CASTINE, Maine — As the head football coach of Worcester State College for the last 27 years, not much surprises Brien Cullen.
He knows his program and fellow New England Football Conference members as well as anyone, but even he admits knowledge isn’t always power.
“Maine Maritime’s always had those good fullbacks since Chris McKenney’s been here with that option attack,” Cullen said. “Sure, you know what they’re going to do, but that doesn’t mean you can stop it.”
Cullen’s Lancers couldn’t stop it or, more specifically, Maine Maritime Academy fullback Jim Bower, as he literally ran over them en route to the Mariners’ 41-20 win on a Saturday afternoon at Ritchie Field.
Bower ran over, through, around, across and against the winless Lancers. Even with Worcester State’s defense keying on him, the burly senior ran the ball 28 times for 252 yards and three touchdowns.
How does he do it? His 5-foot-9, 225-pound bulldog build certainly helps, but that’s not the only factor.
“We get him in there pretty quickly and opponents know they have to defend all three parts of the option,” said McKenney. “I think having an athletic offensive line instead of just being big is a key, too.”
That line, made up of Dan Weamer, Mike Secord, Andrew McCann, Mike Durrell and Travis Berube along with tight end Travis Shaw, paved the way for a whopping 519 total yards — all on the ground.
As impressive as the offense was yet again, it was Maine Maritime’s defense that had McKenney and many of his coaches and players smiling.
“We made some plays on a pretty athletic quarterback and we’ve had some kids step up to make some big plays the last couple weeks,” McKenney said. “The defensive line has really gotten better the last couple games, making sacks and batting balls down.”
The 4-1 Mariners came up with three interceptions, five sacks and seven tackles for a loss with the pressure they were generating on the Lancers’ backfield. They also broke up five passes.
“We worked all week on the pass rush and getting to the quarterback, getting pressure on him, and not letting him roll out. It was almost like playing another defense,” said sophomore linebacker Chris Brawn. “That’s the problem from past weeks is letting them get outside. Today we kept our lanes and got the sacks even though he’s a tough guy to grab.”
Brawn, one of the new faces on a young defensive corps that has been going through some growing pains during some of MMA’s high-scoring games, was in on nine tackles and had two sacks.
“Every week we come in thinking we need to start getting it done on defense too,” said Brawn. “The last two weeks, our ‘D’ has played pretty well. We’re playing with more of a chip on our shoulder.”
Senior cornerback Mike Riley led the Mariners with two interceptions and 11 tackles.
The Mariners sailed out to an early lead by taking the opening kickoff and driving 56 yards in 13 plays, the last of which was Bower’s 31-yard TD run with 9:20 left in the first quarter. The Lancers’ opening drive was ended by a Riley interception, but a fumble gave the ball right back and they marched 41 yards in six plays to make cut MMA’s lead to 7-6. The Mariners would score two TDs on their next two possessions and take a 20-6 lead into halftime.
A Lancers’ interception gave them the ball at their own 44-yard line and they used 10 plays to go 56 yards and score to make it a 20-13 game. The teams traded touchdowns on the next two possessions to make it 27-20 MMA with 2:12 left in the third, but MMA would seize momentum back for good by scoring on its next two possessions.
John Hussey returned a kickoff 32 yards to spark a seven-play, 47-yard TD drive and Conor Callahan set up the second drive with an interception at the WS 36 that led to a 36-yard TD run by Todd Murphy (109 yards, three carries) to make it 41-20 Mariners with 13:18 left.