LORETTO, PA (November 17, 2012) - Sacred Heart sophomore running back Keshaudas Spence (Dorcester, MA) ran for 131 yards and two scores but Saint Francis' quarterback John Kelly racked up 187 yards to lead the Red Flash to a 44-24 win over the Pioneers in the season finale for both teams Saturday in Loretto, PA.

The Red Flash (5-6, 4-4 NEC) led 21-3 at the half and built a 34-10 lead into the third quarter en route to sending the Pioneers (2-9, 1-7 NEC) to their fifth-straight loss to end the year.  Kelly led an offense attack that rang up 344 yards on the ground.  Kelly accounted for four scores on the day, one rushing and three more through the air.

Kelly completed just six-of-12 passes for 58 yards but three of the six completions went for touchdowns.  Kelly found Kevin Parker, Dane Domonkos and Dan Conley for scores. 

The Pioneers had 356 yards of offense and 25 first downs in the loss.  Spence carried the ball 21 times for 131 yards.  Spence had second half touchdown runs of two and 48 yards.

Saint Francis scored on six of their first seven drives in the game while on the flip side, SHU had a fumble, missed field goald and three punts before the half.  

SHU pulled within 34-17 early in the fourth quarter as Spence took a hand-off on the first play of the drive and rumbled his way 48-yards for a score.  Saint Francis would pull away as Kelly found Conley from eight-yards out  to cap a nine-play drive at 10:34 and then the Red Flash converted a SHU fumble on the ensuing kick-off into a 31-yard Josh Thiel field goal for a 44-17 lead with 7:54 left.

SHU junior linebacker Justin Sexton (Murrietta, CA) turned in 14 tackles on Saturday to finish the season with 118 total tackles, 70 solo.  Sexton's 118 tackles this season ties him with Kayode Mayowa '02 for second in the SHU record book.  Mayowa holds the all-time single season record with 129 stops in 2000.

Freshman linebacker Kellen Sperduto finished out a strong rookie campaign with a season high 12 tackles and had a forced fumble on Saturday.  Sophomore Gordon Hill made 11 stops.

Spence finished the year with 816 yards rushing and six touchdowns.  He averaged 5.6 yards per carry on the season.

The Pioneers end the 2012 season with a 2-9 overall record and a 1-7 mark in the Northeast Conference.

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