CASTINE, Maine — It wasn’t difficult for Western New England College football coach Keith Emery to sum up the reason why his team had such a hard time containing Maine Maritime Academy’s rushing attack Saturday.
“They were just better than we were. Flat out,” Emery said after MMA’s 41-21 victory on a warm and sunny afternoon at Ritchie Field. “We had people in the right position at times, but they were breaking arm tackles left and right.
“Everybody knows what they’re going to do and they haven’t changed much over the years, but we couldn’t stop them.”
The MMA Mariners averaged a whopping 5.3 yards per carry en route to 377 total on the ground behind the offensive line of center Dan Weamer, right guard Mike Secord, left guard Andrew McCann, right tackle Travis Berube and left tackle Michael Durrell.
“Our offensive line did a great job today. The middle of the line, the two guards and the center, had a heck of a push today,” said senior fullback Jim Bower. “They were like five yards down the field before I even got the ball sometimes.”
Bower pushed forward for 164 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.
“We did a decent job in our goal-line situations, but play in and play out, being able to tackle that kid, we just didn’t get that done,” Emery said of Bower. “He’s a bull and a sawed-off, powerful kid who runs through arm tackles.”
The 2-0 Mariners jumped out to a quick lead by capping a 63-yard drive on their opening possession with a 1-yard TD run by quarterback Tyler Angell 6½ minutes into the game.
Two possessions later, WNEC took its only lead of the game (7-6) with 2:12 left in the first quarter when Kenny Muhlack hauled in a 13-yard TD pass from Justin Walz and Jake Field added the extra-point kick despite it being deflected.
The Mariners didn’t let the Golden Bears’ newfound momentum last long, however, as they capped a 40-yard, eight-play scoring drive with Bower’s 5-yard TD run. MMA made it 21-7 just five minutes later when Bower scored another touchdown, this time on a 3-yard run up the middle to cap a six-play, 66-yard drive. The drive was highlighted by a 46-yard pass from Tyler Angel to Travis Shaw, who had been open on the same pattern two plays earlier but was unable to catch the ball after it was tipped away.
“It was the same play,” said Angell, who completed 3 of 5 passes for 150 yards and no interceptions. “He said in the huddle he was going to be open on and he was on that first play so we went with it again.”
“All our backs turned in a great effort today, our line did a good job, and we’re not a passing team, but if they’re overplaying the run and we have a chance to throw it, we will and we completed a couple of big ones,” said MMA coach Chris McKenney. “Overall they played a great game.”
After an 85-yard kickoff return by WNEC freshman Mike Graham cut MMA’s lead to 21-14, the Mariners started leaving the Bears in their wake. The Mariners scored to make it 27-14 after marching 68 yards in nine plays. MMA would get rolling with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive after the Bears stalled out on their opening possession of the second half at their own 39-yard line. Nick Bourassa’s 9-yard TD run made it 35-14 with 8:39 left in the third.
“They did a nice job checking us and went the ways we didn’t want them to go most of the time,” Emery said. “We had difficulty tackling the dive and difficulty getting the pitch player off the block, and that’s really it in a nutshell.”
Graham led the 1-1 Bears with a game-high 169 yards on 11 carries.
Travis Fergola and Wade Mondoux led MMA’s defense with 10 total tackles (two for losses), six assists and an interception (Mondoux).