SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Bentley University survived its first four interceptions of Saturday's Northeast-10 Conference football game at American International College's Abdow Field, giving up only a field goal.

However, the fifth of the day led to a game-winning touchdown pass as the Falcons dropped a 17-14 decision to the AIC Yellow Jackets at Abdow Field. It marked the third time this season Bentley (1-4, 1-2 NE-10) has lost after entering the fourth quarter with the lead.

Six plays after Bentley senior QB  Bryant Johnson (Hopedale/Milford HS) was picked off for the third time in the fourth quarter, AIC (2-3, 2-1 NE-10) capitalized. Faced with third-and-inches from the Falcon 18, senior QB Rob Parent (West Warwick, R.I.) put the ball in the air and found tight end Trevor Perryman (Centereach, N.Y.) open in the end zone for his second TD pass of the afternoon, this one coming with 3:48 remaining on the game clock.

Following the kickoff, Bentley started at its own 34 and moved down to the Yellow Jacket 25 before the drive stalled. Junior Paul Branco (Brockton/Brockton HS) was called upon to attempt a game-tying field goal with a minute left, but his 42-yard attempt just missed, and the string of home team victories in the Bentley-AIC series hit seven games.

Bentley, down 3-0 after the opening period, claimed an 11-point lead, 14-3, after scoring twice in the first 5:27 of the second. Johnson delivered a five-yard scoring strike to senior tight end Mike Slattery (Natick/Natick HS) to finish a 12-play, 73-yard drive that saw the Falcon complete all six of his passes for 73 yards.

Eighty-four seconds later, the Falcons regained possession at midfield on the third interception of the season by junior safety Don Hopkins (Waltham/ Waltham HS). Following a first down and a Yellow Jacket offsides penalty, junior tailback Bobby Tarr (Peabody/ Bishop Fenwick HS) broke through the line, taking the ball 33 yards to the endzone for the touchdown.

AIC closed to within four, 14-10, on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Parent to sophomore Courtney Stephenson (Paterson, N.J.) with 4:56 left in the second quarter.  It remained that way for over 30 minutes of clock time, despite the Falcons venturing over midfield on six straight possessions.

The Bentley defense turned in a solid effort, limiting AIC to 241 total yards and 13 first downs. The Jackets managed just 71 net rushing yards and Parent finished 15 of 26 for 170 yards.

The Falcons, on the other hand, had 343 yards in total offense as they were able to move the ball both through the air and on the ground. Johnson completed passes to eight different receivers, finishing 19 of 33 for 201 yards. Slattery was his primary target, with five catches for 55 yards, and Tarr ran 83 yards on 11 carries.

Despite18 first downs, Bentley was hurt by its inability to convert on third downs. In those situations, the Falcons were just 2 of 11, including 0-for-5 in the fourth quarter (with two of the interceptions coming on third down).  In contrast, the Falcons were successful all three times they tried to convert on fourth down.

Bentley's defense was led by Hopkins and senior linebacker Mark Dolan (Barrington, R.I./ Barrington HS). Hopkins had seven tackles and the afore-mentioned interception, and Dolan's seven stops included 1.5 sacks.

Senior linebacker Terrence Holley (Bogota, N.J.) led AIC with 10 tackles and was one of five Yellow Jackets to record a pick.

Bentley, after playing on the road for the fourth time in five weeks, will launch the second half of its season Friday night at home against Merrimack College

Box Score (Final)

        Bentley vs American Int'l. (10/02/10 at Springfield, Mass.)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

Bentley.............  0 14  0  0  - 14       Record: (1-4,1-2)

American Int'l......  3  7  0  7  - 17       Record: (2-3,2-1)

Scoring Summary:

1st 04:34 AIC - Ryan Brooks-Newton 33 yd field goal, 12-37 6:00

2nd 12:40 BEN - Mike Slattery 5 yd pass from Bryant Johnson (Paul Branco kick), 12-73 6:47

    09:33 BEN - Bobby Tarr 33 yd run (Branco kick), 4-50 1:43

    04:56 AIC - Courtney Stephenson 8 yd pass from Rob Parent (Brooks-Newton kick), 10-63 4:28

4th 03:48 AIC - Trevor Perryman 18 yd pass from Parent (Brooks-Newton kick), 6-52 1:58

                                    BEN      AIC

FIRST DOWNS...................       18       13

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   32-147    37-71

PASSING YDS (NET).............      201      170

Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  33-19-5  26-15-1

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   65-348   63-241

Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............      1-2      1-4

Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     4-86     3-76

Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0     5-29

Punts (Number-Avg)............   3-25.7   5-34.0

Fumbles-Lost..................      0-0      4-0

Penalties-Yards...............     4-40     8-59

Possession Time...............    30:35    29:25

Third-Down Conversions........  2 of 11  7 of 17

Fourth-Down Conversions.......   3 of 3   1 of 2

Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      1-1      3-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........      2-8      2-9

RUSHING: Bentley-Bobby Tarr 11-83; Lorenzo Warren 8-32; Jack Pizzotti 6-28; Bryant Johnson 7-4. American Int'l.-Mike Mayo 10-28; Courtney Stephenson 11-27; Bryant Fitzgerald 2-13; Rob Parent 8-9; Cal Brownridge 3-0; TEAM 3-minus 6.

PASSING: Bentley-Bryant Johnson 19-33-5-201. American Int'l.-Rob Parent 15-26-1-170; Cal Brownridge 0-0-0-0.

RECEIVING: Bentley-Mike Slattery 5-56; Kyle Tuthill 3-44; Wade Critides 3-35; John Malone 3-13; Brett Schuering 2-14; Jack Pizzotti 1-29; Lorenzo Warren 1-7; Tim Moscato 1-3. American Int'l.-Andre Samuels 8-76; Trevor Perryman 3-35; Cal Brownridge 2-41; Michael Roach 1-10; Courtney Stephenson 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: Bentley-Don Hopkins 1-0. American Int'l.-Allen Bush 1-18; Darius Evans 1-8; Terrence Holley 1-3; Wausa Onigbanjo 1-0; Kushtrim Hakanjin 1-0.