Football Travels to Pace Tonight For 7 PM Contest

egan bachtell

kickoff group

WORCESTER, Mass. - Assumption looks to win its third straight game when the Hounds travel to face off against Pace tonight at 7 p.m.

Last Time Out
Assumption is 2-1 and coming off a dominant 66-3 victory over Saint Anselm this past Friday. The Hounds jumped out to a 21-3 lead in the first quarter and didn't let up as they extended their lead to 52-3 through three quarters. Joseph Kellum rushed for two touchdowns and over 100 yards in the final 15 minutes to provide the 66-3 final score. Assumption totaled 525 yards of offense in the contest, while the defense gave up 326 and picked off five passes. Cody Williams threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another. Deonte Harris caught five passes for two touchdowns while Mason Spence totaled five tackles and an interception return for a touchdown.
 
Recent History
Assumption has won nine straight against Pace and scored at least 52 points on the Setters in each of the last six meetings. The closest game over that span was a 55-21 victory in 2013. Last year the Hounds took down Pace 56-0 as they jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter and led 42-0 at the half. Assumption finished with 520 yards of offense while limiting the Setters to 299. Marc Monks threw for 209 yards and two scores to lead Assumption while Jhalen Bien-Aime rushed for 155 yards on 18 carries for Pace. The last time the teams met in Pleasantville, Monks threw for 309 yards and two scores as Assumption totaled 607 yards of offense and won 59-16.
 
Hitting the Century Mark
Freshman Joseph Kellum became the first Assumption rusher in 2018 to surpass the 100-yard barrier, rushing for 128 yards on 15 carries. Though Kellum has only played in the second half of each of the team's past two games he leads the team in rushing with 212 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries for a 7.1 average. 
 
Ground Attack
Assumption leads the NE10 averaging 239.3 yards per game on the ground, 38 more yards per game than any other team. The Hounds top three running backs, Doug Santos, Khaleed Exum-Strong have combined to rush for 579 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 6.7 yards per carry as a group. Each is averaging at least 60 yards per game this year. 
 
Grinding Out Yards
Khaleed Exum-Strong surpassed 70 yards for just the third time in his career against Merrimack and owns one career 100-yard rushing game. Despite the limited role over his career thus far he has a career average of 7.1 yards per rush on 106 attempts. Santos, meanwhile, surpassed 70 for just the fourth time in his career against the Warriors and has yet to go over 100 yards. He does own a career rushing average of 5.2 yards per carry with six touchdowns.
 
Marc'ing His Territory
Marc Monks has appeared at quarterback in all three games this season, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Monks served as the started over the past two years and has a school-record 54 touchdowns in his career with just 18 interceptions. He ranks second in program history with 5,661 passing yards while completing 56.7 percent of his passes. He has thrown for four touchdowns in a game on four occasions.
 
Dual Threat
Cody Williams has been dynamic for Assumption this year, throwing for 162.3 yards per game with four touchdowns while rushing for 103 yards and three more scores. He has had a rush of at least ten yards in each game this year while completing 64.5 percent of his passes.
 
Rush Defense
Assumption's rush defense has been dominant in NE10 action, giving up just 193 total yards on 3.2 yards per rush with one rushing touchdown. In a season-opening loss to Kutztown the team allowed 158 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
 
Picking off the Competition
Assumption intercepted five passes last weekend against Saint Anselm, with interceptions coming from five different defenders. Junior Mason Spencer returned his INT 43 yards for a touchdown. Assumption leads the NE10 with six interceptions and last year led the entire nation with 26 interceptions. Since the beginning of the 2017 they have recorded interceptions in 13 of 16 games. 
 
Total Team Defense
Last Saturday against Saint Anselm, Assumption had 28 different players record a tackle, though none had more than six. Through three games only one Hound has recorded at least ten tackles in a game, which is Joe Bruno who had ten tackles and 2.0 sacks in the season-opener. Mason Spence leads the team with 18 tackles, including 15 solo, while Bryce Jacob is second with 17 as seven players have at least 11 stops.
 
Quest for 200 Catches
Deonte Harris enters the weekend with 197 receptions, and needs just three more to become the third receiver in Assumption history with 200 receptions. Harris also currently ranks second in program history with 23 touchdown catches and third with 2,400 receiving yards. David Canney '11 owns the school record for receptions (239) while Ashton Grant is first receiving yards (3,204) in touchdowns (36). 
 
All-Purpose, All Day
Deonte Harris ranks first among all active Division II players and third among all active NCAA Players with 5,295 all-purpose yards. For his career he has averaged 139.3 all-purpose yards per game and scored 39 total touchdowns (23 Rec, 8 PR, 5 KR, 3 Rush).
 
Tying it All Together
Senior Tyis Boykin has come on strong in his senior season, leading the team with 16 receptions after totaling 25 through his first three years. Of his 16 catches, ten have been for a first down and the 11th was his long touchdown.
 
Special Teams Gunners
This season, sophomore CJ Herson leads the team in special teams tackles with five. Vincent Conetta, Calvin Millner, Zigmond Kuczynski and Mason Spence all have three apiece.
 
Scoring In Other Phases
Mason Spence's interception return for a touchdown last weekend was the second straight week Assumption had a special teams or defensive touchdown, giving them two for the season. Last year they led the nation with 14 touchdowns from defense or special teams (6 PR, 4 INT, 3 KR, 1 FUM), recording at least one in 10 of 13 games. Over that span, touchdowns were scored by six different players.
 
Slow Start, Fast Finish
Assumption fell behind 26-0 in its season-opener against Kutztown, however, since that time the Hounds have outscored their opponents 143-28. In their two conference games they own a 66-10 scoring edge in the first half of games. 
 
Scoring Supremacy
Assumption surpassed the 50-point mark for the first time this season in its 66-3 win over Saint Anselm. It is the 12 time in the past four seasons the Hounds have gone over 50 points and the fourth time in the last four seasons the Hounds have surpassed 60 points. Overall Assumption has scored at least 20 points in 23 straight games and at least 17 points in 46 consecutive contests.