Herbert Woodard rushes for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns leading Greyhound football past Merrimack, 39-36

October 10, 2009

Assumption 39, Merrimack 36

WORCESTER, Mass. --- Junior running back HERBERT WOODARD (Bridgeton, NJ/Salem) rushed 37 times for 222 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead Assumption College past Merrimack College, 39-36, in Northeast-10 Conference football action SATURDAY at the Multi-Sport Stadium.

It was a game of superlatives as the offenses took center stage. Between the two teams 902 yards of total offense and an amazing 50 first downs. The Greyhounds are the leading scoring team in the conference with 196 points.

Both teams are now 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference, just a half game back of Bentley (6-1, 4-1) and Southern Connecticut (4-3, 4-1) in the league standings.

For the Warriors, sophomore quarterback JAMES SUOZZO (Everett, MA/Everett) completed 31-of-45 passes for 348 yards and three touchdowns and scored another himself and rushed 16 times for 88 yards . . . senior wide receiver JEREMIAH WATTS (Clovis, CA/Clovis) caught 15 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns and senior wide receiver CHRIS LAHAM (Westwood, MA/Westwood) ended with 11 catches for 96 yards.

For the Greyhounds, junior quarterback ANDREW KUPEC (Wyckoff, NJ/Indian Hills) completed 20-of-26 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns, while junior wide receiver JOHN BARKER (Avon, MA/Xaverian) had six receptions for 71 yards and kicked two field goals (32 and 30 yards).

The Greyhounds took the opening kickoff and moved 50 yards in 11 plays after junior DAVID CANNEY (Templeton, MA/Narragansett) returned the kickoff 24 yards to midfield. Kupec found junior wide receiver MARCUS NICHOLS (Salem, NJ/Salem) (4 receptions, 45 yards) for 14 yards on a third-and-five play and Woodard rushed 21 yards to highlight the drive. Barker kicked a 32-yard field goal to make it 3-0.

The Warriors' junior punter PEDROM TAND (Northboro, MA/Algonquin) put the Greyhounds back on their own 20 yard line with a 60-yard punt/touchback after the next series. Assumption then drove the 80 yards in 11 plays to move to a 10-0 advantage. A 25-yard pass to Woodard moved the ball to midfield and before Kupec found Canney in the endzone on a 27-yard strike and Barker added the conversion. Through the first period the Greyhounds had the ball 12:43 an outgained the Warriors 206-6.

On the next series, Woodard took charge with four carries for 33 yards and Kupec teamed with Canney on receptions of nine yards (on a third-and four play), 28 yards and five yards before finding Woodard on a five-yard touchdown pass on third-and-five. Barker's conversion gave the Greyhounds a 17-0 cushion.

Sophomore linebacker SHAWN LOISEAU (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury) (8-8--16 tackles) gave Merrimack its first opportunity to cut into the deficit with an interception and subsequent return to the Greyhound 17-yard line. Sophomore running back ANTHONY SMALLS (Natick, MA/New Hampton School) rushed for six yards and then Suozzo scampered the final 11 yards for the score. Tand's conversion made it 17-7.

The next series was all Kupec has he completed three-of-three for 33 yards . . . 10 and then 20 yards to Barker and, finally, three yards to Canney for the score. The conversion failed as the Greyhounds led, 23-7.

The defense contributed to the next score as junior defensive end COREY BLACKWOOD (Springfield, MA/Science Tech) stripped Suozzo with junior linebacker ETHAN MAXFIELD (Newport, NH/Newport) recovering at the Greyhound 25. A 31-yard rush by Woodard and a 17-yard pass to Nichols on another third-and-long play highlighted a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Woodard capped the march with a one-yard flying leap into the endzone and Barker kicked the conversion for a 30-7 advantage.

Merrimack outscored the Greyhounds 29-9 the remainder of the game as Suozzo led the way.

A nine-play, 81-yard march started the comeback as Suozzo rushed twice for 19 yards and completed six-of-six passes for 72 yards, the final five yards for the touchdown to Watts. He then found Watts for a two-point conversion to cut the gap to 30-15.

Barker kicked his second field goal, this time from 30 yards out, to finish the next series and give the Hounds a 33-15 edge. Woodard had a 21 yard run to highlight the short drive.

Merrimack, with Suozzo leading the way, came right back. He completed five-of-six passes for 46 yards to highlight the nine-play, 74-yard drive capped by a two-yard run up-the-middle by Smalls. Tand's conversion made it 33-22.

Junior defensive back JAMES HUTCHINS (Ontario, CA/Colony) then made the crucial defensive play of the game intercepting a Suozzo pass and returning it 15 yards for the score. A pass attempt by Barker for a two-point conversion failed leaving it 39-22.

Merrimack made it a nailbiter as Suozzo connected with Watts on a 34 yard scoring strike and a four-yard TD pass to senior running back JAKE MANNING (Dunstable, MA/Ayer).

Assumption plays at conference rival Saint Anselm next SATURDAY at 1 p.m. in the Pack Network Game-of-the-Week. Fans can watch the game produced by the Pack Network FREE at www.assumptiongreyhounds.tv. Merrimack hosts New Haven, in another conference matchup, SATURDAY at 1 p.m.

GREYHOUND NOTEBOOK: junior running back HERBERT WOODARD (Bridgton, MA/Salem) has is the fifth running back in Hounds history with two 200-yard rushing games. He has rushed 453 times (career leader) for 2,278 yards, just 11 yards short of the Greyhound career mark set by Fran DeFalco (1992-94) with 2,289 . . . this was his ninth career game with over 100 yards, another Greyhound record . . . he has 234 all-purpose yards and now has 894 this season and 3,099 for his career in 27 games . . . he has 834 yards of total offense this season and 2,350 for his career . . . he has scored 28 career touchdowns for 168 points, second only to DeFalco's 204 . . . he has 60 points this season, his second season of 60 points and just the seeventh in Hound history . . .

306 Billy DE MALIA at Stonehill, 10-14-00 (33-306)

286 Kevin CLIVE vs. Stonehill, 10-16-99 (42-286)

277 Herbert WOODARD at Saint Anselm, 9-15-07 (21 277)

239 Fran DE FALCO at Curry, 10-23-93 (23-239)

223 Austin DAVIS at Iona, 10-22-05 (43-223)

222 Herbert WOODARD vs. Merrimack, 10-3-2009 (37 222)

213 Billy DE MALIA vs. Mount Ida, 11-14-00 (24-213)

210 Kevin CLIVE vs. Sacred Heart, 9-4-99 (28-210)

208 Austin DAVIS vs. Merrimack, 10-14-05 (46-208)

203 Fran DE FALCO at Mass.-Lowell, 11-6-93 (30-203)

202 Tony CORNIELLO vs. Stonehill, 11-11-89 (21-202)

200 Neild MONTGOMERY vs. M.I.T., 9-21-91 (24-200)

junior wide receiver DAVID CANNEY (Templeton, MA/Narragansett) caught five passes for 72 yards and two touchdowns . . . he has 37 receptions for 546 yards aand seven touchdowns in 2009 and 131 catches for 1,734 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career . . . he trails only Jake Beers (2004-07) (158) and Eric Mauer (1997 2000) (140) on the career reception list and Mauer (2,166 yards) and Beers (1,950 yards) on the yardage list . . . his 13 touchdown receptions are now one better than Beers (12) and short of Mauer (18) . . . the seven TD receptions this season are one short of the season mark of eight held by Mauer (2000) and Joey Fabiano (2008) . . .

junior quarterback ANDREW KUPEC (Wyckoff, NJ/Indian Hills) continued his outstanding play with 21 completions in 27 attempts for 222 yards and three touchdowns . . . this is the second straight game with 20+ completions and his third this season . . . he is 96-for-144 (.667) for 1,097 yards and 12 touchdowns with an efficiency rating of 151.1 . . . his season completion percentage is the highest in Hound history . . . he also has 1,109 yards of total offense . . .

the Greyhounds defense as usual, was led by senior middle linebacker DUSTIN ZITZMANN (Pinellas Park, FL/Dixe Hollins) with 3-8- 11 tackles . . . he now has a league-leading 30-44--74 tackles and for his career 139-236--375 tackles, just behind Scott Stephens (1989 92) (387) and Bill Guilfoil (1990, 92-94) (409) . . .

also on defense, junior linebacker ETHAN MAXFIELD (Newport, NH/Newport) ended with 3-7--10 tackles and a fumble recovery . . . junior defensive tackle MATT CHALMERS (Colchester, CT/Bacon Academy) had 2-8--10 tackles and two pass pressures . . . junior defensive back RYAN CROWLEY (Norfolk, MA/Xaverian) had 2 7--9 tackles . . .

this is the first time since 1995 that the Greyhounds have been 4-2 after six games . . . and the first win over Merrimack since 2005 . . .

CLICK HERE FOR ASSUMPTION-MERRIMACK BOX SCORE