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Brown turns it up a notch in victory for SFU

Photo for the Mirror by J.D. Cavrich Saint Francis’ Chris Wells celebrates scoring a first-half touchdown Saturday afternoon.

LORETTO — Leading Merrimack College 13-7, Saint Francis University got the ball back with 2:20 left in the first half and a chance to extend the lead before heading to the locker room.

Quarterback Jason Brown attempted to throw an out pattern on third down, but Darion McKenzie jumped the route and took it 30 yards the other way to put the Warriors up 14-13 with 1:08 left until halftime.

Just like that, Merrimack had seized the momentum. It lasted all of 41 seconds, however.

The Red Flash responded with a three-play, 68-yard drive to reclaim the lead right before halftime, and dominated the second half for a 42-14 win Saturday afternoon at DeGol Field before a crowd of 1,455.

“The pick-six happened and everybody on the sideline was telling me ‘next play, next play.’ So I just wanted to come out, make something happen on the next play and take the momentum back ,” Brown said. “That’s what happened, and I think that’s when the offense found a groove.”

Brown hit Zach Campbell in stride on a crossing pattern that went for 29 yards on the first play. He found Joel Denley for another 20 and, capped it off with a 19-yard catch-and-run to Brandan Lisenby for the go-ahead score.

“After the pick-six, we wanted to get right back in the swing of things, and we were able to do that with a couple completions,” Campbell said. “Jason showed great composure by coming back like that and throwing some great passes.”

Brown struck again early in the third quarter with a completion to Avery Miliner for 29 yards.

The redshirt sophomore rolled left away from pressure, got a couple defenders off their feet with a pump fake, and floated a pass above their heads to Miliner along the Saint Francis sideline for a big gain.

Joel Denley took it from there. Offensive coordinator Marco Pecora called his number five straight times to cover the final 24 yards.

Tight end Dominic Clark made an over-the-shoulder, one-handed catch as he crossed the goal line for the 2-point conversion that put Saint Francis up 28-14.

Terrell Smith’s interception on the next Merrimack drive led to a Ra’Shaun Henry 4-yard touchdown catch, and Brown sewed up the win early in the fourth quarter with his third TD pass of the game.

Rolling left near the Warriors’ sideline, Brown zipped a pass that 6-foot-8 E.J. Jenkins grabbed out of the air over a defender near the front pylon for an 11-yard score.

“Jason did a tremendous job using his feet, directing traffic out there and extending plays,” SFU coach Chris Villarrial said. “The offensive line for as young as we are up front did a tremendous job, and coach Pecora did a tremendous job playcalling. We were balanced. He got the ball to many different people, which makes us unpredictable.”

Brown completed passes to seven different receivers, finishing 17-of-26 for 276 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

The Red Flash also ran for 150 yards. Miliner, Denley and Chris Wells split carries and did the bulk of the damage.

The start of the game was delayed an hour by late morning thunderstorms moving through the area. Once the game started, Merrimack wasted no time taking a 7-0 lead.

The Warriors shredded the Saint Francis defense, going 64 yards on six plays for the early lead.

The Red Flash defense responded by shutting out the Merrimack offense the rest of the way, limiting the Warriors to just 210 yards of total offense over the final 55 minutes of play.

“We definitely started a little slow,” safety Tremayn Stott said. “That first touchdown was like a punch in the face, but we stepped it up after that. We didn’t really make any adjustments. Everybody just started doing their job.”

Stott led the team with seven total tackles, including one tackle for loss. He also recovered a fumble. Fellow safety Gio Vonne Sanders made two interceptions.

The pair of redshirt freshmen were filling in for injured starters Nick Rinella and Somerset-grad Jake Heiple.

“Coach (Bishop Neal) does a great job with that group, challenging them week in and week out. They have that next man up mentality,” Villarrial said. “They rose to the challenge, and that is great growth for us now and in the future.”

Merrimack, which is making the jump from Division II to Division I this season and will join the Northeast Conference next season, entered the game at 1-1, but could have easily been 2-0. The Warriors stormed back from a 23-point deficit to tie Central Connecticut State last week before losing on a late field goal.

The 2-1 Red Flash take on Columbia 1 p.m. Saturday at DeGol Field before starting conference play the following week at Bryant.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Merrimack College 7 7 0 0 — 14

Saint Francis 7 13 15 7 — 42

First Quarter

MC–Carter 5 run (Resendes kick), 10:21.

SF–Wells 1 run (Thompson kick), 1:23.

Second Quarter

SF–FG Thompson 18, 12:35.

SF–FG Thompson 42, 9:36.

MC–McKenzie 30 interception return (Resendes kick), 1:08.

SF–Lisenby 19 pass from Brown (Thompson kick), 0:31.

Third Quarter

SF–Denley 5 run (Clark pass from Brown), 9:48.

SF–Henry 4 pass from Brown (Thompson kick), 6:12.

Fourth Quarter

SF–Jenkins 11 pass from Brown (Thompson kick), 12:46.

TEAM STATISTICS MC SF

First downs 16 22

Rushes-yards 29-102 47-150

Passing 172 276

Comp-Att-Int 14-32-3 17-26-1

Return Yards 141 74

Punts-Avg. 5-39.0 4-36.5

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0

Penalty-Yards 5-84 7-43

Time of Possession 23:42 36:18

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Merrimack College, M. McFadden 8-45, M. Brehon 7-40, J. Venter 5-20, M. Spence 2-13, C. Carter 7-(minus 16). Saint Francis, A. Miliner 12-45, C. Wells 12-42, J. Denley 8-37, D. Wiley 3-19, Z. Campbell 2-16, J. Sliwoski 1-8, T. Smith 3-(minus 1), J. Brown 4-(minus 14).

PASSING–Merrimack College, C. Carter 14-32-3-172. Saint Francis, J. Brown 17-26-1-276.

RECEIVING–Merrimack College, J. Rosario 4-78, M. Spence 4-37, J. Wilson 3-36, N. Salmon 1-9, A. Norcia 1-7, N. Pallotta 1-5. Saint Francis, E. Jenkins 2-71, Z. Campbell 3-44, B. Lisenby 2-39, R. Henry 5-38, A. Miliner 2-30, J. Denley 2-28, T. Johnson 1-26.

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