Box Score

Waltham, Mass. - Millersville scored first and took a lead in the third quarter, but Bentley's passing attack led by senior quarterback John White proved too much, as he rallied the Falcons to a 35-22 victory with 371 yards passing and four touchdowns Friday night in Waltham, Mass.

White hooked up with senior John Studley 10 times for 157 yards and two scores and also found Kyle Tuthill nine times for 183 yards and two scores. The potent offense and a pressuring defense that sacked the Marauders eight times kept Millersville offense off the field and without field position for the majority of Friday night's season opener. Millersville finished with 267 total yards of offense to Bentley's 474.

Despite White's efforts, the Marauders jumped out to an early advantage, staving off Bentley's 12-play opening drive. Millersville red-shirt sophomore Jamal Smith (Camp Hill/Trinity) turned the turnover into points, hitting converted running back Brad Lantz (Towanda/Towanda) for 43 yards on the second play from scrimmage. Smith scrambled for 16 more and Darnell Johnson (Gettysburg/Gettysburg) added 11 on a pair of carries before the drive stalled at the Bentley 2-yard line. The Falcons turned away three-straight Marauder rushes from inside the five, forcing the visitors to settle for an 18-yard John Banzhof (Lancaster/McCaskey) field goal.

The momentum appeared to be in the Marauders' favor after sophomore Matt Sutjak (Slatington/Northern Lehigh) intercepted White early in the second quarter. Banzhof, however, couldn't convert from 44 yards, and White and Studley hooked up for 46 yards to give Bentley its first lead of the game.

Bentley added Luis Cotto touchdown 27 seconds before the half to build the lead to 14-3. Millersville finished the first half with 100 yards of offense and Smith was 1-of-6 through air.

That quickly changed with Millersville scoring on its opening drive of the second half. Smith completed three-straight passes and teamed with Johnson on the ground to set up a nine-yard scoring strike to Derek Fry (New Bloomfied/West Perry) with 10:39 remaining in the third. It was Fry's first touchdown since his sophomore season of 2006.

The lead changed hands when Dan McClellan (Langhorne/Neshaminy) picked off White and turned it into six points with a 42 yard return that gave the Marauders a 16-14 advantage.

But from there, Bentley's offense took control. White and Tuthill connected from 15 yards with 3:20 left to retake the lead and White found Studley from six yards at the start of the fourth. After Millersville's ensuing position resulted in a punt, White led a four-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Tuthill's second TD grab.

Bill Shirk (Phoenixville/Phoenixville) entered the game for Millersville and led a late scoring drive, hitting Fry for his sixth catch and second touchdown. Despite playing only in the fourth, Shirk finished 8-of-12 for 74 yards and a TD. Smith completed 6-of-14 passes for 90 yards and also rushed for a team-high 69 yards on 15 carries. Freshman Matthew Booker (Norristown/Norristown) added 40 yards on eight lugs and Johnson tacked on 39 on 12 carries.

Lantz, who led the Marauders in rushing in each of the last two seasons, totaled five catches for a team-high 78 yards.
On defense, Sutjak led the Marauders with nine tackles. Jacob Haines (York/Dover) added four tackles and a sack, and Jarrod Linn (Gettysburg/Gettysburg) and Ryan Knox (Gettysburg/Delone Catholic)  combined for nine tackles and a sack. Bentley's Michael Duffy recorded three sacks to go along with 10 tackles.

QUICK NOTES
Friday's game was Millersville's first in the state of Massachusetts and also the first of Head Coach Greg Colby's tenure. All-time, Millersville coaches are 6-12-2 in their debuts.

Including the 17-10 win over Millersville in 2007, Bentley holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series.

Millersville has dropped three-straight season openers and are 1-4 in its last five season openers on the road. 

Jacob Haines registered his first career sack, Matt Sutjak made his first career interception and Dan McClellan made his second career interception and first career touchdown.