BOX SCORE LORETTO, Pa. – The Saint Francis football team used a big second half and a suffocating defense to defeat Sacred Heart, 24-10, on Saturday at DeGol Field in the Homecoming game. Redshirt senior Kyle Harbridge (Easton, Pa./Easton Area) rushed for 190 yards and a 90-yard touchdown run while hauling in another score from Capri Thompson (Clairton, Pa./Clairton).

The first half ended with Sacred Heart (7-2, 2-2) leading, 7-3. The touchdown for the Pioneers and field goal for the Flash were sandwiched between 10 punts by the two teams. Saint Francis (3-4, 1-1) opened the scoring with a 47-yard field goal from redshirt freshman Lance Geesey (Harrisburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) midway through the first quarter. The 47-yarder ties Geesey's career long from the James Madison game earlier this year and also ties him for the second longest field goal in school history. Josh Thiel (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) hit a 50-yarder at CCSU last season.

With under a minute to play in the first, the Pioneers took the lead on an 8-yard touchdown pass from RJ Noel to Tim Goodwin. The big play on the 49-yard scoring drive came on a 36-yard run by Keshaudas Spence to put the ball at the SFU 10. Spence entered the game as the fourth-leading rusher in the FCS, just behind Harbridge. He finished the game with 138 yards on 23 carries.

The score stayed 7-3 until the third when Chris Rogers' 36-yard field goal extended the Sacred Heart lead to a touchdown.

Khairi Dickson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) jolted the ensuing possession with a 43-yard kick return to set up the Flash at the Sacred Heart 47. Saint Francis used three different quarterbacks on the drive, with Max Ward (Steelton, Pa./Middletown), Thompson and Zack Drayer (Hershey, Pa./Hershey ) all seeing a snap under center. Drayer had a first-down rush of 13 yards, Ward hit Anthony Bowman (Damascus, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) for a first-down completion and Thompson capped the drive with a 21-yard throwback pass from left to right to Harbridge. He raced into the end zone to tie the score at 10-10 with 3:00 left in the third.

On the fourth play of the Pioneers' next drive, Noel went deep down the left sideline but was intercepted by DaQuan Minter (Johnstown, Pa./Greater Johnstown). Minter returned the ball 39 yards into Pioneers' territory.

The drive carried into the final quarter, and Ward connected with Cole Bush (Apollo, Pa./Burrell) for 19 yards on third-and-10 to the SHU 5. Drayer came back in at quarterback and hit Bowman in the right flat for the go-ahead touchdown. After Geesey's extra point, it was 17-10 Red Flash. Bowman was one of seven different Flash players to make a catch on the day. Ward finished 8-of-18 for 119 yards with Thompson and Drayer each completing their only pass attempts for touchdowns.

Sacred Heart was forced to punt on its next possession and it looked as though the Flash were pinned at its own 10. That may be how it looked, but Harbridge burst through the Pioneer defense and outraced the secondary for a 90-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach at 24-20. The Walter Payton Award watch list member tied Todd Harris' 90-yarder in 2006 for the second longest rush in school history. Harbridge owns the longest, a 94-yarder two years ago against Morehead State.

The Saint Francis defense allowed 285 yards of offense to Sacred Heart, forcing the Pioneers into eight punts, an interception and a turnover on downs on their last possession. The Pioneers had scored 115 points over its past two games.

Bishop Neal (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) led the Flash with 10 tackles while Dave Coleman (Montclair, Pa./Montclair) and Jake DeMedal (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington) had seven each. DeMedal led the team with two tackles for loss. Saint Francis also owned the time of possession, holding the ball for 34 minutes.

Saint Francis heads to Duquesne next Saturday night for a 6:10 p.m. kickoff.