MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Senior QB Bryant Johnson (Hopedale, Mass./Milford HS) threw for three touchdowns and freshman Lorenzo Warren (Boston, Mass./Catholic Memorial HS) rushed for 131 yards and two scores in only seven carries as Bentley University rolled to a 52-7 victory over Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference football Saturday afternoon at Grappone Stadium.

The win, in their conference opener, was the first of the season for Bentley after road losses to nationally-ranked Carson Newman and Division I Central Connecticut. Saint Anselm, which had its Homecoming spoiled, fell to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the NE-10.

Johnson directed the Falcon offense to 496 yards in total offense and 27 first downs, as well as the team's highest point total since a 52-6 home win over Saint Anselm in October 2007. He completed 20 of 27 passes for 206 yards with his TD passes covering seven, seven and 13 yards, and also had 27 yards rushing.

Bentley scored on four of its five first-half drives, beginning with a nine-play, 60-yard march on the game's opening possession. A seven-yard completion to senior John Malone (Walpole, Mass./ Walpole HS) finished a drive that saw Johnson complete all four of his pass attempts and also run 12 yards for a score.

After Saint Anselm countered with a 14-play scoring drive, Bentley quickly regained the lead, this time moving 76 yards in eight plays. There was a 29-yard rush by junior Bobby Tarr (Byfield, Mass./ Bishop Fenwick HS), a 12-yard pass to senior tight end Mike Slattery (Natick, Mass./Natick HS), a 15-yard pass to senior Kyle Tuthill (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) before a Johnson-to-Slattery seven-yard scoring strike made it 14-7 nine seconds before the end of the opening quarter.

The second quarter saw Bentley put up 14 unanswered points to opening a commanding 28-7 advantage. Warren broke loose on a 51-yard scamper for his first collegiate touchdown, and Johnson teamed up with Malone for the second time in the game, this time on a 13-yard scoring pass.

Bentley's 17-point third quarter featured senior Justin Haines (Wyoming, Del./Lake Forest Academy) returning a fumble recovery 47 yards for a touchdown, junior Paul Branco (Brockton, Mass./ Brockton HS) making a 28-yard field goal, and Warren scoring his second TD, this time on a 28-yard run. Like the first, he reached the endzone virtually untouched. It was a ten-point afternoon for Branco, who was perfect on all seven of his extra point attempts.

Bentley completed its scoring midway through the fourth on a three-yard run by junior Joshua Marsh (Brockton, Mass./Brockton HS).

In addition to Warren, Tarr had a strong day running the ball as Bentley amassed its most rushing yards since 2003. He finished with a career-best 84 yards on 10 carries. Ten different Falcons caught passes with Slattery's six receptions for 75 yards topping the list.

Defensively, Bentley limited the Hawks to 234 yards and 15 first downs while coming up with two takeaways, the fumble recovery by Haines and an interception by senior Matt Shea (Walpole, Mass./Xaverian Bros. HS). Junior Jon Wilkie (Groton, Mass./Lawrence Academy) also blocked a punt for the Falcons.

Senior linebackers Greg O'Brien (Canton, Mass./Xaverian Bros. HS) and Mark Dolan (Barrington, R.I./ Barrington HS) each had eight tackles to pace the Falcons in that category.

For Saint Anselm, sophomore Michael Pierce (Andover, Mass.) was 15 of 29 passing for 157 yards, and freshman Keith Charles (Laurel, Md.) rushed for 64 yards and the Hawks' only TD.

After three straight on the road, Bentley will finally play its home opener Friday night, taking on New Haven at 7:00 pm.

Box Score (Final)

Bentley vs Saint Anselm (09/18/2010 at Manchester, N.H.)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

Bentley............. 14 14 17  7  - 52       Record: (1-2,1-0)

Saint Anselm........  7  0  0  0  -  7       Record: (0-3,0-1)

Scoring Summary:

1st 09:45 BEN - John Malone 7 yd pass from Bryant Johnson (Paul Branco kick), 9-60 5:15

    04:05 STA - Keith Charles 7 yd run (Dylan McSparren kick), 14-63 5:40

    00:09 BEN - Mike Slattery 7 yd pass from Bryant Johnson (Paul Branco kick), 8-76 3:56

2nd 10:27 BEN - Lorenzo Warren 51 yd run (Paul Branco kick), 6-89 2:34

    00:38 BEN - John Malone 13 yd pass from Bryant Johnson (Paul Branco kick), 8-57 3:52

3rd 13:33 BEN - Justin Haines 47 yd fumble recovery (Paul Branco kick)

    06:23 BEN - Paul Branco 28 yd field goal, 10-55 4:15

    00:19 BEN - Lorenzo Warren 28 yd run (Paul Branco kick), 7-60 4:2

4th 08:24 BEN - Joshua Marsh 3 yd run (Paul Branco kick), 10-47 6:11

                                    BEN      STA

FIRST DOWNS...................       27       15

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   37-285    34-76

PASSING YDS (NET).............      211      158

Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  29-22-0  35-19-1

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   66-496   69-234

Fumble Returns-Yards..........     1-47      0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............     4-12     1-14

Kickoff Returns-Yards.........      1-3    9-156

Interception Returns-Yards....      1-8      0-0

Punts (Number-Avg)............   2-38.0   8-29.9

Fumbles-Lost..................      1-1      2-1

Penalties-Yards...............     6-55     8-60

Possession Time...............    35:09    24:51

Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 12  7 of 18

Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 1   1 of 4

Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      5-5      1-2

Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-3      0-0

RUSHING: Bentley-Lorenzo Warren 7-131; Bobby Tarr 10-84; Bryant Johnson 5-27; Joshua Marsh 6-22; Matt Pryzby 1-11; Jack Pizzotti 2-5; Brett Schuering 1-4; Eric DiPietrantonio 4-2; TEAM 1-minus 1. Saint Anselm-Keith Charles 16-64; T. Woodson-Samuels 4-11; Michael Pierce 3-11; Trevor Jessie 1-7; Jordan Guyton 3-5; Greg Bell 1-5; Marc Wilson 2-2; Gene Cellini 1-1; Sam Mullins 1-0; TEAM 2-minus 30.

PASSING: Bentley-Bryant Johnson 20-27-0-206; Matt Pryzby 2-2-0-5. Saint Anselm-Michael Pierce 15-29-1-147; T. Woodson-Samuels 3-5-0-4; Gene Cellini 1-1-0-7.

RECEIVING: Bentley-Mike Slattery 6-75; John Malone 5-42; Kyle Tuthill 3-34; Brett Schuering 2-16; Lorenzo Warren 1-13; Mike Sumrell 1-12; Wade Critides 1-11; Jon Wilkie 1-5; Bobby Tarr 1-3; Tim Moscato 1-0. Saint Anselm-Marc Wilson 7-54; Richard Aiyegoro 4-11; Marcel Bouie 3-36; Craig Dennis 2-30; Justin Alexander 1-14; Justin Bernard 1-10; Keith Charles 1-3.

INTERCEPTIONS: Bentley-Matt Shea 1-8. Saint Anselm-None.