WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior quarterback Danny Guadagnoli (Framingham/Framingham HS) accounted for three touchdowns, including a pair of scoring passes to junior Jeff Hill (Mansfield/Mansfield HS), and the Falcon defense came up with two late takeaways as Bentley University posted a 24-19 Senior Day win over visiting Southern Connecticut State in Northeast-10 Conference football Saturday afternoon.

Guadagnoli finished 22 of 34 for 337 yards with Hill on the receiving end of nine aerials for 178 yards, pushing his career total over 2,000 to 2,090, third most in program history.

 It didn't take the two long to have an impact on the game as they teamed up on a 73-yard scoring bomb on the third play of the game. Guadagnoli threw the ball about 50 yards in the air with Hill pulling it in at the Southern 30 and sprinting the remaining distance into the end zone.

The opening quarter ended with the Falcons on top 10-3 after the two clubs traded field goals by sophomore kickers. Devin Silverman (Berlin, Conn.) made a 36-yarder for Southern and Michael Baron (Medfield/Roxbury Latin School) answered with a 28-yarder for the Falcons, his eighth of the season.

Bentley, which gained 204 yards in the opening quarter (164 passing by Guadagnoli), made it a 17-3 game 48 seconds into the second when Guadagnoli found Hill in the right corner of the end zone for a 30-yard TD pass. It was his 17th of the season with ten of those going to Hill.

After the Falcon offense stumbled on its next two possessions, Southern put together a 13-play scoring drive to cut its deficit in half with 31 seconds left until the halftime intermission. Freshman Brandon Basil (Northford, Conn.) completed a third-and-24 pass to freshman Travis Cussen (Westfield) for a first-and-goal at the five, and on the very next play, the two teamed up again for Basil's first career TD pass.

Silverman accounted for the only scoring of the third quarter, connecting on a 22-yard field goal with 1:10 left. Bentley had the ball for only eight offensive plays in the period, but was helped out by the first of two interceptions by freshman Sam McDonald (Norfolk/King Phillip Reg. HS).  That came on a fourth-and-six from the Falcon 24 on the opening possession of the second half.

Bentley extended its lead to 24-13 with just over 12 minutes left in the fourth. The eight-play, 71-yard drive was kept alive by a roughing-the-passer call on the Owls on a third down play and finished with Guadagnoli taking it across from about six inches away.

Southern came right back with a six-play, 46-yard drive after junior John Moscatel (Lexington) returned the kickoff 32 yards. Senior Vaughn Magee (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) scored from about the half-yard line, but after two penalties, the two-point conversion pass was broken up by Falcon sophomore Emmitt Smith (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy), keeping it a five-point game.

Bentley was unable to achieve a first down on its next two possessions, but the Falcon defense was able to get the job done to keep Southern out of the end zone. Senior defensive tackle Mike DiLegge (Scarsdale, N.Y./Eastchester HS) recovered a fumble on a fourth-and-one from the Falcon 33 with 4:27 left and McDonald made his second interception with 2:17 to play, essentially locking up the victory.

Guadagnoli spread the ball around with nine different players catching passes. In addition to Hill, senior Kent Kozar (Fairport, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) had a nice afternoon with four catches for 69 yards, including a seven-yarder to set up Guadagnoli's fourth-quarter TD.

McDonald wasn't the only freshman to have a productive day for the Falcons. Tyler Ford (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan HS) continued his outstanding punting with a 43.8 average for six kicks and Mike Gardiner (Southlake, Texas/Southlake Carroll HS/Bedford, N.H., HS) had 110 net running yards, including a 33-yard rush.

Moscatel had 237 all-purpose yards for Southern as he rushed for 95 and averaged 25 on five kickoff returns. Basil finished 15 of 30 for 172 yards in his third career start.

Junior safety Nick McCarthy (Winthrop/Winthrop HS) paced the Bentley defense with 12 tackles and Smith followed with nine.

Although Bentley's offense dominated the game early, the Owls (3-6, 3-5 NE-10) finished with an edge in most offensive categories, including 21-18 first downs and 433-409 total offense.  The visitors controlled the ball for 32:17, including 20:53 during the middle two quarters.

With the win, Bentley (5-4, 4-4 NE-10) clinched a home game during the Northeast-10 Championship weekend on Nov. 16. Before that, the Falcons will close out the regular season at New Haven next Saturday.