WALTHAM, Mass. – Four takeaways and a fourth-down stop in the red zone were instrumental as the Bentley University Falcons stayed unbeaten and extended their winning streak to 13, 24-14 over visiting Franklin Pierce University in Northeast-10 Conference football Saturday afternoon.

The outcome, coupled with New Haven's 16-10 win over Assumption, sets up a showdown between the conference's co-leaders next Saturday in West Haven, Conn. Both Bentley (8-0 overall and ranked first in the NCAA Division II East Region) and the Chargers are 6-0 in NE10 action.

Offensively, Bentley was led by senior tailback Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./ St. Thomas Aquinas HS), who rushed for 108 yards and two of the Falcons' three touchdowns. He also became just the eighth player in program history to surpass 2,000 career rushing yards.

Fumbles forced by grad student and UMass transfer Cole McCubrey (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) led to Bentley's first 10 points.

Senior Ryan Philibotte (Nashua, N.H./Salisbury School) recovered the first near midfield and after the drive stalled at the Raven 14, sophomore Mason Campbell (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier HS) was on target for a 31-yard field goal.

It was still a 3-0 game when freshman Walter Morales Jr. (Leominster/Lawrence Academy) recovered a fumbled punt return at the Raven five. On the very next play, Brazicki ran it in for the touchdown and a 10-0 lead after the point after conversion.

Franklin Pierce (0-8) answered right back with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that featured junior E.J. Burgess (Pearland, Texas). He carried it seven times for 36 yards, including a four-yarder for a score that reduced the Bentley advantage to three with 3:48 left in the second.

Bentley struck quickly to start the third with a five-play, 68-yard drive making it 17-7. Senior QB Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS) teamed up with classmate Noah Neville (Boston/Newton North HS) on a 48-yard pass on the first play of the drive, and after a seven-yard pass to senior Chris Varone (Victor, N.Y./Victor HS) to the FPU one, Brazicki ran it in for the score.

Later in the third and down ten, Franklin Pierce drove the ball 74 yards on 14 plays to the Bentley 11. However, Bentley sophomore defensive tackle Herve Tshibamba (Naugatuck, Conn./Naugatuck HS) smothered Burgess on a fourth-and-one, forcing a turnover on downs.

The Falcons answered with an 89-yard drive that ended with a 30-yard TD pass from Sturm to freshman Jonathan Oriakhi (Swampscott/Milton Academy). The scoring march, which included runs of 12 and 16 yards by Brazicki, put Bentley up 17 points with 12:22 to play.

McCubrey, a linebacker, was one of several standouts on defense for the Falcons. In addition to the two forced fumbles, he had 15 tackles, two for losses and a sack. Sophomore d-lineman Joe Rivers (Lunenburg/Lunenburg HS) had two strip sacks among his eight tackles and Tshibamba had six tackles and a fumble recovery.

In addition, senior defensive end Cedie Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS) finished with five tackles, a fumble recovery and a sack.

Burgess had an outstanding game for Franklin Pierce, surpassing 1,000 yards for the season and finishing with 186 yards on 27 carries

Team stats were relatively close with Bentley outgaining the visitors 352-341 and the Ravens finishing with the edge in first downs, 21-19. However, four sacks and four forced turnovers (pushing Bentley's season total to 20) tipped the scales in the Falcons' direction.