Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – The Southern Connecticut State University football team opened the 2014 season with a 23-7 loss to Gannon University on Saturday afternoon.

Owls' quarterback Brandon Basil (Northford, Conn.) finished 15-of-31 for 181 yards and a touchdown, while senior wide receiver Gary Williams (West Haven, Conn.) was the top target with six catches for 72 yards.



Kayjuan Bynum (Springfield, Mass.) and Brian Wilcox (Jericho, Vt.) each  led the Owls' defense with 10  tackles. Bynum forced a fumble and added half a sack, while Wilcox tallied one sack and one fumble recovery.

Gannon used 17 second quarter points to snap a scoreless tie and pulled away from there.

The Knights finished an 11-play, 63-yard drive only 44 seconds into the second quarter with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Liam Nadler to Jesstin Hamm. Karch Holland added the PAT for a 7-0 lead.

SCSU turned the ball over on its next possession and the Knights were able to turn that into three points on a 35-yard field goal from Holland. Later in the quarter, Gannon capitalized off a poor Owls' punt and strung together a five-play, 62-yard drive that culminated in a 26-pass touchdown pass from Nadler to Brock Jones.

After a scoreless third quarter, Holland made it 20-0 with a 42-yard field goal in the opening minute of the final frame. He added a 26-yarder later in the quarter to extend the lead to 23-0.

Southern Connecticut scored its touchdown on the final drive of the afternoon. The Owls assembled a six-play, 54-yard drive which was capped by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Basil to Jack Mallis (Windham, Maine). Jeff Groth (Shelton, Conn.) connected on the PAT for the Owls.



The Owls return to action on Sept. 13 for their Northeast-10 Conference and home opener against Saint Anselm.