WALTHAM, Mass. – After staging three fourth-quarter comebacks in the last four weeks, the Bentley University Falcons have climbed into a tie for second place in the congested Northeast-10 Conference standings along with four other teams, three of whom coach Bill Kavanaugh's squad still has to play.

One of those who are even with the Falcons, American International College, will be making the trip to Waltham on Saturday for a 1 pm Family and Parents' Weekend game. Stonehill and LIU Post, as well as conference-leading Assumption, also remain on the schedule, leaving Kavanaugh and his team in full control of their own destiny as they vie for a berth in the Nov. 14 NE-10 championship game.

Bentley (3-3, 3-2 NE-10) is coming off a 19-14 win over Saint Anselm, a game in which the Falcons moved 91 yards in 100 seconds to score the game-winning TD, a 3-yard run by senior George Craan (Hyde Park/ Concord-Carlisle HS) with 44 seconds left.

Senior Matt Montalto (West Yarmouth/Dennis-Yarmouth Reg. HS), who had one of his most efficient games as Bentley's starting quarterback, was responsible for 79 of the 91 yards as he ran for a 14-yard gain and teamed up with classmate Chris Calvanese (Norfolk/Xaverian Bros. HS) on the team's longest play of the season, a 65-yard bomb to the Hawk six.

Meanwhile, the Falcon defense limited the Hawks to just two first downs on four fourth-quarter possessions. Any hope Saint Anselm had of last minute heroics were dashed when junior safety and NE-10 Defensive Player of the Week Sam McDonald (Norfolk/King Philip Reg. HS) had his second interception of the game (and 12th of his career) with 17 seconds left.

AIC, also 3-3 overall and 3-2 NE-10, will come into Saturday's game fresh off victories over LIU Post, 44-17, and Stonehill, 14-6. Combined, those two clubs were 7-2 before facing veteran coach Art Wilkin's team. In those two wins, the Yellow Jackets surrendered a total of 122 rushing yards on 68 carries.

In contrast, Bentley has rushed for 200-plus yards in each of its last three games, matching the program's longest streak in the last 20 seasons, and is fourth in the conference in rushing (187.2 per game).

The Falcons' success on the ground is a major reason why the team has run 101 more offensive plays than the opponents through six games and averaged 35 minutes of possession time. That is the third highest total nationally in Division II.

Junior Martin Bannerman (Pawtucket, R.I./La Salle Academy) is the Falcons' top rusher with 526 yards, a total he's amassed despite seeing only limited action in two of the team's six games, including Saturday when he ran for 31 yards in the first quarter before injuries forced him to the sideline.

After he went out, Kavanaugh received quality efforts from Craan (19 for 69) and junior Elijah Morrissey (Rowley/Governors' Academy) (7 for 33) as well as Montalto. The Falcon QB ran for a career-best 91 yards while keeping the ball 14 times.

In addition to averaging 6.5 yards per carry, Montalto completed 19 of 28 passes without an interception. His 227 passing yards was also a career-high and elevated his season total to an even 900 yards.

Senior slot receiver Chris Walsh (Attleboro/Attleboro HS) had his best game of the season with his eight catches for 86 yards against the Hawks bettering his yardage production from the first five contest (10 for 62).

Grad student and tight end Alex Farkes (Boston/BB&N) leads Bentley in receptions (21-241, 3 TD) while Calvanese has the most yardage (255 on 16 receptions, 15.9 average).

McDonald, who has accounted for a quarter of Bentley's takeaways with his three interceptions, has more career picks than any other active Division II junior. Senior defensive end Paul Norris (North Attleboro/North Attleboro HS) has also had a nose for the ball with two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.

Junior linebacker Bryan Hardy (Barnstable/Barnstable HS) had nine tackles against Saint Anselm, elevating his team leading total to 48. Senior Matt McDermott (Merrimac/Central Catholic HS), also a linebacker, follows with 38, including 18 the last two weeks.

Defense has been a strength of AIC so far with the Yellow Jackets giving up only about 270 yards a game with opposing ball carries averaging just three yards per carry. They've come up with 20 takeaways in six games, ranking fifth nationally in that category, with 11 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.

Senior safety Daquan Holmes and senior corner Mike Ford have combined for seven of the interceptions while sophomore safety Lorenzo Melchiorre has come up with the ball five times (four fumbles and an interception). Wilkins' squad has also blocked a pair of kicks and has yet to give up a first-quarter point. Of the 120 points allowed by AIC, 94 have come after the halftime break.

On the offensive side of the ball, AIC features senior running back Maurice Easterling, who has run for 170, 191 and 181 yards the last three weeks. He leads the Northeast-10 in all-purpose yards per game (173.0), rushing yards per game (139.6) and average per carry (7.8).

Sophomore Kwame Jarvis starts at quarterback for the Yellow Jackets. Although he only attempts 16 passes a game, he's completed 60 percent of his aerials, with four TD passes and six interceptions.  

AIC likes the big play with 11 of the team's 16 offensive touchdowns 30 yards or longer, including six of at least 60 yards.

Bentley will be looking to end a three-game slide in the series, including a 19-16 decision a year ago in Springfield. The Falcons drove to the AIC 11 in the final minute before being denied by a Holmes interception.

After Saturday, the Falcons will be on the road for two, at Stonehill on Oct. 25 and at Assumption six days later.

BENTLEY BRIEFS: Junior Tyler Ford (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan HS) tied the school record for longest punt in school history when he had his second 68-yarder Saturday against Saint Anselm. He's averaging 42.5 this season, three yards beyond the school record he set last year … Bentley is second in Division II in fewest fumbles lost (1), third in time of possession (35:06), eighth in fewest penalties (4.83), 11th in fewest penalty yards (41.3) and 17th in kickoff return defense (15.9) ... Senior kicker Michael Baron (Medfield/Roxbury Latin School) is 10th in field goal percentage (.875) ... Norris is 12th in fumbles recovered (2) ... Ford is 12th in punting average (42.5) … Baron moved into the top ten on Bentley's career scoring list with 164 points … Over the years, the Bentley-AIC series has largely been controlled by the home team with that holding true in 10 of the last 11 meetings  The Falcons have not won in Springfield since 2004 and AIC has only one win in Waltham since 1999 (42-14 in 2013).