WALTHAM, Mass. – The Bentley football team is going to the NCAA Championship! The Falcons upset nationally-ranked No. 24 Assumption, 20-17, to claim the 2025 Northeast 10 title. Bentley earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The Falcons are NE10 Champs for the first time since 2019. It's a huge turnaround for the 2025 squad that opened the season with three consecutive losses.

Isaiah Decias totaled 157 receiving yards on six catches against Assumption, coming up just four yards shy of matching his career-high - which he achieved last week at Saint Anselm (Nov. 1).

Pat Damon had a season-high 94 yards on seven catches, and Luke Warnock completed 18 of 33 passes for 245 yards. He didn't turn the ball over, was sacked only once, and accounted for two of Bentley's three touchdowns.
Henry Schouten led the defensive efforts by totaling 15 tackles, and he recovered a fumble in the first quarter. It was one of two takeaways by the Bentley defense.

After Bentley won the coin toss, Assumption took the game's opening drive down the field 70 yards. However, the Falcon defense buckled down and limited the Greyhounds to three points.

Bentley answered right back in less than two minutes. Warnock found Decias down the far sideline for a 53-yard touchdown pass. Following a missed PAT, Bentley held a 6-3 lead. Neither side put points on the board until late in the second quarter. Assumption pieced together a 93-yard drive that culminated with a 14-yard touchdown run. Bentley trailed, 10-6, heading into halftime.

If the Greyhounds had momentum, it didn't last long.

Bentley received the opening kickoff in the second half, which Eman Nda returned 43 yards from the goal line. On the very first offensive play, Warnock found Damon for a 27-yard completion. Two plays later, Telly Edouard took a handoff 29 yards down to the one-yard line. From there, Warnock relied on his legs and his offensive line to push across the goal line and give Bentley a 14-10 lead two-and-a-half minutes into the second half.

The score remained the same heading into the fourth quarter, but Assumption reclaimed the lead, 17-14, with a 22-yard touchdown pass three minutes into the fourth.

Bentley's ensuing possession began with a 45-yard completion from Isaiah Osgood to Decias. The promising drive stalled out deep in Assumption territory. The Falcons elected to go for it on fourth-and-10 from Assumption's 11-yard line, but Warnock's pass to Nayvon Reid in the end zone fell incomplete.

Assumption took possession wit 8:14 left on the clock, but the Falcon defense forced the Greyhounds to punt – and it was a bad one. Assumption's 19-yard punt allowed Bentley to begin its crucial drive at the Greyhounds' 44-yard line with 4:24 remaining in regulation.

Bentley moved up to the 29-yard line when Warnock and Decias connected for a 15-yard completion. However, Bentley found itself in another fourth-down situation. This time, the Falcons were on Assumption's 25-yard line with six yards to go. With the game practically on the line, Warnock hit Damon across the middle of the field for 17 yards and a first down.

Osgood came back in under center for the very next play. He took a direct snap and sprinted eight yards to the right side for the go-ahead touchdown, 20-14, with less than three minutes on the clock.

The Bentley defense gave Assumption little hope to respond. The Greyhounds' drive started on their own 23-yard line, and it began with a sack by Isaiah Gomes for a loss of 14 yards.

Two plays later, the Falcons once again pressured the quarterback. This time, Cal McAuliffe deflected a pass at the line. The ball went straight up in the air and came down safely in the hands of Austin Calarco for an interception. Bentley ran the game clock down to 10 seconds before a turnover on downs on Assumption's 24-yard line.

Fittingly, the final play of the game was a sack – and it was Lou DiBiase who made the play for Bentley.

Bentley has one more regular-season game this season. The Falcons host American International in a non-conference game, Nov. 15.

The NCAA Championship begins in two weeks. Postseason matchups will be announced by the NCAA following the end of the regular season.