After dropping a 35-17 decision at Western Michigan to open the season, the Red Flash stay on the road this weekend, traveling to former Northeast Conference rival Robert Morris on Saturday.
Kickoff against the Colonials is at 6 p.m. and the game can be viewed on ESPN+.
Week 1 of the 2023 season kicked off with Saint Francis getting its resilience tested early. After an interception by SFU’s Aakeem Snell in the endzone on the first drive of the game, Western Michigan regained its poise and scored touchdowns on its next two possessions.
Saint Francis’ first points of the season came on a 21-yard field goal by Mac Plummer. The scoring drive was aided by a 41-yard Cole Doyle precision pass to Mekhi Workman on a 3rd-and-11.
The Broncos scored a touchdown on their possession after the Flash field goal, but it was on that drive that SFU senior cornerback Desmond Harrod delivered a monster hit on Western Michigan running back Keshawn King, who left the game and did not return.
With 1:12 left in the first half and SFU possessing the ball at its own 23, Doyle showed the crowed of 19,000-plus why he was last season’s Northeast Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Year.
Doyle turned what appeared to be a broken play into a 77-yard scoring catch-and-run by Dawson Snyder to cut the Broncos lead to 21-10 heading into halftime.
The SFU offense dialed up a 10-play, 85-yard scoring drive after the intermission that relied heavily on the running of QuaSean Holmes. The junior from Charlotte capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown burst to draw the Flash with four, 21-17.
Those however would be the last points on the night for SFU.
The next Western Michigan drive was essentially what decided the game. Saint Francis forced Western Michigan into four consecutive 3rd and mediums, but the Broncos converted on each of them.
The biggest conversion of the series was a 3rd-and-8 when Western Michigan quarterback Jack Salopek threw an ill-advised pass on the run, but somehow managed to slip it between two SFU defenders.
The final converted 3rd down saw Western Michigan eighth-year senior Austin Hence catch a 9-yard touchdown pass to make the score 28-17.
The Broncos would add one more TD in the fourth quarter to set the final.
