Written by Director of Athletic Communications Luke Tracy 

RINDGE, N.H. (10/14/2023) – There comes a game in every young program's history that sends a "we can compete with the best" message. That game happened for Franklin Pierce University football this weekend during their matchup with the 2022 Northeast-10 champions, the Assumption University Greyhounds.  

Assumption has been competing on the gridiron for decades as the program has been in action since 1988. Over the years, the team earned three Northeast-10 championships, all of which have been in the last decade including 2015, 2017 and most recently during the 2022 season.

The game played on Sodexo field Saturday was the closest between the two teams since the Ravens entered Division II in 2019 and Franklin Pierce showed off the grit of Rindge early by getting on the board first.

During their very first drive, the Ravens offense fired up its engines on their own 20 yard-line. After two plays with short gains, FPU redshirt freshman quarterback Adrian Parker (Manchester, Conn.) threw a 49-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Joziah Gonzalez (Everett, Mass.). After the Ravens landed in the red zone, it took just a few more punches up field until Raven running back Andrew Meleski (Ashland, Mass.) punched in the one-yard rushing TD. With the extra point from Nolan Startzell (Scituate, Mass.), the Ravens had the home crowd roaring with a 7-0 lead just four minutes into the game.

On the very next drive, Assumption showed off their tenure as the Greyhounds marched down the field and tied up the game with a touchdown from quarterback Jake Cady.  

After a high-octane first quarter where the offenses for both teams scored on their first drive, the scoring hit a lull. Where the offensive units stalled, the defensive players stepped up for both the Ravens and the Hounds. For the Ravens that included an interception from Sam Kamara III (Old Bridge, N.J.) and a fumble recovered by Tino Savaiinaea (Paulsboro, N.J.). The fumble was the initial spark for drive that ended in a field goal for the Ravens which gave them the 10-7 lead with 3 minutes left in the first half.

As for the Hounds, their defensive unit was able to stop the Ravens final drive of the half when during a Hail Mary pass with zero seconds on the clock, Tyler Royall picked off the pass at the 3-yard line and ran out of bounds sending both teams to their locker rooms.

In the second half, the Ravens were pinned deep at their own five yard-line when an interception gave the Hounds excellent field position. Setting up the drive at the FPU 10 yard-line, the Hounds capitalized and punched it in for a touchdown. With the extra point, Assumption took their first lead of the game 14-10. The rest of the third quarter saw no scoring after a 30-yard field goal from the Ravens was blocked by a swarming Assumption defensive front.

Pushing into the fourth quarter, the Ravens recaptured the lead after a long drive ended with a 3-yard rushing touchdown from running back Alex Benitez (Belle Meade, N.J.). With the extra point, the scoreboard read 17-14.

The very next drive, Assumption's offense once again hit the gas and found their way into the endzone after a 20-yard rushing touchdown fueled by James Henderson. Capping off the extra point, Assumption went ahead 21-17 with seven minutes left.

The Ravens later received the ball but were forced to punt and as Assumption worked to kill the clock, QB Jake Cady fumbled the ball which was picked up by FPU's Beji Auguste (Kissimmee, Fla.).

With just over 2 minutes left the Ravens tried to put together a strong drive but fell short and had a turnover on downs. Assumption was able to kill the last 90 seconds, capturing the victory.

With the win, Assumption improved to 5-1 (3-0, NE10) as the Ravens fell to 3-3 (2-2, NE10).

NEXT FOR THE RAVENS: Franklin Pierce Football will finish off their four-week home game streak on October 21^st against Post at 1:00 PM.