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LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis University football gears up for its final home game of the 2024 season on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. against Stonehill. The Red Flash will honor 12 seniors prior to kickoff: Eddie Bierals, Jack Courtney, Mason Frye, Nathaniel Frye, Brian Hannibal, Benvee Lavelah, Giambi Nesbitt, Nic Nuzzo, Gavin Thomas, Aaron Tutino, Levi Villarrial and Andrew Vines.
 
Offense
Gavin Thomson leads the Red Flash offense with 27 receptions for 388 yards and three touchdowns. His 55.4 receiving yards per game rank sixth in the Northeast Conference. Markell Holman (423) and DeMarcus McElroy (415) both remain top 10 in the NEC in rushing. Holman leads the duo with three rushing touchdowns.  
 
Defense
The Saint Francis defensive unit ranks fifth in the FCS with 92.9 rushing yards against per game. The Red Flash have held their opponent below 100 rushing yards in four games and have not allowed more than 128 rushing yards in a game. Trey McLeer paces the unit with 53 total tackles, followed by Pierre Royster's 48. Paul Tangelo remains in the top five of the conference with seven tackles for loss and five sacks.
 
Special Teams
Aidan Cirulli recorded 406 punt yards at Robert Morris – fifth in single-game program history. He paces the NEC with 10 punts of at least 50 yards and has three punts of at least 60 yards. He ranks third in the conference with 42.3 yards per punt. Mac Plummer remains third in the NEC with four converted field goals.
 
Last Time Out
Saint Francis took a 17-0 loss at Robert Morris after the Colonials had one score in each of the first three quarters. Robert Morris started its scoring with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter on a one-yard touchdown run. A 43-yard field goal in the second quarter gave the Colonials a 10-0 lead. Robert Morris capped off its scoring on another one-yard touchdown run with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
Scouting Stonehill
The Skyhawks hold a 1-6 overall record and are 0-3 in conference play with double-digit losses to Duquesne, LIU and Wagner. Stonehill's only victory came 35-21 over Sacred Heart on Sept. 21. Jack O'Connell has led the Stonehill offense the last three games and has 509 passing yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. He is coming off a four-touchdown performance against Duquesne. Jarel Washington ranks sixth in the NEC with 470 rushing yards, while Bringham Dunphy leads the program with 239 receiving yards. Jordan Irvine leads the defense with 48 total tackles and his 34 solo tackles rank third in the NEC. Three different players have an interception and three others have a forced fumble. The Stonehill defense has just three sacks this season.
 
All-Time vs. Stonehill
Saint Francis holds a 2-0 advantage over Stonehill since the Skyhawks reclassified to Division I ahead of the 2022 season. The games were both decided by one score with a 15-10 win last season and 17-13 win in 2022. During Saint Francis' historic 2022 season, Stonehill was the only conference opponent to lose by less than 20 points to the Red Flash.  
 
Around the NEC
Robert Morris took a 17-0 victory over Saint Francis and Duquesne defeated Stonehill 48-34 to improve both programs to 3-0 in conference play. The Red Flash dropped to 0-4 and the Skyhawks dropped to 0-3. LIU defeated CCSU 24-21 to improve to 2-2 and drop the Blue Devils to 1-1. Wagner lost 35-7 at UMass and Mercyhurst lost 31-14 at Sacred Heart in nonconference action.
 
Week 10 in the NEC
CCSU will host Wagner and Saint Francis will host Stonehill in the only conference games during week 10 action. Duquesne hosts Mercyhurst for a nonconference game and Robert Morris hosts former NEC member Merrimack to round out the slate.
 
Next
Saint Francis has a bye weekend before concluding the 2024 conference schedule on Saturday, Nov. 16 at LIU.