Sacred Heart beats Division II St. Anselm 10-3 for the Pioneers' first victory as an FCS independent

Updated Sep. 7, 2024 4:53 p.m. ET

Associated Press

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (AP) — John Michalski threw for 86 yards and rushed for 71 as Sacred Heart beat Division II St. Anselm 10-3 on Saturday for the Pioneers' first victory as an FCS independent.

Sacred Heart is playing as an independent after moving into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which doesn’t sponsor football.

Both of Sacred Heart's scoring drives ended with under a minute left in the first half.

Sacred Heart opened the scoring following a 16-play drive that took over seven minutes on a 29-yard field goal by Matt Kling. St. Anselm fumbled it four plays later and Xavier Leigh capitalized on a 3-yard TD.

St. Anselm's lone score came on a 42-yard field goal by Patrick Carroll early in the fourth.

St. Anselm was held to just nine first downs and 88 total yards.

Michalski was 10-of-16 passing and carried it 17 times for Sacred Heart (1-1).

Anthony Santino went 12 of 19 for 69 yards for the Hawks.

It was the second meeting between the programs with Sacred Heart winning 43-19 on Sept. 5, 2015. Sacred Heart outgained Saint Anselm 402-289 in that contest.

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