PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – A pair of touchdowns in the final five minutes and five seconds of the fourth quarter lifted the Pace University football team to a thrilling 24-23 win over American International College on Friday night. The Setters improve to 2-1 this season, with both wins coming under the lights of Pace Stadium.
Inside the Numbers
A week after rushing for a career-high 155 yards,
Jhalen Bien-Aime (Dorchester, MA/Bridgton Academy) raised the stakes even higher with a 170-yard, two-touchdown performance on Friday night. The red-shirt junior rattled off an 87-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter before plunging in for the game-winning touchdown with 1:18 remaining in regulation.
Not only stellar on the ground, Bien-Aime was also the Setters' top receiver with three catches for 39 yards. Sophomore
Darius Jones (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) followed with four receptions for 36 yards.
Defensively, it was a pack of Setters leading the way.
Matthew Corrie (South Setauket, NY/Ward Melville) and
Daryl Nixon (Syracuse, NY/Liverpool) each forced fumbles while Corrie also added a sack.
Kadeem Langhorne (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin),
David Grant (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) and
Chukwuemeka Njoku-Obi (Newark, NJ/North Star Academy) all recovered fumbles.
Pace allowed just 41 rushing yards while racking up eight tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.
How it Happened
The Setters battled back from deficits of 16-10 and 23-17 in the fourth quarter. First up, it was a scoring scamper from junior quarterback
Dan Anerella (Old Bridge, NJ/Manalapan) putting the home team up 17-16 with 5:05 remaining. Bien-Aime then followed with a two-yard touchdown trudge with just 1:18 on the clock.
A fumble from AIC on a Pace punt setup the first touchdown while a 61-yard kick-off return from
Dekyri Mims (Paterson, NJ/Kennedy) provided the Setters with great field position to notch the final score of the game.
Following the Bien-Aime touchdown, the Blue and Gold forced yet another AIC fumble on the ensuing kickoff to all-but-clinch the final outcome for the home team.
In addition to the trio of rushing scores, Pace received a 30-yard field goal from
Nick DiCairano (Trumbull, CT/St. Joseph) as time expired in the first half. The sophomore was also accurate on a trio of what proved-to-be vital extra-point attempts.
Speaking of extra points, the Setters blocked an AIC PAT attempt, as well as blocked a 42-yard Yellow Jackets' field-goal attempt in the second quarter.
Special teams proved to be a deciding factor in Friday night's game as Pace forced a pair of special teams fumbles while also blocking an extra point and a field goal.
Up Next
The Setters hit the road to take on the University of New Haven next Saturday at 1 p.m.
