Yale moved to 2-1 on the season with a gutsy, come-from-behind 41-24 victory over the visiting Merrimack Warriors.
Following the devastating news of Coach Reno’s death last week, there were questions about whether Dante would be out of the lineup once again. Dante did in fact play and put on a heroic display. After an early pick-six and defensive lapses left the Bulldogs in a 21-7 deficit, Reno took control of the game and willed the Elis to victory. Reno finished 22-of-39 for 298 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air, and found success in the ground game with well-timed scrambles. HDK had the best showing of his career as we finally witnessed a bit of power and vision. He finished the day with 132 rushing yards and a TD with 4.4 ypc. The offensive line remains a work in progress, but you have to be pleased with the level of improvement from week 2 to week 3. Bennett Anderson saw time at guard as the coaches still seek the best combo along the line. No sacks were surrendered, and the backs finally had a bit of breathing room before contact. It was good to see Lewis bulldozing some opponents. Santiago and Anderson were back to their dominant ways with 216 yards and 2 TDs combined. Kemp had the touchdown catch of a lifetime that the referees ignored before irrefutable video evidence swayed them. Tight ends continue to perform, with Smith hauling in a key touchdown grab. Offensive play-calling still has a way to evolve on third downs, with the Bulldogs held to 7 of 15 attempts.
Defensively, the Elis found a way to slow down Merrimack in the second half, but 6.3 yards allowed per play will usually doom a team. One score came on a trick play that caught Daniyan flat-footed for a second, and Yale has to expect trick plays every week because they always seem to work against us. Grant led with 10 tackles and was all over the field. Schutzman had another up-and-down performance at the other linebacker spot, and Partin saw action there as well. Eastep came up with a few solid plays, but struggles from Daniyan and White, among others, allowed big, costly receiving plays. Tate is getting back into a groove and notched six tackles. No sacks were generated while both the QB and backs had healthy average yards per carry metrics, so there is still much room for improvement up front. With the Big Green coming to town, the defense from top to bottom has to step up in a huge way this week.
Keeney averaged a great 43.2 yards per punt with a long of 54 yards. Piper went 2-for-2 with a long of 38 yards. Santiago racked up 92 punt return yards but has to work on ball security. Hopping added a nice 30-yard kickoff return to his freshman stats.