PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – With under a minute left in the fourth quarter, junior
Faustino Saucedo (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) hit sophomore
Alex Toplyn (Sicklerville, NJ/Paul VI) down the left sideline, where he made an impressive catch, broke a few tackles, and was off to the races for an 82-yard touchdown, tying the game at 10-10 late in Saturday's matchup between the Pace University football team and Northeast-10 Conference foe Stonehill College. After sending the game to overtime, Stonehill managed to score on its first possession, and the Setters were held off the board, giving the Skyhawks the 17-10 victory.
SENIOR DAY
- The Setters commemorated their 13 seniors prior to kickoff on Saturday.
- All 13 seniors were gifted a framed collage with photos of their years in the navy and gold, and were joined on the field by family, friends, coaches, and Pace Director of Athletics Mark Brown.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Stonehill won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff in Saturday's contest.
- The Skyhawks pushed into Pace territory, but were halted at the 42-yard line, forcing a punt to begin Pace's first possession.
- The Setters were able to move the ball, but they were stopped shortly into Stonehill territory.
- Sophomore punter
Nick Fountis (Bellport, NY/Bellport) managed to pin Stonehill deep in its own territory, a trend that continued throughout the afternoon.
- After halting the Skyhawks once again, the Setters took over on their own 23-yard line.
- Faustino had the Setters moving quickly down the field, starting with a 19-yard completion to Toplyn on 2nd-and-6.
- He followed that up with a 10-yard pass to freshman
Phyll Thomas (New London, CT/Bridgton Academy), and then kept one himself for a 15-yard rush down to the Stonehill 29-yard line.
- The drive was stopped at the Stonehill 11, but freshman
Nick DiCairano (Trumbull, CT/St. Joseph) made a 28-yard field to give Pace an early 3-0 lead.
- Two minutes into the second frame, Stonehill's Justin Kaffenberger picked off Saucedo in Pace territory, setting the Skyhawks up with great field position.
- Matt Foltz quickly hit Andrew Jamiel for a 23-yard score to give the Skyhawks a 7-3 lead, which it took into halftime.
- After forcing the Setters to go three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half, Stonehill went on an 11-play, 41-yard drive down to the Pace 23, where Matthew Haite succeeded on a 40-yard field goal to extend Stonehill's lead to 10-3.
- The Setters gave themselves a strong chance to score early in the fourth when senior
Brandon Young (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph By The Sea) intercepted Foltz at Pace's 39-yard line.
- Pace was faced with 4th-and-6 on Stonehill's 10, but Saucedo could not complete his pass to Toplyn, giving the ball back to Stonehill.
- Stonehill took over with 5:34 left in regulation, looking to run out as much time on the clock as it could.
- The Skyhawks were nearly able to run out the entire clock, and forced Pace to take its second timeout with 1:23 to play with 2nd-and-7.
- Pace stopped the clock again after stuffing Dylan Brown on a one-yard run, forcing third down and six.
- Instead of running the ball to leave the Setters with just seconds left on the clock, the Skyhawks tried to pass for a first down, but Foltz's pass for Jamiel fell incomplete thanks to coverage from Young, forcing the Skyhawks to punt the ball away with more than a minute remaining.
- Saucedo was sacked on second down, but the Setters caught a break when a player's helmet came off during the play, forcing the clock to stop.
- Saucedo then hit Toplyn for his game-tying 82-yard touchdown, sending the crowd into a frenzy as the Setters improbably knotted things up at 10-10.
- Pace nearly caught another huge break after senior
Olatayo Ishola (Irvington, NJ/Sayreville/Lackawanna College) sacked Foltz on the next drive and knocked the ball loose, but Foltz managed to fall on it and keep it away from the Setters.
- The Setters won the coin toss heading into overtime, and elected to defend first.
- On 2nd-and-4, Foltz hit Kaleb Lutton down the middle for a 21-yard score to give the Skyhawks a 17-10 lead, forcing Pace to score a touchdown to keep the game going.
- Senior
Michael Scotman (White Plains, NY/White Plains) rushed for three yards on first down, but three straight incomplete passes ended the game.
PACE LEADERS
- Saucedo passed 29-of-48 for a season-high 357 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 18 yards on five totes.
- Junior wideout
Tyler Mason (Mohegan Lake, NY/Walter Panas) had a career day, catching 15 passes for 144 yards.
- The same goes for Toplyn, who made six catches for 130 yards and his 82-yard game-tying touchdown.
- Freshman
Phyll Thomas (New London, CT/Bridgton Academy) made three receptions for 63 yards.
- Ishola had a huge day on defense, making three sacks, four tackles for loss, forcing a fumble and making eight total tackles.
- Freshman
Isaiah Williams (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) matched Ishola with eight tackles.
- Sophomore
Kadeem Langhorne (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) had a sack and made four tackles, also recovering a fumble on a botched handoff.
- Young picked up an interception in the game and broke up two more passes.
- The Setters' punt unit had a great day, downing the ball inside the two-yard line twice.
STONEHILL
- Foltz went 17-of-25 for 165 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in overtime.
- Jason Kennedy rushed six times for 68 yards.
- Jamiel caught 11 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.
- Kaleb Lutton scored the overtime touchdown for the Skyhawks, making six catches for 55 yards on the day.
- Kaffenburger made 11 tackles, intercepted a pass and broke up two more.
- Donovan Phanor made six tackles, also intercepted a pass and had a pass breakup.
WHAT'S NEXT?
- The Setters will head to Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. on Saturday, Nov. 12, as part of Northeast-10 Conference Championship Weekend.
For all information regarding Pace University Football, log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace Football on Facebook (
Pace Football), Twitter (
@Pace_Football) and Instagram (
@Pace_Football).
