Flash Has Record-Setting Saturday in 80-0 Win

The Saint Francis football team set school records for points in a quarter, half and game – among several other records – as it defeated Virginia-Lynchburg 80-0 at DeGol Field on Saturday afternoon. The Flash set records with 35 points in the first quarter and 63 points in the first half along with the single-game record of 80.The Red Flash scored five touchdowns in the first 9:51 of the game. Junior Khairi Dickson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic), the NCAA's leading rusher, got the Flash off to a fast start after a Virginia-Lynchburg punt. He rushed for all 59 yards on SFU's first drive on just two carries. The second one went for 52 yards to the end zone. Special teams demon Semo Sila (Honolulu, Hawaii /Farrington) took in the two-point conversion for an early 8-0 Flash lead.The Flash added on quickly with Lorenzo Jerome (Sunrise, Fla./J.P. Taravella) returning a Tyreek Cook pass 41 yards on the ensuing drive to make it 14-0. That's the Flash's first pick-six since Jerome's 60-yard touchdown return at Duquesne last season.After another Dragons punt that was partially blocked by Sila, Dickson rushed for all 58 yards on a three-play scoring drive. He rushed for 48 on the first play to set up the Flash in the Dragons' red zone before sprinting in from seven yards out. Coming into this game, Sila's two blocks were one behind the national leader. His third block today also moved him into a tie for second place on the school's single season list, tying five other players. The last player to have three blocks in a season was Scott Lewis in 2010, the Flash's current linebackers coach.Geesey's extra point on that Dickson score with 9:21 left in the first made it 21-0. Geesey did a lot of that, smashing the school record for extra points in a game with nine. The previous record was seven, set by Josh Thiel at Morehead State in 2012.There had to be touchdowns scored in order to kick all of those extra points, and the Flash continued the onslaught on its next drive. Anthony Abeid (Youngstown, Ohio/Youngstown Christian) returned the Dragons' punt 35 yards to the VUL 21. Quarterback Zack Drayer (Hershey, Pa./Hershey ) connected with Terell Smith (West Haverstraw, N.Y./North Rockland) on the first play of the drive to make it 28-0. That score gave the Flash its highest ever point total in a quarter, breaking the old mark of 27 set against Catholic in 1981 and tied against Niagara in 1987.Freshman back Marcus Bagley (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) took the reins on the next drive, rushing for 18 yards before Drayer completed another touchdown pass to William Martin (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Twp. ) for 48 yards to make it 35-0. Drayer finished the day with two completions on two attempts for two touchdowns. Along with Max Ward (Steelton, Pa./Middletown)'s 2-for-2, the Flash completed and attempted four passes all day. That set the team's single-game record for fewest pass attempts in a game.Dickson added his third rushing touchdown just 29 seconds into the second quarter from three yards out to make it 42-0. The drive was set up by defensive back Cody Reimers (Wilson, N.Y./Wilson Central)' first career interception. In limited action – just 10 carries – Dickson rushed for 157 yards along with the three scores.Bagley made his mark on the game during the rest of the second quarter. He had rushing touchdowns of 1, 38 and 16 yards in the frame, pushing the SFU lead to 63-0. Bagley finished with 89 yards on eight carries. Bagley and Dickson became the first SFU teammates to each rush for three touchdowns in a game during the team's FCS era, dating back to 1993. The 63 points in the first half were a school record and came just 10 points shy of tying the FCS record for points in the first half of a game. The 28 second-quarter points would have also set the school record for points in a quarter if not for the 35 the Flash scored in the first. Corey Leonard (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) made his first career interception on the opening drive of the second half. He returned the pick 28 yards to the VUL 32. The Flash added yet another rushing touchdown to make the score 70-0. Abeid did the honors this time as he finished with 77 yards rushing and scored his first touchdown on the ground in two years to open the scoring in the second half.Geesey kicked a 22-yard field goal with 5:25 left in the third quarter to make it 73-0, setting the school record for points in a game. The previous record came in that Niagara game in 1987 when SFU scored 72. The Flash hasn't scored as many as 60 points since that game, until today.The Flash finished the scoring with Anthony Damiano (Tamaqua, Pa. /Marian Catholic) picking up a fumble and rolling 1-yard into the end zone to make it 80-0.The Flash defense pitched its first shutout in nearly four years when it shut out Sacred Heart, 41-0, in Oct. 2010. The Flash also held the Dragons to negative-17 yards rushing, the first time the defense held an opponent under zero net yards rushing since its Div. III days when it held Gallaudet to negative-37 on Oct. 3, 1992.Twenty-eight defenders made at least one tackle for the Flash, with Brandon Small (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) leading the way with seven stops. The Flash's three interceptions gave the team its first multi-interception game of the season.