PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Sparked by a pair of momentum-shifting plays in the third quarter, the Pace University football team tallied an 18-16 win over SCSU on Saturday afternoon.
Despite trailing 9-0 after two quarters of action, the Setters found a way to celebrate a Senior Day victory against the Owls.
Pace's first touchdown in the third quarter was a 48-yard connection between sophomore quarterback
Sean Kehley (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) and senior wide receiver
Ramir Tann-Davis (Paterson, N.J./Paterson Eastside).
Tann-Davis caught a 10-yard slant over the middle before darting to the end zone for his fifth touchdown of the season.
Still trailing after the Kehley strike, it was the Setters' defense that came up with the biggest play of the game late in the third quarter.
With SCSU threatening to add to their lead, deep in Pace territory, junior defensive back
Neimar Santouse (Clifton, N.J./Passaic County Technical Institute) recovered an Owls' fumble at the goal line and brought it back 99 yards for a touchdown.
Junior
Anthony Holmes (Minehill, N.J./Pope John XXIII) knocked the ball loose from SCSU's Raborn Dismuke before Santouse picked it up, side-stepped a couple of Owls, and darted all the way to the house.
Now sitting with a 15-9 lead, the Blue and Gold added an extremely important field goal in the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game. Junior
Ben Franchino (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) knocked in a 31-yarder with 2:20 remaining in the game to put the margin at 18-9.
SCSU would go on to score one more touchdown, but a failed on-side kick and subsequent Pace first down ended the contest.
The Setters' defense loomed large on Saturday as the 16 points allowed served as a season-low.
Individually,
Nasier Givens (Newark, N.J./Orange) was all over the field on his Senior Day. The New Jersey native racked up a team-best 10 tackles, including four that went for a loss of yards.
Collectively, the Blue and Gold posted a new season-high of 10 tackles for loss.
Up Next
The Setters will wrap up their 2021 season with a road trip to AIC next Saturday afternoon.
