Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: Alex Pandolfi Justin Polanis is breaking through the wall and eventually gets two touchdowns for the game.

Sept. 22, Pleasantville- Weathering through the rain the Setters rolled past conference rival St. Anselm 20-9 for their first win of the season. This is the first win for Pace since Sept. 23 of last year when they beat St. Anselm.

The Setters, who have been shutout in their previous two games, struck first in this game. With a little over eight minutes on the clock in the first quarter, defensive back Ricky McCollum bobbled the ball but caught it for an interception which he returned 50 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown gave Pace an early 7-0 lead.

Nearing the end of the first quarter the Setters made a very gutsy call on the Hawks' 39 yard line by going for the one yard they needed on fourth down. Sophomore quarterback Ray Gregg dove one yard up the middle of the field and got the first down.

The second quarter showed that this fourth down decision to run in the first quarter would pay off. Only three minutes into the second quarter sophomore running back/wide receiver Justin Polanis rushed one yard for the Setters' second touchdown, extending their lead to 14-0. The touchdown by Polanis was his first rushing touchdown for the season.

For a while it seemed like the Setters were going to silence the Hawks of St. Anselm.

With the first half drawing to a close St. Anselm freshman kicker Dylan McSparren made a field goal from 34 yards out. This put some points on the scoreboard for the Hawks, bringing the score to 14-3.

In the third quarter, the deficit that was once 14-0 for the Hawks became even slimmer. With less than eleven minutes left, Setters' quarterback Gregg threw for an interception to Hawks' junior defensive back Melvin Perdue, who returned that interception 70 yards for a touchdown. This made the score 14-9 as Hawks' senior quarterback Nick Barese made a passing attempt for a two point conversion that failed.

In the middle of the fourth quarter there were a few points where the Setters were backed up against their own end zone. It is at these times where Pace's special teams shined. Senior wide receiver/punter Matt Cooney made two amazing punts late in the game that put St. Anselm's offense in horrible field position.

Cooney's first eye popping punt happened with a little less than 10 minutes left in the game where a bad snap turned into a booming 41 yard punt that left the Hawks in their own territory.

The second mind blowing boot came with a little over four minutes left when another bad snap was made, only this time it was bobbled by Cooney. A determined Cooney was still able to get it off his foot for 30 yards.

The 14-9 score held until late in the fourth quarter when Setters' running back Polanis ran four yards for a touchdown which ultimately put the game away for the Setters as they won 20-9. This was the second touchdown of the game for Polanis.

On the afternoon for the Setters, quarterback Gregg had nine completions for 99 yards with one interception while running back Polanis lead the team with 72 yards on 36 rushes with 2 touchdowns and senior wide receiver Richard Pinck recorded two receptions for 36 yards.

After the game McCollum was asked on how he felt about his performance and the team victory. He humbly replied, "I was just trying to help the team get a win. Now we got to try to get a roller coaster going and get some more wins." For the day McCollum had two tackles, two interceptions and one touchdown.

The punter/wide receiver Cooney was also asked about his punting performance after the game, he stated, "They were coming real fast and I was just trying to get the ball out and give our defense better field position ." About the team win Cooney added, "It's good to get a W under out belt and we are hoping to get more from here."

With the win the Setters go 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the Northeast-10 (NE-10) conference. Meanwhile, the Hawks go 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the NE-10 conference.

The next time you can support your Setters football team at home is on Sat. Oct. 6 at 12 p.m. as Pace will have its showdown against conference rival Bentley at University Fest.

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