SMITHFIELD, R.I. The American International College football team opened up the season with a tough loss at Division I-A Bryant Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium, 27-3.

The Yellow Jackets battled the Bulldogs in the opening half, trailing just 7-0 after two quarters.

AIC senior running back Maurice Easterling (Yonkers, N.Y.) paced the AIC offense in the first half. Easterling broke away on the first play from scrimmage for 34 yards and into Bryant territory. Later in the drive, sophomore quarterback Kwame Jarvis (Schenectady, N.Y.) found Easterling for a six yard gain, but the drive stalled out at the Bulldog 38 and the Jacket were forced to punt.

After forcing a Bryant punt on the ensuing possession, AIC had their best drive of the half. Sophomore tailback Marcel DePina (New Beford, Mass.) busted out for 16 yards and Jarvis completed two passes to Ryheime Moore (Windsor, Conn.) and Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass.) to get the Jackets to the Bryant 21 yard line.

Jarvis took a shot on fourth down to Williams, but the pass went incomplete and the Bulldogs took over on downs.

Bryant used a 5:32 scoring drive late into the half. Dalton Easton found John Lavin for a 33 yard scoring strike in Easton's first career start.

AIC took just a single possession deficit into the half against a DI opponent.

American International struggled moving the ball in the second half, crossing midfield into Bulldog territory just once.

Easterling rushed for 47 yards in the second half and finished with 92 total yards on the ground. Evan Graham (Springfield, Mass.) caught two passes for 49 yards.

Junior linebacker Jerrod Shelby (Brockton, Mass.) led a tough defense with 10 tackles. The AIC defense held Bryant to just 295 yards of offense. Tyrone Mans (Newark, N.J.) chipped in nine tackles in the loss.

AIC opens up at home Saturday, Sep. 12 against Southern Connecticut. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Ronald J. Abdow Field.