Sept. 7, 2002
Final Stats
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College football team opened the 2002 season with a 38-27 win over defending I-AA Mid-Major National Champion, Sacred Heart, this evening, in front of a school record crowd of 3,875 on Leonidoff Field. Marist improves to 1-0 with the win, while Sacred Heart falls to 0-1, and has its 13-game unbeaten streak snapped.
The Red Foxes defense set a school record holding the Pioneers to -14 yard rushing for the game, and allowing just 171 yards of total offense. Marist rushed for 326-yards on the night, finishing the contest with 486 total yards. The 38-point effort ties the Red Foxes most offensive output of the last two seasons.
The Pioneers struck first as they blocked a Marist punt with 4:10 left in the first quarter, and returned it for a touchdown, taking a 7-0 lead. From that point the Marist offense took over, scoring 31 unanswered points, tying the game 10 seconds into the second stanza on a Alfredo Riullano one-yard touchdown run. Marist took the lead with 6:42 remaining in the first half as Jason Hooper caught an 18-yard pass from Kevin Bielen, taking a 14-7 lead into the intermission.
Brett Biggs started the second half scoring, as he converted a 35-yard field goal, taking 1 17-7 lead. The lead became 24-7, with 1:29 left in the third quarter as Chris Price scored from six-yards out. Riullano finished off the 31-point run for Marist with an 18-yard touchdown run, seven seconds into the final quarter. Price would round out the Marist scoring with 11:04 left in the game on a 27-yard touchdown run.
Price finished the game with 166-yards on his 25 carries, and a pair of touchdowns. Riullano, who did not have a carry for a loss on the night, finished with 124-yards on just 17 carries, also scoring two times. Hooper finished the night with three receptions for 98 yards and touchdown. Kevin Bielen started at quarterback, and was 9-22 for 160-yards and a touchdown.
The Red Foxes win a season opener for the first time in the last three seasons. Marist returns to action on Saturday, September 14th, as it hosts Canisius in the 2002 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) opener for the Red Foxes. Game time is set for 7:00 pm on Leonidoff Field.
