Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American International College football team improved to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Northeast-10 after posting an impressive 49-20 win over Bentley College Saturday afternoon at John Homer Miller Field. Sophomore quarterback #Rob Parent# (West Warwick, R.I.) completed 16-of-23 passes for 331 yards and six touchdowns for the Yellow Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets broke the school record for passing touchdowns in a game with seven on the day, including a school-record tying six scoring passes from Parent. Quarterbacks coach #Tom Guy# set the record in AIC's 44-36 win over Bryant on November 4, 2000 and Parent tied that mark in AIC's 2008 season-opening 49-19 win at C.W. Post.

The win was AIC's ninth in a row, a streak that began with a 44-21 win over Merrimack on October 6, 2007. The win was also the Yellow Jackets 11th consecutive home victory, which dates back to November 5, 2005 when AIC recorded a 51-28 win over Saint Anselm.

Senior wide receiver #Travis Poole# (Brooklyn, N.Y.) caught six passes for 111 yards and four touchdowns and junior wide receiver #Kertis Hussey# (Paterson, N.J.) had six catches for 183 yards and two TDs. Senior running back #Adeboyega Akingba# (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 20 carries for 94 yards on the afternoon.

The Yellow Jackets took a 7-0 lead with 2:10 remaining in the first quarter on Poole's first touchdown catch of the afternoon, a six-yard score, and led 14-0 after Poole caught a 46-yard pass from Parent to cap AIC's first drive of the second quarter. Hussey and Parent connected on a 37-yard score between a pair of touchdown runs by Bentley junior running back Luis Cotto (Waltham, Mass.) to give the Yellow Jackets a 28-14 lead at halftime.

AIC scored three consecutive touchdowns to open the second half, including a spectacular diving grab by Poole in the endzone, and take a commanding 42-14 lead 4:51 into the fourth quarter. The Falcons (1-3, 0-1 NE-10) broke that string on a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Bryant Johnson (Hopedale, Mass.) to cut their deficit to 42-20 with 6:33 remaining in the game. The extra-point attempt was blocked by junior defensive back Nathaniel Ricks (Clinton, Md.).

Yellow Jackets drove down the field and scored their school-record setting on the ensuing possession for the 49-20 final. Senior quarterback #Shane Murphy# (Bogota, N.J.) found #Mike Roach# on 28-yard scoring pass on fourth and 11 with 2:10 left in the game.

Cotto finished the day with 16 carries for 18 yards and two touchdowns. Senior quarterback John White (Kingston, Mass.) completed just 9-of-22 passes for 62 yards and was picked-off twice. He was later lifted in favor of classmate Henry Morris, who completed 4-of-11 passes for 17 yards.

Defensively, AIC was led by sophomore linebacker #George Hudson# (Philadelphia, Pa.), who had three solo tackles, assisted on five tackles and had one tackle for loss. Junior linebacker #Rich Reichert# (Kings Park, N.Y.) recorded three solo tackles, four assisted tackles and one tackle for loss. Junior linebacker #Nick Abraham# (Tewksbury, Mass.) had three assisted tackles and one interception and freshman defensive back #Max Brown# (Paterson, N.J.) had two solo tackles and one interception.

Junior linebacker Michael Duffy (Plymouth, Mass.) had a game-high 7.5 tackles (three solo, nine assisted), one tackle for loss and one interception for Bentley. Senior linebacker Jesse Petersen (Princeton, Mass.) and junior linebacker Matt Zahoruiko (North Andover, Mass.) had six tackles each.

AIC gained 495 yards of total offense while holding the Falcons to just 142 yards. Bentley did gain significant ground on its eight kickoff returns, which went back for a total of 276 yards.

The Yellow Jackets return to action September 27 when they host Husson at 1 p.m. at John Homer Miller Field.