Boxscore

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior quarterback Steve Armstrong (Nutley, N.J.) matched a school record with six touchdown passes to lead the Southern Connecticut State University football team to a 54-14 win over Saint Anselm in a Northeast-10 contest on Saturday afternoon. In all, he finished 19-of-23 for 363 yards and completed 19 consecutive passes at one point during the contest. The Owls will now wait and see if they have qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the third consecutive season when the pairings are announced on Sunday. The selection show will appear on ESPNU at some point between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

SCSU won its sixth in a row and improved to 8-3, 7-2 in Northeast-10 play. St. Anselm concluded its season at 0-10, 0-9.

In the process, Armstrong matched Mike Abate, who threw six touchdown passes in a win over Stonehill back in 2003.

The Owls struck first just over three minutes into the game on their second drive of the contest. Armstrong found Johnny Lee (Norwalk, Conn.) on a catch and run that brought Lee inside the St. Anselm 5-yard line. However, Lee fumbled the ball into the end zone, where Chris Bergeski (Mountainside, N.J.) was there to scoop up the loose ball for a touchdown. The ensuing extra point was blocked.

The visitors went up by two scores later in the opening quarter when Armstrong found Bergeski on a 10-yard pass that capped a nine play, 80-yard drive. Charles Gallagher (Hartford, Conn.) followed with the PAT to push the lead to 13-0.

St. Anselm climbed to within 13-7 on a score with just seven seconds remaining in the first quarter.

However, SCSU answered with a seven play, 68-yard drive that culminated in a 29-yard pass from Armstrong to Jerrell Milligan (Inwood, N.Y.). However, the PAT was missed again, and the Owls' lead held at 19-7.

The hosts made it 19-14 with a touchdown on their next drive. The Owls quickly restored the two score lead on a 13-yard scamper from Jarom Freeman (Peekskill, N.Y.).

St. Anselm appeared ready to punch in another score, as it had the ball inside the Owls' 5-yard line in the closing minutes of the first half. However, the SCSU defense forced a turnover on downs.

The Owls followed with a four-play drive – including a 72-yard connection between Armstrong and Bergeski – that culminated on a 3-yard pass from Armstrong to Brandon Toles (Fort Washington, Md.) as the opening half expired. SCSU led by a 33-14 score at halftime.

SCSU kept rolling with three more touchdowns in the third quarter that closed the scoring on the afternoon.

Armstrong found Lee on a 34-yard pass through the center of the field that ended a three play, 47 yard drive.

Later in the frame, Armstrong found Brian Tourtelott (Latham, N.Y.) on a 10-yard touchdown pass that allowed the quarterback to match the school mark.

Martin Manson (Bloomfield, Conn.) then put an exclamation point on the scoring with a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was his second pick that was returned for a score this season.

For the second time this season, both Lee and Bergeski amassed more than 100 receiving yards in a game. Lee had seven catches for 144 yards, while Bergeski had six catches for 147 yards.

Toles led the Owls' rushers with 96 yards on 17 carries in the contest.