MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior
Delaney Wallace (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) was the focal point of the Pace University football team's attack on Saturday in a highly-competitive Northeast-10 Championship Weekend matchup at Saint Anselm College on Saturday. Wallace nearly led the Setters to a monumental comeback, but they were unable to hang on late, falling to the Hawks, 39-30.
Wallace amassed a career-high 181 rushing yards on just 18 attempts in Saturday's contest, adding a pair of rushing scores to an already impressive stat line. He acted as the Setters' quarterback as well, passing for another touchdown in the game. He also returned one punt, and took it 61 yards to the Saint Anselm 27-yard line, leading to another Setter touchdown.
The Pace rushing attack had its best game of the season on Saturday, totaling 404 yards on 69 carries. Junior
Michael Scotman (White Plains, NY/White Plains) received 30 carries, and delivered 123 yards. Freshman
Marquis Pickering (Staten Island, NY/Michael J. Petrides) rushed 15 times for 69 yards and another touchdown. Senior
Jamir Gee (Paterson, NJ/Monroe College) also got in on the action, taking six carries for another 33 yards.
The Setters found themselves trailing 29-7 midway through the second quarter of Saturday's game. Wallace had already rushed for one touchdown, but the Setters were about to turn up the heat on their hosts.
Pace forced the Hawks into a three-and out, and were set to receive a punt with just over six minutes left in the opening half. Wallace received the punt at the 39-yard line, and took it 61 yards to set Pace up with a short field. Wallace kept the ball on first down, and rumbled for 22 yards down to the Hawks' five-yard line. Pickering ended up finishing the drive with a three-yard rush into the end zone, cutting the deficit to 29-14.
Just four plays into the Hawks' next drive, senior
Tyler Owens (Salem, NJ/Salem) stripped Ryan Monette, and recovered the fumble himself to give the Setters possession in great field position once again. Despite having just under three minutes before the break, the Setters put together an eight-play, 52-yard drive, capped off by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to sophomore
Prince Unaegbu (Boston, MA/Brighton) to get the Setters within nine points heading into halftime.
On the Setters' second possession of the third quarter, Scotman took four straight carries, and steadily moved the Setters upfield with 33 yards. Wallace decided to take one himself on the fifth play, and broke free for a 43-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to just two points.
The defense stepped up once again on the ensuing drive. Redshirt sophomore
Matthew Corrie (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville), most well-known for leading the team in tackles, grabbed his second interception of the year, and set the Setters up on Saint Anselm's 38-yard line. The Setters were unable to get into the end zone, but a field goal by freshman
Nick Fountis (Bellport, NY/Bellport) put them ahead, 30-29, with 2:11 left in the third quarter.
After the Setters strung together 23 straight points to take the lead, the Hawks turned in a big 12-play, 65-yard drive to eat away at the clock. The drive capped off with a 30-yard field goal by Shane Grayson, putting the home team back up, 32-30.
The Setters constructed a long drive later in the fourth quarter, taking 15 plays to reach Saint Anselm's 22-yard line. The Setters were stuck in four-down territory, and went for it on 4th-and-7. Wallace's pass to
Tyler Mason (Mohegan Lake, NY/Walter Panas) fell incomplete, turning the ball over on downs.
The Setters were given one final opportunity with 49 ticks on the clock. Standing on their own 21-yard line, Wallace kicked off the drive with a nine-yard pass to senior
Kyle Johnson (Elmont, NY/Elmont Memorial). He then rushed for a first down, but a false start before the next play made things difficult with time running thin. Wallace was then intercepted on 1st-and-15, and Kyrel Jaundoo took it all the way back for a touchdown, icing the game with a 39-30 lead.
Corrie and Owens matched with a team-high nine tackles, and each had a takeaway in Saturday's season finale.
Jah'Sheem Martin (Freeport, NY/Freeport) had another nice game on the defensive line, making eight tackles, including 1.5 for loss of yards.
Northeast-10 Championship Weekend represented the end of the year for most of the NE-10's programs. Assumption College defeated the University of New Haven, 17-14, in the NE-10 Conference Championship Game on Saturday, advancing the Greyhounds to the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.
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