Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
Leicester, Mass. – On the legs of running back Jacob Holmes, the Becker College football team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday (September 12), 37-26, over MIT at Alumni Field. The junior set Hawks' records for single-game rushing yards, average yards per rush, longest run, points scored and points scored while kicking as well as tying three others.
With the victory, Becker improves to 1-1 while the Engineers fall to 0-2. The 37 points are the most the Hawks have scored since they posted 41 at Hartwick on September 15, 2012.
Holmes (Worcester, Mass.) record setting day included: 232 rushing yards, 279 all-purpose yards, 13.6 yards per carry, 93-yard rushing touchdown, 31 points and 13 points kicking. In addition, he tied school records with two rushing touchdowns, three total touchdowns and field goals made. Nationally, his 232 rushing yards are second and 279 all-purpose yards fourth in NCAA Division III this year.
It wasn't necessarily a one-man show as senior Matthew Romasco (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) also rushed for 110 yards. Becker set a team single-game mark with 357 rushing yards. Quarterback Nas Sinkfield-Shelton (New Rochelle, N.Y.) was 15-of-24 for 221 yards as the Hawks also set a school record with 578 total yards.
Defensively, the Hawks were led by defensive back Nicholas Sherman (Hartford, Conn.) with 11 tackles. Fellow defensive back Shane Padeni (Leicester, Mass.) added eight tackles, forced a fumble and had an interception.
Becker took the opening drive and put three points on the board thanks to a 26-yard Holmes field goals. The score was set up by a 47-yard pass to DeJahn Dawkins (East Hartford, Conn.) on the first play of the game. Dawkins led all players with 69 receiving yards. MIT answered on the ensuing drive with a 31 yard field goal by Tucker Cheyne.
The two teams traded punts before Holmes put the Hawks back on top, 10-3, with a 65-yard touchdown run – the fifth longest run in school history - with under a minute left in the first quarter. Holmes tacked on a 30-yard field goal to up the Becker lead to 13-3.
After the Engineers knocked through their second field goal, Sinkfield-Shelton's feet extended Becker's advantage to 20-6. The sophomore converted a 3rd and 16 with a 17-yard run then ran it in from three yards out to put the Hawks up by two touchdowns.
The tables were turned in the second half as MIT took advantage of three Becker turnovers. After Holmes' 93-yard scamper put the hosts up 30-13, three of the Hawks next 10 plays were turnovers. The Engineers converted the miscues into 10 points. After the Engineers stopped Becker on downs late in the third quarter, MIT added another field goal to make it a four-point game, 30-26.
Outside of the 93 yard run early in the half, MIT kept Holmes bottled up for most of the second half until midway through the fourth quarter when he caught a screen pass from Sinkfield-Shelton and ran 47 yards for a touchdown that put Becker up 37-26. From there, the Becker defense stepped up with two interceptions and forced fumble to secure the victory.
The Hawks are back in action on Friday, September 18 when they travel to Nichols College for a 7 p.m. kickoff.