» On a day about the seniors playing their last home game in front of the Red Flash faithful, freshman Alex Schmoke (Bellwood, Pa.) etched his name in Saint Francis football lore by tying the single-game program record with five made field goals in a game.
» Saint Francis University defeated Merrimack College 22-6 in Northeast Conference football action on Saturday.
» Schmoke was successful from 31, 19, 29 and 39 yards in the first half and 21 yards in the second half.
» Kahtero Summers (Coatesville, Pa.) recorded five receptions for 107 yards, including a 60-yard catch and run for a touchdown open the scoring on the afternoon.
TURNING POINTS OF THE GAME
Summers made a catch and evaded the defense for a 60-yard touchdown run on the opening play after the kickoff for a 7-0 lead 20 seconds into the game. Schmoke then took over with four field goals in the first half and one in the second half to tie a program record. The Red Flash defense was stellar again and held Merrimack to six points on the afternoon.
FLASH QUOTES
"Everything they battled through, the COVID year, we had the season taken away from us, the highs and lows of this year, it is huge for us. It's a testament to them sticking together and keeping the team together,"
- head coach Chris Villarreal on seniors.
"It just shows you how resilient he is. He has a short-term memory and he is not afraid. Any time you have a kicker that is not afraid and confident we can win a lot of games with him. I am so happy for him and his family. He is great young man"
– Villarreal on Schmoke performance after last week's outcome.
"We don't harp on wins and losses. We harp on finishing the game, and if we can finish the game next week it's a great outcome. That would be great for these guys. We are going to challenge them all week and they have been answering the bell for us all year. Hopefully we can have another good week of preparation and play a tough CCSU team."
– Villareal on next week.
"Felt pretty good to bounce back. Honestly it made those kicks pretty easy. All my teammates had my back and supported me. We have all worked hard especially my holder
Trevor Thompson holding for me ,and
Tanner Schmidt snapping for me has made me very confident this year."
– kicker Alex Schmoke
"All week we were talking about getting that edge coming out fast, starting fast. We had that play all week. We got the coverage that we wanted and beat the safety."
– wide receiver Kahtero Summers
FLASH MOMENTS
It didn't take long for the Red Flash to get on the scoreboard. After
Josh McGrigg (Meade, Md.) and
Kai Williams (Johns Creek, Ga.) pulled a reserse out of the playbook on the opening kickoff to get the ball to the Merrimack 40,
Justin Sliwoski (Greensburg, Pa.) connected with Summers on the next play for a catch and run to the end zone for a 60-yard strike.
It then became a Schmoke show. Sliwoski had a touchdown pass to Summers go off a defender's helmet, but Schmoke made his first field goal of the afternoon of 31 yards for a 10-0 lead with 1:33 left in the first quarter.
Schmoke's ensuing kickoff took a Massachusetts wicked bounce that the Warriors player had a hard time handling and
Kerry Galloway (Wilmington, Del.) was able to scoop up the fumble at the Merrimack nine. On third down, Sliwoski hit
Brandan Lisenby (Alexandria, Va.) at the two-yard line before Schmoke nailed a 19-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13 points in the waning seconds of the first quarter.
Schmoke then completed a 12-play 70-yard drive in the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal. During the drive,
Jyron Russell (Grand Praire, Texas) connected with
Judah Tomb (York, Pa.) for 16 yards and Summers for a 24-yard reception.
With three seconds left in the first half, Schmoke became the third different Red Flash kicker to convert four field goals in a game with 39-yard field goal with three seconds left. During the drive, Russell hit Summers for 12 yards and DeShields for 20 yards and 13 yards to set up the field goal. It was only the second time in program history a player hit four field goals in a half after Lance Geesey had four in his record-setting performance against Central Connecticut State on November 7, 2015.
After a blocked punt, the Red Flash got the ball at the Merrimack 13. They got the ball to the four before Schmoke hit a 21-yard field goal to tie Geesey's single-game field goal record.
Martin Foray, Jr. (Germantown, Md.) had a nice interception in the first quarter to end a Merrimack drive. The ball was tipped and then bounced off a couple of hands into Foray's fingertips for his first career interception on the year.
Marques DeShields (Clementon, N.J.) made an ESPN Top-10 like leap over a defender for a 24-yard run in the second quarter.
Sebastian Benjamin (Philadelphia, Pa.) recorded a sack for a 10-yard loss in the fourth quarter to end a Warriors drive. On the next defense drive,
Jaylen Parks (Dallas, Ga.) ended the drive with a four-yard sack.
Gio Vonne Sanders (Jeanette, Pa.) helped keep Merrimack out of the end zone for second time with a fourth-down tackle at the two-yard line in the final minute of the game.
FLASH NUGGETS
DeShields finished the day with 97 yards rushing on 27 attempts and four catches for 34 yards. It was the fourth time this season the redshirt junior has eclipsed 100 total yards in a game.
Summers scored his team-leading eighth touchdown of the year and notched his second 100-yard reception game of the season. Summers has 40 catches for 605 yards.
Sliwoski finished 7-for-15 with 95 yards and the touchdown pass to Summers, while Russell went 6-for-10 with 88 yards passing.
Sanders led the defense on senior day with nine tackles, while Foray and
Gregory Reddick (Miami, Fla.) each had seven tackles. The defense has allowed 19 points or fewer in six-straight games for the first time since the 1992 season.
Schmoke, who is 15 of 17 on the year in field goals, is the third different player to connect on at least four field goals in a game and the first since teammate
Trevor Thompson (Columbus, Ohio) against Sacred Heart on October 26, 2019. Geesey has two other four field goal games to go along with the tying mark of five in a game. The Loretto program is 4-1 in games a kicker knocks through at least four field goals in a game.
Foray, McGrigg, Sanders, Thompson,
Calvin Beaty (Cliffwood, N.J.),
Dominic Clark (Havre de Grace, Md.),
Raymond Crittenden (Hallandale, Fla.),
Leondre Crosby (Zainesville, Ohio),
Sam Cummings (Verona, N.J.),
Jake Heiple (Somerset, Pa.),
Christian Massie (Lorton, Va.),
Tanner Schmidt (Maple Lake, Minn.) and Kyle Simmonds were all honored during a postgame senior day ceremony.
UP NEXT
Saint Francis wraps up its 2021 season at Central Connecticut State on Saturday, November 20. Kickoff is set for noon. With a win, the Red Flash would finish the year 6-4 for its first winning season since 2016.
