Fooball Travels to Face New Haven Saturday at 1 PM

 

WORCESTER, Mass. - Assumption looks to keep its perfect NE10 record intact when the 5-0 Hounds square off against the 5-0 New Haven Chargers, with a battle for first place on the line on Saturday at 1 p.m. in West Haven, Connecticut.

 

Assumption is 5-1 and coming off a hard-fought 26-20 victory over Southern Connecticut last Saturday. The Hounds scored first to take a 7-0 lead near the end of the first, but the Owls held them scoreless over the next two periods to grab a 12-7 advantage. Doug Santos gave Assumption a 14-12 lead with a touchdown run the lead went to 20-12 on a touchdown pass by Cody Williams. SCSU stormed back to tie the game with just 38 seconds left and force overtime. The Owls got the ball first in overtime and nearly took the lead but the short field goal attempt hit the left upright and bounced out. Williams then found Kyle Sonnie for the game-winning touchdown on second down to secure the win. Williams threw for 180 and three touchdowns but did throw three interceptions. 

 

Assumption has won five straight against New Haven, including a 41-6 victory over the Chargers last year in Worcester. The Hounds jumped out to a 14-0 lead after one quarter, highlighted by a Deonte Harris 78-yard punt return touchdown. They scored ten more points before New Haven got on the board at the end of the half to go in down 24-3. Assumption extended its lead to 41-3 midway through the third on its way to victory. Assumption only had 288 yards of offense but picked off three passes and Harris had two punt return touchdowns to pace the team. Bryce Jacob led the defense with 13 tackles.

 

Cody Williams threw for 3+ touchdowns for the third straight game as he threw for three touchdowns and 180 yards in team's OT win on Saturday, the first Assumption quarterback to ever accomplish that feat.

 

 

Williams threw three interceptions against Southern Connecticut, the first three-interception game of his Assumption career. It's the first time since 2012 an Assumption quarterback tossed three INT, the last being Bobby Jordan in a 26-24 loss to Stonehill. 

 

Calvin Millner has a career performance against SCSU as he matched his career high with ten tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss, 0.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. One of the recoveries came inside the Assumption five-yard line.

 

Joe Kim was all over the field for the Hounds against SCSU. The senior finished with eight tackles, including one stop for a loss. He also led the team with four pass breakups, nearly intercepting a pair of passes. He currently is third on the team with 33 tackles and leads the team with seven pass break ups.

 

Assumption currently ranks fifth in the nation, averaging 45.3 points per game. Against AIC on Sept. 29 they surpassed the 50-point mark for the second time this season in the 54-9 win over AIC. It was the 13th time in the past four seasons the Hounds have gone over 50 points. Overall Assumption has scored at least 20 points in 26 straight games and at least 17 points in 49 consecutive contests. 

 

Assumption fell behind 26-0 in its season-opener against Kutztown, however, since that deficit the Hounds have outscored their opponents 272-78. In four conference games they own a 132-40 edge in the first half of games, for an average lead of 26-8 at the half. Assumption has also scored a point in 19 consecutive quarters.

 

Assumption is 2-0 on the road this season, putting up 49 points in each of its two contests on the road while allowing a total of 40. The Hounds have completed at least 73 percent of passes in each of those games while also earning four rushing touchdowns in each contest.

 

Cody Williams threw for a career-best 360 yards and five touchdowns in Assumption's win over AIC, completing 27 of 34 passes. The 360 yards was the fifth highest single-game total in program history, while the five touchdowns is tied for the second-highest mark. Williams' 27 completions tied the school record, held jointly by Andrew Kupec (2010) and Chad Carges (1999).

 

This season Cody Williams has rushed and thrown for a touchdown in four of six games. The senior currently ranks third in the NE10 in passing yards (1299), passing touchdowns (15), and tied for third in in rushing touchdowns with five. Williams has had at least one rush of more than ten yards in all six games this year and 214 total yards.

 

Deonte Harris became just the third Assumption receiver to surpass 200 catches against AIC. He currently has 209 catches for 2,626 yards. Harris also currently ranks second in program history with 25 touchdown catches. David Canney '11 owns the school records for receptions (239) while Ashton Grant is first in receiving yards (3,204) and touchdowns (36). 

 

Assumption ranks third in the NE10, averaging 202 rushing yards per game on the ground. The Hounds' top three running backs, Doug Santos, Kellum and Khaleed Exum-Strong have combined to rush for 909 yards (152/gm) while averaging 5.7 yards per carry as a group.  Assumption leads the NE10 with 19 rushing touchdowns.

 

Senior Tyis Boykin has come on strong his senior season, leading the team with 27 after totaling 25 through his first three years. Of his 27 catches, 14 have been for a first down and two more have been for touchdowns.

 

Kyle Sonnie came through with the touchdown catch in overtime last week to lead the Hounds to victory. After not recording a catch in the opening two games, Sonnie has at least three receptions in each of the past four games and now ranks third on the team with 16 catches for 215 receiving yards and three touchdowns.  

  

Assumption was held without an interception for the second straight game, however, still lead the NE10 with eight INT. Last year the Hounds led the nation with 26 interceptions. Since the beginning of the 2017 season they have recorded interceptions in 14 of 19 games. 

 

Through six games Assumption doesn't have anyone ranked in the top-20 of the NE10 in total tackles, though they do have nine players with at least 19 tackles. Bryce Jacob leads the team with 36 tackles while Kaleb Silva has 35 and Joe Kim has 33.

 

Assumption's defense on kick return and punt return this year has been a key reason for their success. On 41 kickoffs, opponents are averaging just 14.9 yards per return, 10th in the nation. No team has posted a kick return longer than 36 yards. 

 

Sophomore Jacob Tondel has been perfect for the Hounds this year, making both his field goal attempts and connecting on all 36 of his extra points. He currently ranks second in the NE10 in scoring with 42 points. Dating back to the start of the 2017 season, Tondel and Cole Tracy have combined to make 103 consecutive extra points. 

 

Junior Seamus Wallace has come through with consistent punting for the Hounds this year, averaging 38 yards on 25 punts. Of his 25 punts, only ten have been returned for an average of 3.1 per return and two have been fair caught.

 

Jared Vargus' safety in the fourth quarter against AIC was the third time this year Assumption scored on defense or special teams. 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.