Worcester, Mass. (October 14) -- Assumption took control early and never let up as the Greyhounds toppled first-place Merrimack by a convincing 44-24 final in Northeast-10 Conference action on Friday night at the Multi-Sport Stadium. The Hounds were led by a 159-yard, two-touchdown performance by sophomore Matt Pedone (Holden, Mass./Wachusett) and an interception return for a touchdown by sophomore Mike Bates (Holden, Mass./Wachusett).

The Warriors got on the board first as a long kickoff return put them in great field position on the game's first possession. Nick Zwann capped that drive with a 21-yard field goal for Merrimack's only lead of the contest at 3-0 just 2:02 into the game.  Assumption answered on the next possession with a 66-yard drive that was capped by a four-yard touchdown run up the middle from freshman Kevin Bumpus (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) for the 7-3 edge.  Bumpus added to the lead with an eight-yard touchdown pass to a diving Scott Simonson (Red Bank, N.J./Middletown South) and a 23-yard field goal by Brian Nowak (Wayland, Mass./Wayland) and it was 16-3 Hounds with 5:22 left in the first half.

Merrimack cut the lead down to one possession though as James Suozzo found Ethan Weaver right up the middle with a 15-yard scoring strike to cut the advantage to 16-10 with 1:46 remaining in the half. On the kickoff, the Warriors kicked the ball out of bounds to give the Hounds the ball at the 40-yard line. This mistake proved to be costly as just two plays later, sophomore Gabe Homiski (Preston, Conn./Norwich Free Academy) found Paul Perez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) wide open up the middle for the 36-yard score and a 23-10 lead.

The Warriors tried to get on the board in the final minute of the period though and had first and goal at the two with just 9.7 seconds left. The Greyhound defense stepped up though and on the final play of the half, Mike Stuppiello (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) and Nick DiAntonio (Milford, Mass./Milford) stuffed Suozzo just short of the goal line to end the period.

After Assumption came up empty on the opening possession of the third quarter, the Warriors took over at their own 10-yard line. The Merrimack drive lasted exactly one play though as Suozzo was picked off by a diving Dan Conrad (Holden, Mass./St. Peter Marian) along the near sideline and it was Assumption ball at the Merrimack 23-yard line. After an 18-yard Homiski pass to Simonson made it first-and-goal, Pedone scampered in from five yards out to extend the lead to a 30-10 margin.

The back-and-forth contest continued over the remainder of the quarter as Merrimack connected on a 20-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone from Suozzo to Omari Mobley to make it a 30-17 game after three periods.

The Greyhounds put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter behind the second touchdown of the game by Pedone and a 30-yard interception for a touchdown by Bates. The interception is the league-leading sixth for Bates this season, including three straight games where he has returned an interception for a touchdown. He is the only player in Assumption history with more than one career interception return for a touchdown and is now tied for the national lead in that category in 2011.

Merrimack completed the scoring with 3:54 left on a 57-yard touchdown from Joe Clancy to Quinn McDonough as the Hounds came away with the 44-24 victory, the team's second-straight win and first at home this season.

Pedone led the ground attack with a career-high 159-yard effort that included two touchdowns on a career-high 25 carries. As a team, the Hounds piled up 243 rushing yards and have nearly 600 yards on the ground over the last two weeks. Bumpus, Homiski and Sam Previte (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) combined for 15-for-19 passing with two touchdowns and 169 yards. Perez was the top receiver for the Hounds, catching seven passes for 100 yards and the touchdown.

On defense, both Conrad and Bates had a pair of interceptions in the game, along with four tackles each. Bates also added a pass breakup in the game. DiAntonio and Jurrell Flippen (Irmo, S.C./Dutch Fork) led the team with six tackles each.

Shawn Loiseau led the Warriors with 19 tackles in a game that saw Assumption dominate the time of possession by a margin of 41:53-18:07, including 23:21-6:39 in the second half alone. Suozzo and Clancy completed just 22-of-47 pass attempts with four interceptions, while Jimon Hill led the team in rushing with 64 yards. Isaiah Voegeli also had eight catches for 84 yards in the game.

With the win, Assumption is now 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the Northeast-10, while Merrimack falls to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the league. Merrimack was receiving votes in the latest AFCA Division II National Top-25 Poll.

The Greyhounds have a bye week next Saturday and return to action on Saturday, October 29th as the Hounds travel to Manchester, N.H. to take on Saint Anselm for a 1 p.m. start at Grappone Stadium. Fans can watch that game live online at www.saintanselmhawks.tv, powered by the Pack Network.