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Wilkins Gets Victory No. 100, Football Crushes Merrimack 41-13
10/24/2009 4:40:13 PM
Clip courtesy of Pack Network.
Box Score
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns and senior running back Amadeus Guerrero-Pou (Westwood, Mass.) carried the ball 25 times for 158 yards and two scores as the American International College football team posted a 41-13 Northeast-10 victory over Merrimack College Saturday afternoon at Ronald J. Abdow Field.
The Yellow Jackets improved to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the Northeast-10, while the Warriors fell to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The victory marked career-win No. 100 for head coach Art Wilkins, who is in his 16th season at AIC. The winningest coach in program history now owns a career record of 100-63, all at AIC.
Guerrero-Pou opened the scoring on the Yellow Jackets second drive of the afternoon when he found the end zone on a seven-yard run 4:33 into the game. The two team then traded interceptions before junior linebacker Terrence Holley (Bronx, N.Y.) picked off sophomore quarterback James Suozzo (Everett, Mass.) and took it all the way back for a 42-yard touchdown with 3:48 to go in the first period.
Souzzo answered right back on the first play of the ensuing possession as he avoided a sack and hit senior wide receiver Jeremiah Watts (Clovis, Calif.) for a 60-yard score just 16 seconds later. The PAT failed, making it a 14-6 lead for AIC.
That score held until the Yellow Jackets first drive of the second half when senior quarterback Shane Murphy (Bogota, N.J.) capped off a nine-play, 77-yard drive with a 17-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver Kertis Hussey (Paterson, N.J.) on fourth-and-two with 9:24 to go in the third.
Souzzo got the Warriors back on the board when he connected with senior running back Jake Manning (Dunstable, Mass.) on a 24-yard scoring pass with 2:37 left in the third to make it a 21-13 contest, but it was all AIC from there as the Yellow Jackets scored 20 unanswered points to close the game.
Merrimack forced AIC to go three-and-out on the next possession, but sophomore Omari Mobley (Hanover, Pa.) fumbled the punt and the ball was recovered by freshman defensive back Markell Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) the Warriors’ 17-yard line. Guerrero-Pou went all the way on the second-play from scrimmage for his second score of the day with 1.1 seconds left in the third quarter,
Senior defensive back Nathaniel Ricks (Clinton, Md.) picked off Souzzo on the third play of the ensuing drive and took to 46 yards for a touchdown just 23 seconds into the fourth quarter, giving AIC a commanding 34-13 lead.
Senior defensive end Nate Thompson (Elizabeth, N.J.) stripped Souzzo on third-and 15 from the AIC 34-yard line and junior linebacker Nick Abraham (Tewksbury, Mass.) jumped on the loose ball. That setup another AIC scoring drive as the Yellow Jackets drove down the field and Murphy hit sophomore fullback/tight end Trevor Perryman (Centereach, N.Y.) with a 24-yard scoring pass on fourth-and-two with 9:09 left in the contest for the 41-13 final.
Murphy completed 12-of 28 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns and Perryman caught five passes of 75 yards with one TD. Hussey caught three passes for 46 yards and one score. He now has 2,035 career receiving yards, making him just the fifth 2,000-yard receiver in program history.
Holley finished the game with a team-best 13 tackles (six solo) with 1.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and an interception, while Thompson ended the day with 12 tackles (five solo), two tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. Junior linebacker George Hudson (Philadelphia, Pa.) had 11 tackles (four solo), while sophomore defensive back Max Brown (Paterson, N.J.) and Ricks had two interceptions each.
Souzzo completed just 18-of-45 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns, was picked off five times in the game, and had 14 carries for 83 yards on the ground. He was intercepted four times when the two teams met September 5 in North Andover. Souzzo has thrown just six picks in his other six games played this season.
Manning had seven catches for 64 yards and Watts caught four passes for a game-high 90 yards. Sophomore linebacker Shawn Loiseau (Shrewsbury, Mass.) registered a game-high 16 tackles (eight solo) and senior linebacker Shane Brown (Wakefield, Mass.) notched 15 tackles (eight solo) with 1.5 tackles for loss.
The Yellow Jackets will next travel to Pace University October 31 for a 12 p.m. Northeast-10 contest.
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