Box Score

North Andover, Mass. – The American International College football team, which is ranked 17th in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and 18th in the D2Football.com Media Poll, recorded a 34-29 win at Merrimack Saturday afternoon to improve to 9-0 overall, marking the best-ever start to a season in program history, and won the Northeast-10 championship with a perfect 7-0 conference record. The win also extended the Yellow Jackets' school-record winning streak to 15 games.

AIC entered the game ranked third in latest NCAA Regional Rankings and now seems poised to make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Championship tournament. The top-six teams in each of the four regions qualify for the tournament. There is not automatic berth in Division II football for winning the conference title.

AIC seemed to be in complete control of that game with a 34-3 third quarter lead, but the Warriors (5-4, 4-3 NE-10) scored 26 unanswered points to pull within five points, 34-29 with just 6:29 to go in the contest after senior defensive back Andrew Jackson (New Britain, Conn.) returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown.

Merrimack threatened to take the lead on their next possession after getting the ball to the AIC 39-yard line, but freshman quarterback James Suozzo (Everett, Mass.) fumbled and the ball was recovered by sophomore linebacker #George Hudson# (Philadelphia, Pa.), giving AIC the ball back with 2:19 to go in the game. The Yellow Jackets then picked up a first down before taking a knee to secure the win.

Sophomore quarterback #Rob Parent# (West Warwick, R.I.) was just 15-of-29 passing for 144 yards and was picked off three times, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and had one scoring pass, his school-record 26th scoring pass of the season. He also ran for a touchdown. Junior running back #Amadeus Guerrero-Pou# (Westwood, Mass.) carried the ball 39 times for a career-high 207 yards and caught two passes for 28 yards and had one receiving touchdown.

Junior defensive lineman #Jashawn Williams# (Roosevelt, N.Y.) accounted for two AIC touchdowns. He intercepted Suozzo at the Merrimack 40-yard line and returned it all the way back for a touchdown with 6:05 left in the second quarter and returned a partially blocked punt 55 yards for his second score of the day just 3:57 into the second half.

Suozzo completed 23-of-57 passes for 220 yards and one touchdown and carried the ball six times for 51 yards. He was also picked off twice. Jackson ran the ball four times for 64 yards and one touchdown and junior wide out Jeremiah Watts (Clovis, Calif.) caught nine passes for a game-high 87 yards and one TD.

Freshman defensive back #Max Brown# (Paterson, N.J.) led AIC with 6.5 tackles, six of which were solo efforts. Junior defensive back #Mike Szawlowski# (Northampton, Mass.) had 2.5 tackles and had one interception that he returned 60 yards, which eventually setup a 19-yard field goal. Williams had 1.5 tackles and three pass breakups to go with his interception and two TDs.

Senior defensive back Jordan Rankine (Fitchburg, Mass.) and senior linebacker J.D. Wild (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) each had a game-high 10 tackles. Wild also had 1.5 tackles for loss and recovered a fumble and Rankine had one of the Warriors three interceptions. Junior defensive back Andrew Rebello (Achushnet, Mass.) recorded nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, and also had an interception.

The Yellow Jackets opened the scoring with a pair of field goals from senior place kicker #Marek Przybylek# (Olsztyn, Poland) that went for distances of 32 and 19 yards, respectively, before Parent scored on a two-yard run, giving AIC a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Merrimack's rally started when freshman linebacker Tony Johnson (Lynn, Mass.) intercepted Parent and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown with 5:09 left in the third quarter and Jackson scored on a 39-yard run just 16 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Warriors scored again just 3:16 later when Watts scored on a seven-yard pass from Suozzo.

The Yellow Jackets will close out the regular season next Saturday, November 8, when they host Southern Connecticut, which is ranked fifth in this week's regional rankings, in a non-conference game. AIC defeated the Owls, 13-12, back on September 12 in what was the conference opener for both teams.

A win will secure a berth in the NCAA tournament with a home game in either the first or second round. Should the Yellow Jackets move up to first or second in the regional rankings they would receive a first round bye in the tournament.