WORCESTER, Mass. (October 9, 2022) -- It was not your average Division II college football setting on Sunday afternoon, as the Franklin Pierce University football team and Assumption met at Polar Park, home of the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. A pair of late scores for the Ravens tightened things up in the end, but Assumption largely controlled the proceedings in the City of the Seven Hills. The Greyhounds rang up 409 yards of total offense, including 221 on the ground, on the way to a 28-14 Northeast-10 Conference victory.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce falls to 1-5 (1-3 NE10), while Assumption improves to 4-1 (3-0 NE10).

After forcing Franklin Pierce to punt on its opening drive, Assumption got things started with a nine-play, 67-yard touchdown drive over 5:29, on its first possession of the game. Senior Berrell Neal had the big gain on the series, with a 26-yard rush up the middle on second-and-five from the Franklin Pierce 48-yard line. The Greyhounds converted on third-and-one later in the drive, to start off a day where they would convert 10 of 16 third-down chances (63%), compared to just 1-for-11 (9%) for Franklin Pierce. Senior quarterback Jake Cady capped the drive from 1 yard out, as he faked a handoff and rolled right, untouched, into the end zone for the first of his four rushing touchdowns.

Assumption was a bit schizophrenic on offense for the rest of the early going. On their next possession, the Greyhounds drove 37 yards to the Franklin Pierce 9, and then lost a fumble after a snap sailed over the head of Cady and was recovered by sophomore Trey Sejour (Everett, Mass.). Next time out was a 32-yard drive which stalled out on downs at the Franklin Pierce 32. Then, a drive to the Raven 37 ended on a strip-sack by junior Chris Yeboah (Worcester, Mass.), with sophomore Tino Savaiinaea (Paulsboro, N.J.) recovering the football for Franklin Pierce.

Meanwhile, the Ravens could not get anything going on offense in the first half. Franklin Pierce ran a combined 19 plays for just 40 yards across its five first-half possessions, with the first four resulting in punts and the final one stalling out on downs near midfield.

Assumption took over at its own 46 with 3:12 remaining in the second quarter, and used 3:11 of that to trundle 54 yards to the end zone on 11 plays. Cady completed a pair of 11-yard passes on the drive, one to graduate student Vinnie DiCarlo and another to sophomore Cameron Reagan. Once again, Cady capped the drive himself, this time with a 9-yard rush on the left side.

Each team would find the end zone twice in the second half. Cady had a 14-yard touchdown rush in the third quarter and a 1-yard scoring plunge in the fourth, as Assumption opened up a 28-0 lead with 12:17 to play.

The Ravens finally got the offense moving in the final stages of the contest, as they scored on each of their final two drives. A 10-play, 77-yard possession featured a 35-yard pass down the left side from senior Bryce Macina (Syracuse, N.Y.) to freshman Austyn Howe (Newington, Conn.), and was ultimately capped by a four-yard touchdown pass to junior Christian Simon (Riverview, Fla.) at the right-side goal-line pylon with 5:30 to play. Finally, graduate student EJ Burgess (Pearland, Texas) finished off a six-play, 67-yard series with a 5-yard touchdown sweep on the left side, to create the 28-14 final.

For Franklin Pierce, Macina went 9-for-22 for 116 yards and a touchdown, while Burgess had his most-efficient day of the season, with 19 carries for 71 yards (3.7 yards per rush) and a score. Simon had three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown, while Howe hauled in two passes for 57 yards. Defensively, sophomore Tyquon Stokes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) piled up a game-best 11 tackles (six solo), while Yeboah had five tackles (one solo), including a sack, forced a fumble and hurried the quarterback once as well. Also of note, freshman Alex Benitez (Belle Meade, N.J.) uncorked a program-record 71-yard punt in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, it was The Jake Cady Show for Assumption, as the senior signal-caller went 19-for-32 for 188 yards through the air, and added 85 more yards on 17 attempts (5.0 yards per rush), plus the four touchdowns, on the ground. Reagan caught four passes for 66 yards. Defensively, senior Lorenzo Valencia had seven tackles (one solo), including a half-sack, and hurried the quarterback once as well.

The Ravens are on the road again next weekend, with a trip to Southern Connecticut State on Saturday, Oct. 15. Opening kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Jess Dow Field in New Haven, Conn.