Last updated on Oct 12, 2016
By Caroline Ryan & Michael Otero
News Editor, Sports Editor
Homecoming 2016, from Oct. 7-9, featured events for current students, prospective students, alumni and families. The festivities began on Friday, Oct. 7 with a pep rally at 7 pm at the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium. On Saturday, Oct. 8, there were many alumni events, including a small party celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Pioneer newspaper and a welcome back alumni party at WCWP, the campus radio station. Along with the alumni events on Saturday, there was an open house for prospective students and their families, along with campus tours.
And, of course, there was the homecoming football game. The team beat Saint Anselm College, 63-20, to improve its record to 6-0 forthe season. Backed by a first half, which featured 42 points, the Pioneers cruised to a decisive 43 point victory.
The No. 21 ranked football team didn’t waste any time getting on the board. On the game’s second play, red-shirt defensive lineman Kenny Scotland intercepted a deflected pass and took it back nine yards to the house for the pick-six. Zero offensive snaps and already a seven point lead.
On Saint Anselm’s next possession, they turned it over again. This time, freshman defensive back Joshua Flowers came up with the take away and red-shirt sophomore running back Malik Pierre was the beneficiary, with a nine yard score to extend the early Pioneer lead to 14-0.
Two possessions later, the Pioneers found themselves in the end zone again. Unlike their previous touchdowns, this drive started on their own 21 yard line. The cap on the drive was a 15 yard scamper by senior running back David White at the 6:28 mark, to put the Pioneers in front 21-0. The three touchdown first quarter set the tone for the offense and the defense mimicked that; shutting out Saint Anselm in the first 15 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Pioneers finished an impressive 16 play, 95 yard drive that culminated in a two yard rushing touchdown by senior quarterback Jeff Kidd. Down 28, Saint Anselm refused to fold, responding with touchdown, but their defense was simply no match for the Pioneer offense.
The Pioneers totaled 532 yards of offense on 81 plays while Saint Anselm went for 356 total yards, most of which came late. The first score through the air went to red-shirt junior wide out James Higgins, who hauled in a five yard touchdown; extending the lead to 35-7. A few possessions later, Kidd connected with Pierre for his second score of the day, pushing the lead to 42-14.
The second half was more of the same from the Pioneers, who scored three unanswered touchdowns. Red-shirt junior receiver Kyle Ward was the recipient of a six yard touchdown while White hauled in a three yard score for his second of the day. Freshman halfback Tim Marinan scored the final touchdown of the day on a 42 yard run.
Kidd went 22-31 through the air for 204 yards and four touchdowns. On the ground, four Pioneers crossed the goal line including White, who led the team with 131 yards. In the receiving department, four Pioneers hauled in touchdowns, but the corps was led by red-shirt wide out Shane Hubbard, who hauled in eight balls for 74 yards.
Head football coach Bryan Collins and his team are back again on Saturday, Oct. 15, when they travels to play Southern Connecticut State University. This Ne-10 clash start at noon.
Homecoming weekend ended on Sunday, Oct. 9 with a Long Island beer tour. The rain certainly didn’t dampen the festivities for Homecoming 2016.
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