Coach Kavanaugh's comments

WALTHAM, Mass. – Following two impressive road wins, the Bentley University Falcons will return to campus for Saturday's Homecoming Day game in a five-team deadlock for second place in the Northeast-10 Conference.

Saturday's contest against Saint Anselm College, another of the five second-place teams, will kick off at 1 pm and can be seen on the NE10 NOW digital network. The Hawks, after starting the season at 0-5, are riding a conference-best three-game winning streak.

Coach Bill Kavanaugh's Falcons, who will be looking to reach .500 overall, comes in at 3-4 overall and 3-2 NE10 after a walk-off 30-27 win at Stonehill and a fourth-quarter comeback for a 28-21 victory at Pace. Both those teams are involved in the second-place logjam, as is New Haven. Assumption College, which has a bye this week, is alone in first with a 5-1 conference record.

In the last two wins, Bentley has topped 400 yards total offense in consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2017 season when the Falcons exceeded 400 three straight times. At Pace, they established season-bests for rushing yards (276) and total offense (475) while controlling the ball for nearly 36 minutes for the second straight game.

In Saturday's game, Bentley answered an opening scoring drive by Pace with 20 unanswered, scoring on four of its five first-half possessions to take a 20-7 lead. After the Setters scored a pair of fourth-quarter TDs to go up 21-20, Bentley embarked on a 90-yard drive and reclaimed the lead on a 40-yard scoring pass from junior Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS) to sophomore Noah Neville (Boston/Newton North HS).

It was the fifth TD of the season for Neville, who was on the receiving end of a 71-yarder earlier in the game. He finished with three catches for 120 yards, and that yardage total was matched by senior Jordan Artope (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson HS) on 23 rushes.

Sturm, 61 yards away from 5,000 in career total offense, leads the conference in passing yards (1,525) and has a 2-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio. He has thrown for ten scores, pushing his career to 31, and has only been picked off five times.

Senior slot receiver Drew Mahoney (West Suffield, Conn./Suffield Academy) leads Division II in receptions per game, averaging 8.7. His 61 catches have been good for 640 yards and two TDs, and he's closing in on a couple career milestones, needing eight receptions for 200 and 119 yards for 2,000.

With his 120 yards at Pace, Artope took over the team lead in rushing with 401 yards. He's rushed for eight touchdowns, the most by a Falcon since J.J. Sullivan had nine during the 2005 season.

Sophomore defensive line Cedric Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS), after a strong performance at Pace, is tied for third in the NE10 in sacks with 5.5. Two of those came against the Setters, and he also had a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.

Bentley's leading tacklers are junior linebacker Marc Doran (Ramsey, N.J./Saint Joseph Reg. HS), senior defensive back Pete Thorbahn (Norwell/Xaverian Bros. HS) and sophomore defensive back Jailen Branch (Randolph/Milton Academy). Doran has 53, Thorbahn 43 and Branch 41.

Another Falcon who is closing in on a milestone is senior placekicker Grant Buchanan (Holliston/Holliston HS), who is two points away from becoming the seventh player and second kicker in program history with 200 career. He's made eight of 12 field goals, matching his performance from last year, and all 20 of his extra points.

Saint Anselm's winning streak began with a 37-31 win over New Haven and has continued with victories over Franklin Pierce, 50-10, and Southern Connecticut State, 25-24.

Senior QB Eric Fairweather was recognized as the NE10 Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Southern last weekend, and the NE10 Defensive Player of the Week award went to Hawk senior linebacker CJ Miller. Fairweather completed 24 of 43 passes for 347 yards and three TDs, and also ran for another. Miller's day included eight tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception.

Fairweather, who has been involved in 67 career TDs (37 passing, 24 rushing, 1 receiving), has completed 53 percent of his passes for 1,414 yards since taking over in week three and is also the team's top rusher, with 74 carries for 282 yards and four scores. He's thrown for 11 TDs, including nine during the streak, and has been intercepted eight times.

Miller leads the NE10 in sacks, with 7.5, and strong safety Ryan Sullivan is the conference's leading tackler, averaging just a shade under ten a game.

Bentley owns a four-game winning streak against Saint Anselm, including 20-16 last year in the rain in Manchester, and is 8-0 all-time at home against the Hawks. In last year's game, Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas HS), now a junior, ran for a career-high 143 yards and scored the game-winning TD with 2:47 left.

Bentley's November schedule will include a first-ever visit to Franklin Pierce next Saturday and a Senior Day rematch against American International at home on Nov. 16.