WEST HAVEN, Conn. – An outstanding season for the Bentley University football team came to a disappointing end when the Falcons fell to the University of New Haven, 38-13, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championships Saturday afternoon at DellaCamera Stadium.

After Bentley took a 6-3 lead on an 18-play drive that consumed nearly ten minutes of clock time, New Haven scored the next 35 points to seize control of the game and earn a trip to the next Saturday's second round game at Kutztown.

The lengthy drive featured the Falcons converting six of six third downs, the last coming on the first play of the second quarter on a four-yard run to the left corner of the endzone by junior Nathaniel Larkins (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn HS). Bentley received the ball on a kickoff with 9:40 left in the first and the clock read 14:54 in the second when Larkins scored.

The conversions came on a five-yard pass from senior QB Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS), a two-yard gain by Sturm, a one-yard keeper by Sturm, a five-yard run by Larkins and a 15-yarder by Sturm. Sturm completed four of six for 26 yards and also picked up 28 yards on the ground.

After the two teams exchanged punts, New Haven reclaimed the lead when graduate QB Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass.) finished an 11-play drive with the first of his three touchdowns, this one from about the three-inch line.

The Chargers (10-1) struck again before the half ended, this time on a 12-yard keeper by Degenhardt with 14 seconds remaining until intermission.

Down 17-6 at the break, Bentley had a total of 77 yards in the half. 75 came on the drive and the Falcons managed only two net yards on its other four possessions.

Turnovers proved costly to the Falcons in the second half as they lost the ball three times. A pair of fumbles led to scoring opportunities, one of which New Haven failed to convert (a missed field goal) and the other that led to Degenhardt's third TD and a commanding 31-6 lead with 3:40 to play. The third Charger takeaway, just 18 seconds later, resulted in a 31-yard pick-six by junior Khyon Fitzpatrick (Union, N.J.).

Bentley closed out the scoring with a 50-yard pass from Sturm to Vassar with 2:21 to play. He appeared to be brought down at the 41 but rolled off the defender without touching the turf and ran untouched to the endzone. The TD was the 58^th career for Sturm, who eclipsed 8,000 career passing yards during the game.

While he didn't score himself, graduate running back Zach Mauro (Woodbury, Conn.) set up most of his team's touchdowns. He carried the ball on 33 of the Chargers' 58 offensive plays and finished with 119 yards. Degenhardt ran for 38 yards and completed eight of 11 through the air for 144. Most of those were to graduate wide receiver Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y.), who caught four for 104 yards.

Sturm had 170 yards total offense for Bentley, with 139 passing on 12-of-25 and 31 rushing. Grad student Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas HS), the number three rusher in program history, had ten carries for a team-best 46 yards. Vassar finished with five catches for 76 yards.

UMass transfer and Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Year Cole McCubrey (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) closed out his career with a career-best 17 tackles for the Falcons, pushing his season total of 114. Junior Salvatore Lupoli, Jr. (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford HS) followed with 14 tackles.

New Haven outgained Bentley 312-246, including 168-94 on the ground, and controlled the ball for over 35 minutes. The Falcons, after converting six straight third downs on the lengthy first-half drive, didn't convert another in the contest, finishing 6 of 13.

There was a significant difference in field possession in the game with New Haven's average start the 43 and the Falcons the 23. New Haven ran 36 plays over midfield as compared to the Bentley's 21.