffic on their way through New Haven and arrived at Campus Field roughly an hour before kickoff. Bryant was unfazed as it defeated SHU, 26-6. Matt Tracey caught two touchdown passes and Jordan Brown posted 334 all-purpose yards, the second most in a single game in program history. Brown rushed for 248 yards and added a highlight-reel 53-yard punt return for a TD to his outstanding performance.
Fun Fact: Bryant and Sacred Heart will be playing for the right to paint the sledgehammer for the second-straight year. Started in 2016 in an effort to add to the rivalry, the winner of the annual matchup with win the right to paint the sledgehammer Bryant gold or Sacred Heart red.