2012 game summaries
UNH 40, Rhode Island 20
UNH 28, William & Mary 25
Game Nine • October 27, 2012 Meade Stadium • Kingston, R.I.
Game Ten • November 3, 2012 Cowell Stadium • Durham, N.H.
UNH (7-2, 5-1) URI (0-8, 0-5)
9 17 14 0 -40 6 0 7 7 -20
1st 13:15 UNH MacArthur 28-yd field goal 10:59 URI Johnson-Farrell 12-yd pass from Bentsen (Bentsen pass failed) 7:53 UNH Setian 2-yd run (MacArthur kick failed) 2nd 14:36 UNH Steriti 11-yd run (MacArthur kick) 8:08 UNH MacArthur 31-yd field goal 0:07 UNH Setian 9-yd pass from Goldrich (MacArthur kick) 3rd 9:10 URI Bentsen 6-yd run (Smith kick) 7:22 UNH Mello 19-yd pass from Vailas (MacArthur kick) 2:46 UNH Goldrich 9-yd run (MacAarthur kick) 4th 11:05 URI Bentsen 5-yd run (Smith kick)
3-0 3-6 9-6 16-6 19-6 26-6 26-13 33-13 40-13 40-20
INDIVIDUAL WILDCAT LEADERS
RUSHING UNH - Chris Setian 4-55, TD; Andy Vailas 8-54 PASSING UNH - Sean Goldrich 17-27-0, 245, TD RECEIVING UNH -R.J. Harris 8-131
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs................................... Rushes/Yardage............................. Passing Yardage............................ Pass Comp.-Att./INT.................... Total Offense................................. Punts/Average............................... Fumbles/Lost................................ Penalties/Yards..............................
UNH URI 21 24 28/200 47/192 282 266 20-33/0 24-38/2 482 458 3/39.3 4/37.2 2/2 1/1 4/38 2/15
KINGSTON, R.I. – Dontra Peters forced a fumble and notched an interception that sparked scoring drives, Chris Setian scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown and the 12th-ranked UNH football team spoiled Saturday’s Homecoming game at Rhode Island by posting a 40-20 CAA victory. UNH, which recorded its fifth straight victory, improved to 7-2 overall and maintained at least a share of first place in the CAA with a league mark of 5-1. URI dropped to 0-8, 0-5. Sean Goldrich completed 17 of 27 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown while rushing six times for 24 yards and a TD. R.J. Harris registered his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season by snaring a team-leading eight catches for 131 yards. Jimmy Giansante collected 55 receiving yards on a career-high-tying four receptions. Setian was UNH’s leading rusher with four carries for 55 yards, while Andy Vailas added 54 yards on eight rushes. Matt Evans totaled 12 tackles, eight of the solo variety, for team-high honors. The senior co-captain, with 427 career stops, moved to within seven tackles of UNH all-time leader Steve Doig (434, 1978-81). New Hampshire’s defense turned three Rhode Island turnovers into 17 points. Mike MacArthur staked UNH to a 3-0 lead by kicking a 28-yard field goal that capped the game’s opening drive with 13:15 remaining in the first quarter. Setian began the game with a career-long 44-yard rush to the URI 28. Two completions from Goldrich to Harris placed the ball on the Rams’ 11. Vailas, who split time at quarterback with Goldrich, ran for an apparent 11-yard TD, but the play was negated by a personal foul penalty and the ‘Cats had to settle for three. Rhody’s initial drive was thwarted when Jared Smith (two tackles) blocked a 29-yard field goal try by Dylan Smith, but the Rams alertly recovered the ensuing fumbled return by Peters at the UNH 16-yard line. Rhode Island capitalized on that turnover to take a 6-3 lead two plays later on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Bob Bentsen (24-for-38, 266 yards, two INT, TD) to Brandon-Johnson Farrell (nine catches-92 yards, TD) with 10:59 left in the first. Bentsen’s two-point conversion pass attempt fell incomplete. The Wildcats came right back with a 10-play, 72-yard drive which culminated in Setian’s two-yard scoring rush with 7:53 remaining in the opening stanza. The failed PAT left UNH’s advantage at 9-6. Peters (five tackles) atoned for his earlier fumble when he intercepted Bentsen’s pass in the UNH end zone to snuff out Rhode Island’s 13-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes. The pick was Peters’ fourth of the season, which is tied for the most in the CAA. New Hampshire then covered 80 yards on seven plays, climaxing in an 11-yard rushing touchdown from Nico Steriti (five rushes-19 yards, TD) for 16-6 lead with 14:36 left in the second quarter. Peters caused a second Rhode Island turnover deep in UNH territory to halt the Rams’ following possession when he ripped the ball loose from URI running back Assani Mudimbi on a rushing play. Manny Asam (six tackles) recovered the fumble on the Wildcats’ 21. UNH parlayed that turnover into more points courtesy of MacArthur’s 31-yard field goal with 8:08 left in the half that staked the Wildcats to a 19-6 advantage. New Hampshire seized a commanding 26-6 lead on Goldrich’s nine-yard TD pass to Setian (two catches-25 yards, TD) with seven seconds left in the half. That put a bow on a seven-play, 71-yard scoring drive that took only 44 seconds to materialize. URI scored on its initial possession of the second half when Bentsen scored on a six-yard keeper to trim the deficit to 26-13 at 9:10 of the third. Vailas got into the scoring action with a 19-yard TD pass to Justin Mello (two catches-27 yards, TD) with 7:22 left in the third for a 33-13 lead. Mello made a full-extension grab in the far left corner of the end zone for his second scoring reception of the year. Jared Allison (55 kick-return yards; 103 all-purpose yards) set the stage for the four-play, 52-yard drive by virtue of his 40-yard kickoff return to the UNH 48. The Wildcats took advantage of favorable field position on their next scoring drive, which began when Alan Buzbee (four tackles) picked off Bentsen’s fourth-down pass and brought it back 12 yards to the URI 35. It was Buzbee’s third interception in the last four games. It took all of five plays, 33 yards and 53 seconds to score the fifth TD of the day. Goldrich called his own number for a nine-yard score to push the lead to 40-13 with 2:46 left in the third. The Rams made it 40-20 with 11:05 left on a five-yard keeper by Bentsen.
W&M (2-7, 1-5) UNH (8-2, 6-1)
7 0
0 18
11 0
7 10
-25 -28
1st 4:12 W&M McBride 30-yd pass from Caprio (Carpenter kick) 2nd 13:45 UNH MacArthur 23-yd field goal 5:20 UNH Steriti 18-yd run (Spears pass from Vailas) 0:16 UNH Goldrich 2-yd run (MacArthur kick) 3rd 9:20 W&M Carpenter 23-yd field goal 4:06 W&M McBride 19-yd pass from Graham (McBride pass from Graham) 4th 11:22 UNH MacArthur 24-yd field goal 6:00 W&M Graham 1-yd run (Carpenter kick) 4:14 UNH Steriti 19-yd run (MacArthur kick)
7-0 7-3 7-11 7-18 10-18 18-18 18-21 25-21 25-28
INDIVIDUAL WILDCAT LEADERS RUSHING UNH - Nico Steriti 19-106, 2 TDs PASSING UNH - Sean Goldrich 21-30-0, 215 RECEIVING UNH -R.J. Harris 10-77
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs................................... Rushes/Yardage............................. Passing Yardage............................ Pass Comp.-Att./INT.................... Total Offense................................. Punts/Average............................... Fumbles/Lost................................ Penalties/Yards..............................
W&M UNH 23 27 45/191 41/207 214 221 18-31/1 22-33/0 405 428 3/32.0 4/25.8 1/0 2/1 3/45 3/12
DURHAM, N.H. – Nico Steriti carried 19 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Evans registered a game-high 10 tackles to become the all-time tackle leader in school history as the 11th-ranked UNH football team downed William & Mary, 28-25, at Cowell Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats improved to 8-2 overall and upped their CAA-leading mark to 6-1, while the Tribe fell to 2-7, 1-5. With its 10th straight home victory, New Hampshire snapped a nine-game losing skid against William & Mary and gave head coach Sean McDonnell his first career victory against the College. The eighth victory also likely punched New Hampshire’s ticket to the NCAA Football Championship tournament for a nation-leading ninth consecutive season. Sean Goldrich completed 21 of 30 passes for 215 yards, and R.J. Harris notched a team-leading 10 catches for 77 yards. Harris moved into a tie for fifth place in UNH single-season history with 71 receptions and seventh place in single-season history with 961 receiving yards. Evans, who now has 437 career tackles, surpassed Steve Doig as the University’s all-time tackles leader with just under 3:25 remaining in the third quarter and the game tied at 18-18. The senior co-captain combined with Nick Cefalo (six tackles) to wrap up Keith McBride (17 rushes-75 yards) on an eight-yard rush at UNH’s 38. Five plays later, W&M kicker John Carpenter missed wide left on a 46-yard field-goal attempt, preserving the deadlock. William & Mary third-string quarterback Michael Graham, who replaced injured starter Brent Caprio (5 of 5, 47 yards, TD) late in the first half, went 13-for-25 for 167 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Mikal Abdul-Saboor carried 16 times for 87 yards and added four catches for 47 yards to pace the Tribe’s offense. With UNH trailing 7-3, Steriti scored on an 18-yard run with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter to cap a nine-play, 92-yard drive. Andy Vailas (11 rushes-53 yards) connected with Harold Spears (two catches-23 yards) on the two-point conversion to stake UNH to its first lead, 11-7. New Hampshire increased the lead to 18-7 with 16 seconds left in the opening half when Goldrich (seven rushes-37 yards, TD) called his own number for a twoyard score. Carpenter’s 23-yard field goal sliced UNH’s lead to 18-10 with 9:20 left in the third, and Tre McBride (four catches-72 yards, two TDs) hauled in a 19-yard pass for his second touchdown catch of the contest with 4:06 left in the period. He was then on the receiving end of Graham’s two-point conversion pass to knot the score, 18-18. Mike MacArthur broke the tie on a 24-yard field goal with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats a 21-18 lead. The Tribe answered with a go-ahead, 13-play, 78-yard drive that concluded with Graham’s one-yard keeper on fourth-and-goal for a 25-21 lead with 6:00 to go. Steriti’s second scoring run, a 19-yard rush, proved to be the game-winning score with 4:14 left to conclude a six-play, 84-yard drive and put the ‘Cats on top, 28-25. One play earlier, Goldrich hit Joey Orlando (eight catches-94 yards) on a 32-yard pass –the longest pass of the game- down the left sideline. Keith Parkinson snuffed out the College’s next drive when he recorded his first career interception on Graham’s second-and-5 pass at the Wildcats’ 22 with 1:52 remaining in the contest. The Tribe’s final drive ended on Graham’s Hail Mary incompletion from midfield as time expired. Caprio’s 30-yard TD pass to Tre McBride allowed William & Mary to take a 7-0 lead at 4:12 of the first quarter. MacArthur got UNH on the board with a 23-yard field goal with 13:45 left in the first to make the score 7-3.