NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior quarterback Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS) threw four touchdown passes, including three in a span of four-and-a-half minutes surrounding halftime, and ran for another as Bentley University, the 17^th-ranked team in Division II, extended its winning streak to 12 games with a 34-20 win over Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 football Saturday afternoon on Jess Dow Field.

Bentley, whose last loss came against Southern back in October 2019, improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 NE10 with the 12-game winning streak second longest in the program's varsity history. It's the Falcons' first season with seven-plus wins since 2012.

With the score knotted at 6-6 as the second quarter clock hit three minutes, Sturm found Abel Lopes Jr. (Scituate, Mass./Scituate HS) in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown.

The ensuing kickoff return was fumbled and recovered by Bentley senior Edgar Semedo (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford HS) at the Owl 33. Sturm took advantage, engineering a seven-play drive that ended with an eight-yard TD pass to senior Chris Varone (Victor, N.Y./Victor HS) and a 20-6 lead with 15 seconds remaining until intermission.

Sturm, who ran for a touchdown in the first quarter, threw his 50^th career TD pass with 13:29 remaining in the third, this one a one-yarder to grad student and linebacker Cole McCubrey (Boylston, Mass./Tahanto Reg. HS). This one came two plays after freshman Zay Decias (Ozone Park, N.Y./Hudson Catholic HS) broke an 84-yard run, the longest registered in the Northeast-10 so far this season.

Sturm's fourth scoring pass of the afternoon came with 11:49 left in the fourth with Lopes hauling in an 18-yarder for a 34-13 lead.

Sturm finished the day 16 of 21 for 188 yards and a sparkling quarterback rating of 204.72. He also ran for 38 yards on ten carries.

Lopes led the Falcon receivers with four for 76 yards and Decias had a team-best 91 rushing yards on only three carries. Grad student Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) amassed 88 all-purpose yards (51 rushing, 37 receiving) and surpassed 2,500 for his career.

Bentley rushed for over 200 yards for the fifth time this season, finishing with 234, and totaled 422 yards total offense.

McCubrey, in addition to catching a TD pass, led the Falcons with eight tackles.

Bentley scored 14 points off its two takeaways, including the first interception of the season from junior Jailen Branch (Randolph, Mass./Milton Academy). Branch also had three unassisted tackles, including a sack.

For Southern, freshman QB Marc Reali (Biddeford, Maine) completed 22 of 35 for 207 yards and one TD, with senior Izaiah Sanders (Stamford, Conn.) catching six for 48.

Bentley will have a bye next Saturday before returning to action Oct. 30 with a home game against Franklin Pierce.