WALTHAM, Mass. – Following a 41-0 victory at Franklin Pierce University last week in a game that the Falcons got it done on both sides of the ball, the Bentley University football team will be back on the home turf Saturday afternoon with Saint Anselm College providing the opposition. Kickoff is set at noon and the contest will be streamed over NE10 NOW.

Bentley, which will be looking for its fourth win in its last five games, is 3-2 overall and 1-1 Northeast-10. The Falcons have scored 40+ points in each of the three wins and have limited their opposition to an average of 176.3 yards the last three weeks.

Saint Anselm, after a 4-0 start to the season, will be looking to bounce back from its first loss of 2022, 21-10 to New Haven last weekend. The Hawks have given up a conference-low 54 points through the first five games.

Bentley and Saint Anselm have two common opponents this season. Both shutout Franklin Pierce, with the Hawks scoring 27 in their win over the Ravens, and each allowed 21 points in a home loss to New Haven.

The two teams are 1-2 in the NE10 in scoring, with Bentley averaging 32 points and Saint Anselm 28.4. Defensively, they are also 1-2 with the Hawks giving up 10.8 and the Falcons 12.8. One contrast is in turnovers with Bentley first in fewest turnovers lost (5) and Saint Anselm at the top of the list in turnovers forced (16).

Bentley's offense centers around graduate quarterback Mark Waid (Cortland, Ohio/Girard HS), who has been responsible for two-thirds of the team's total yards. He's thrown for 780 yards and eight touchdowns, with his passing efficiency (143.5) the best in the conference. Waid also leads the Falcons in rushing with his 392 fourth most among Division II quarterbacks nationally and second most in the NE10. At Franklin Pierce, he had his second 100-yard performance of the season on the ground, finishing with 105 on 16 carries.

The Bentley ground threats also include senior Nate Larkins (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn HS) and junior Vinnie Holmes (Mansfield/Mansfield HS). Larkins has gained 266 and scored five touchdowns, and Holmes has gained 182.

Senior Abel Lopes Jr. (Scituate/Scituate HS) has taken over the team lead in receiving yards (218), sixth most in the conference, after catching two TD passes against Franklin Pierce. Classmate Noah Neville (Boston/Newton North HS), Bentley's leader in receptions (11) and TD catches (3), is four catches away from the century mark for his career.

The Bentley offensive line continues to provide protection for Waid, who has only been sacked five times. Starting each of the first five have been 6-9, 330-pound grad student Gavin Olsen (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset HS) and freshman Mike Boutros (Worcester/Doherty Memorial HS) at tackle, junior Phil Koechling (Wayland/Wayland HS) at right guard and junior Aaron Sousa (Lexington/Belmont Hill School) at center.

The defense, which hasn't allowed more than 300 yards since the opener against West Chester, has kept the opponents in check with 11 takeaways and 18 sacks. Senior Cedie Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS), last year's NE10 Defensive Lineman of the Year, has been having another standout season with 5.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. Among active Division II players, he's in the top five in both categories (25.5 sacks, 10 forced).

Senior corner Jailen Branch (Randolph/Milton Academy) is the NE10 co-leader in interceptions (3) after picking off two at Franklin Pierce. And junior linebacker Salvatore Lupoli Jr. (Chelmsford/Chelmsford HS) continues to lead the conference in tackles with 52.

A key to the team's success has been the special teams play of junior kicker Mason Campbell (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS), senior punter Charlie Ogletree (Needham/Needham HS) and sophomore returner Isaiah Decias (Ozone Park, N.Y./Hudson Catholic HS). Campbell leads the NE10 in scoring (40 points), Ogletree is second in punting (38.9) and Decias has averaged 23.8 yards on kickoff returns.

Saint Anselm likes to put the ball in the air with junior QB Drew Willoughby throwing more than 40 passes a game and averaging more than 25 completions. He's passed for 1,329 yards and 14 TDs this year after recording 2,803 and 22 last year.

Vincent Wagner and Anthony Brown are 1-2 in the NE10 in receptions and Brown has been on the finishing end of six TD passes. Wagner is also the team's primary rushing threat with 196 yards.

Eight Hawks have intercepted passes already this season, six have recovered fumbles and leading tackler Taylor Pawelkoski has 4.5 sacks from his linebacker position.

Bentley and Saint Anselm have met 21 times previously with the Falcons prevailing in 20 of those, including each of the 11 times they've met in Waltham. The only Saint Anselm win came in 2014, 38-34.

Last year, Bentley scored the first 27 points and prevailed 34-21 with five different players scoring touchdowns. It was a shootout with the two teams combining for 987 yards and 53 first downs, including 520 and 32 by Saint Anselm.

Following Saint Anselm, Bentley will turn its attention to Assumption, who the Falcons will play on the road Oct. 15.