WALTHAM, Mass. – Through the first six weeks of the 2022 football season, no Northeast-10 Conference team has scored more points or allowed fewer than the Bentley University Falcons.

Following lopsided wins over Franklin Pierce and Saint Anselm the last two weeks, Bentley will look to continue their momentum this Saturday when the Falcons play at Assumption University. Kickoff at Brian Kelly Stadium is set for 1 pm and the game will streamed over the NE10NOW digital network (www.NE10NOW.tv/bentleyfalcons).

First-year head coach Alvin Reynolds and his team will head to Worcester with records of 4-2 overall and 2-1 NE10 after downing Franklin Pierce 41-0 and Saint Anselm 38-7 the last two weeks. The Bentley D has allowed only one touchdown over the last ten quarters of play.

Assumption, whose only loss came to Division I Merrimack, has won its last three to improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 conference. The Greyhounds have allowed 14 points in each game during the winning streak while scoring 26 against Pace and 28 against both Southern Connecticut and Franklin Pierce.

The Falcon offense ranks first in the NE10 in a number of categories, including points (33.0), total offense (368.3), first downs (109), rushing (184.3), third down conversions (42.7%) and fewest turnovers (8). Bentley has split the offense almost evenly between rushing yards (1106) and passing (1104).

A major reason for that success has been the play of graduate QB Mark Waid (Cortland, Ohio/Girard HS), last week's New England Football Writers Gold Helmet Award recipient and the reigning NE10 Offensive Player of the Week.  He threw five touchdowns against Saint Anselm while spreading the ball around to nine different players.

Waid leads the conference in passing efficiency, is second in touchdown passes and ranks fourth among Division II quarterbacks nationally in rushing yards with 451. The Youngstown State transfer has completed 53 percent of his passes, good for 1,012 yards and 13 TDs.

Bentley's leading receivers have been sophomore Isaiah Decias (Ozone Park, N.Y./Hudson Catholic HS) and seniors Noah Neville (Boston/Newton North HS) and Abel Lopes Jr. (Scituate/ Scituate HS). Decias has 11 receptions for 171 yards, Neville 11 for 202 and three TD, and Lopes Jr. 10 for 237 yards. He's been on the receiving end of two TD passes in each of the last two games and is averaging 23.7 yards per reception.

Bentley has three of the conference's top eight in rushing yards with Waid joined by senior Nate Larkins (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn HS) and junior Vinnie Holmes (Mansfield/Mansfield HS). Larkins has rushed for 365, including exactly 100 against Saint Anselm, and Holmes follows with 217.

The Bentley defense has moved to number six nationally after yielding only 154, 208, 167 and 186 yards over the last four games. In the last two games, Franklin Pierce and Saint Anselm have totaled only seven net rushing yards on 33 plays. That is in large part due to seven Falcon sacks.

Defensive leaders have included senior defensive end Cedie Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS) with 6.5 sacks and three forced fumbles, junior linebacker Salvatore Lupoli Jr. (Chelmsford/Chelmsford HS) with 58 tackles and senior corner Jailen Branch (Randolph/Milton Academy) with four interceptions. Senior Christian Lanzalotto (Rumson, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven HS) was cited as the NE10 Defensive Player of the Week following two interceptions, both of which led to scoring drives, and three break-ups in the Saint Anselm game.

Bentley is 29-6 against Assumption since both programs gained varsity status in 1988 and defeated the Hounds twice last year, 40-28 in Worcester and 48-23 in Waltham. The Falcons scored 20 third-quarter points in both games, averaged 481.5 yards total offense and forced a total of five turnovers. Stephen Sturm threw seven TD passes in the two games, Larkins rushed for 138 in the first game and Neville had 161 receiving yards in the two contests.

After playing in Assumption's Homecoming Game, Bentley will prepare for its own Homecoming, Saturday, Oct. 22 against Southern Connecticut State.

BENTLEY BRIEFS: Neville is four receptions away from 100 for his career … senior kicker Mason Campbell (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) leads the conference in scoring with 48 points. He's 8 of 9 on field goals and 24 of 24 on extra points … in the red zone, Bentley has 19 touchdowns and eight field goals on 30 trips, a scoring rate of 90 percent … the Falcons have been eight of ten on fourth-down conversions this season.