BANGOR, Maine – Husson football lost to Gallaudet Saturday afternoon, in a Eastern Collegiate Football Conference matchup. The Bison of Washington DC used a tough option running attack that gave the Eagles fits all day.
The Eagles won the toss and deferred to the second half. Reece Attard kicked off for a second time due to a procedure penalty and bounced the kick into the endzone for a touchback. Gallaudet methodically matriculated downfield on the opening drive. Running back Braxton Baker saw the ball six times on the drive, running for 64 of the 75 yards leading up to his touchdown 4:32 into the game.
Husson’s first drive was short-lived, fumbling back to Gallaudet on the second play. Quarterback Todd Bonheyo and his Bison took over at the Eagle 37 and proceeded to rush four straight times, turning over to Husson.
The teams traded drives once again, as Gallaudet’s Bonheyo found the endzone himself with 6:40 to go in the first. Bonheyo tucked and ran on the quarterback keeper, scampering 43 yards to the outside for the 6-pointer. Husson’s Ernest Wiggins managed to block the extra point to keep the score at 13-0.
Ben Foss returned the ensuing kickoff 25 yards to the Bison 47, setting up the Eagles for their first score of the afternoon. Kash Keezer completed a 20-yard pass to Foss for the first down, and then ran for 24 more down to the Bison nine. Josiah Hartley joined the action, catching passes of five and four yards from Keezer, with the latter of which going for six. Attard tacked on the extra point to cut the lead to 13-7.
The barrage of scoring in the first quarter wasn’t quite over, as the Bison added one more score with only a second left. Bonheyo ran to the endzone from beyond 40 yards again, evading Eagle defenders for 41 yards. Chase Magsig’s kick missed wide and Gallaudet now led 19-7.
The Bison lit up the board once again on a monster 11-play, 62-yard, 6:36 drive resulting in another Baker touchdown. The point after continued to haunt Gallaudet, this time by way of an incomplete pass on the two point conversion.
Keezer and the Eagles came back just moments later, as Kash completed yet again to Hartley for 16 yards, setting up a touchdown from the nine yet again. This time Keezer dropped back and found Jon DiBiase in the endzone for the touchdown. Reece Attard added another extra point to make it 25-14.
Gallaudet added two more scores in the first half alone on quick, efficient drives totaling less than two minutes each. Bonheyo rushed from eight yards out and threw to Nick Elstad for six more, pushing the Bison lead to 38-14 at the half.
Husson did well to shut down their guests, but were unable to score in the second half. Bonheyo added a one yard run to the scoreboard halfway through the fourth quarter for the only score in the half. Gallaudet’s lead climbed to 44-14, the final score.
Westfield 63, MMA 13
CASTINE, Maine — Westfield State scored on six of its seven first half possessions en route to a 63-13 win over Maine Maritime in New England Football Conference Bogan Division action at Ritchie Field on Saturday. The win, Westfieldís first in seven tries against Maine Maritime, lifted the Owls to 2-4 (1-2 Bogan), while the Mariners fell to 0-5, 0-3.
Westfield set the tone on its first play from scrimmage when freshman quarterback, Erik Wahsburn (Lisbon, Conn.), found Kane Terilli (Cranston, R.I.) beyond the Mariners secondary for a 75-yard touchdown. Washburn completed 13 of 18 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon. Terilli caught four passes for 106 yards, while Kevin Parnell (Berlin, Conn.) and Kevin Nicol (Wolcott, Conn.) each caught three passes, including a touchdown for each.
After Terilliís opening touchdown, Westfield’s offense became the Michael Mercadante (Wilbraham, Mass.) show. The Owl’s sophomore runningback found paydirt on each of the next three Westfield possessions, scoring from 10, 15, and six yards out. Mercadante pounded out 154 yards on 18 touches in the game, averaging 8.6 yards per carry.
Andrew Buanno (Enfield, Conn.) picked up 48 rushing yards on 11 carries and found the end zone twice. The Owls rushed for a total of 264 yards on the day. Westfield States defense also got in on the scoring. Billy Greene (Easton, Mass.) scooped a fumble from the turf and rumbled 56 yards to paydirt.
Westfield’s 63 points represents a new program record, supplanting the old mark of 54 points scored against Massachusetts Maritime back in 2002.
Billy Wetherbee (Veazie, Maine) led the Mariners rushing attack with 55 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while freshman signal caller, Michael Fahey (Union, Conn.), picked up 52 yards on 16 touches. Fahey shared time at quarterback with classmate, Michael Cummings (Bucksport, Maine). Cummings rushed for 50 yards and a score. The Mariners rushed for 234 yards in the game.
Justin Erhardt (Stoneham, Mass.) spearheaded Westfield’s defensive effort with 11 tackles, eight of which were solo efforts. Included in his tackles were three sacks. He forced and recovered a fumble as well. Cam Wilcox (Groton, Mass.) recorded five tackles and forced the fumble that became Greene’s touchdown, while Erik Wellhoff (Natick, Mass.) intercepted a pass.
Jonathan Fader (Bangor, Maine) recorded five tackles and intercepted a pass for Maine Maritime. Joshua Hall (Sidney, Maine) recovered a fumble on a punt return that set up the Mariners’ second score late in the fourth quarter.
Wesleyan 31, Colby 28
WATERVILLE, Maine —- Wesleyan University stayed unbeaten on the season after scoring 10 points in the final 2:31 of the contest to pull out a 31-28 victory over Colby College in New England Small College Athletic Conference football Saturday at Seaverns Field at Harold Alfond Stadium.
Wesleyan moves to 3-0 and will journey back up to Maine for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday at Bates College. Colby drops to 0-3 overall and will play at Amherst College next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Sebastian Aguirre (Denville, N.J.) booted a 20-yard field goal with just 34 seconds remaining for the deciding points and then the Cardinals had to hold off a wild final drive by Colby.
LaDarius Drew (Mesquite, Texas) had 112 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Wesleyan, while tight end Kevin Hughes (Boxboro, Mass.) finished with five catches for 115 yards. Cardinal quarterback Jesse Warren (Chicopee, Mass.) threw for 233 yards and one touchdown.
For the Mules, first-year quarterback Justin Ciero (Chappaqua, N.Y.) had his best game of his young career with 283 yards passing, three passing touchdowns, 102 yards rushing, one rushing touchdown and no interceptions. Senior Derrick Beasley, who plays defensive back for the Mules, made his collegiate offensive debut and did it style with two touchdown catches on three grabs for 46 yards.
Ciero gave the Mules a 28-21 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Ciero had a 17-yard completion to Michael Lahiff (Melrose, Mass.) and added runs himself of 8 and 13 yards on the drive.
The start of Wesleyan’s comeback happened on a bad snap from center with the Mules punting from their own 43-yard line. Wesleyan recovered the ball at Colby’s 38-yard line and suddenly had good field position with about five minutes to play.
Warren had five completions on the drive and Drew rushed for 12 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown run with just 2:31 to play to tie it at 28-28.
The Mules went three-and-out on their drive and a 28-yard punt into the wind gave the Cardinals the ball on their own 43-yard line. Drew had the big play of the drive, a 31-yard run to get the ball to the Colby 4-yard line. Three plays later, Aguirre kicked his field goal.
With just 34 seconds and no timeouts, Ciero hit Beasley on a huge 30-yard completion to the Wesleyan 40-yard line. With just seven seconds remaining, Ciero found Indigo Dow (Cambridge, Mass.) for a first down at the Cardinal 22-yard line. Colby argued that time was still left on the clock and it should have been stopped after Dow had the first down, but the officials ruled that time had run out.
Colby held leads of 7-0, 14-7, 21-14, and 28-21 in the game. The Mules took the opening drive 75 yards in 11 plays and converted when Ciero hit Beasley on an 8-yard scoring pass.
Wesleyan had great field position on the Mules’ 32-yard line to start a drive after a punt from the end zone. Warren hit Hughes on a 21-yard pass play to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Kyle Gibson (Ridgewood, N.J.) with 14:33 to play in the second quarter.
Beasley caught his second 8-yard scoring pass from Ciero with 5:46 to play to intermission. Ciero ran for 40 yards on the drive.
Wesleyan nearly ran out the time in making it 14-14 at the break. The Cardinals drove 77 yards on 13 plays, capped off when Warren hit Dan D’Arcy (Concord, Mass.) on a 3-yard scoring pass. Warren threw for 55 yards on the drive and Drew had 20 yards on four rushes.
Jason Buco (Methuen, Mass.) did the job defensively and offensively to get Colby’s Family Homecoming Weekend crowd fired up. He intercepted a pass at Colby’s 2-yard line to keep Wesleyan from taking the lead. Buco stayed on the field and caught a 94-yard scoring strike from Ciero to put the Mules up 21-14.
Wesleyan quieted the crowd, though, in a hurry. Warren connected with Hughes on a 74-yard pass play to the Colby 1-yard line on the first play of the drive. Drew smashed in from 1 yard out to tie the game again at 21-21.
Donnie Cimino (Westwood, N.J.) made nine tackles for Wesleyan, while Henry Nelson (Reeding, Conn.) had 12 stops for Colby. Buco’s interception was his NESCAC-leading fourth of the season.
Bowdoin 17, Tufts 10
BRUNSWICK, Maine – Led by 137 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Zach Donnarumma, the Bowdoin College football team picked up its first victory of the 2012 season with a 17-10 win over Tufts on Saturday.
The Polar Bears, who accumulated 215 yards on the ground as a team, improve to 1-2 this fall. The Jumbos fall to 0-3 this season and have lost 18 consecutive games overall.
Greg Pierce also contributed 73 yards on the ground for Bowdoin while Thomas Romero went 13-25 with 131 yards passing. Bowdoin limited Tufts’ high-powered passing attack, holding John Dodds to 124 yards passing despite completing 21-36. Pat Nee caught six passes for 56 yards while Justin Weaver gained 66 yards on the ground for the Jumbos.
Tufts attempted to catch Bowdoin off guard on the first play from scrimmage, running a reverse wide-receiver option pass, but Matt Johnson’s toss was intercepted by Beau Breton giving the Polar Bears great field position. The Polar Bears couldn’t cash in, however, as the Tufts defense forced a three-and-out.
The teams traded possessions until late in the opening quarter, when Bowdoin marched 51 yards in 14 plays to set up a 41-yard field goal from Jimmy Garvey. Tufts responded with a 10-play, 54-yard drive, capped by a 22-yard field goal from Connor McDavitt to even the score early in the second quarter.
Bowdoin took the ensuing kickoff and, after a bad snap put them inside their own 10 on the very first play, went 93 yards over the next 12 plays, including a 21-yard touchdown scamper by Donnarumma that gave the hosts a 10-3 edge heading into halftime.
A fumble by Pierce to start the second half allowed Tufts to tie the contest right out of the break. Weaver carried the ball five times on a seven-play drive for the Jumbos, including a three-yard plunge up the middle to tie the game at 10 apiece.
Neither team could pull ahead until late in the fourth quarter when Bowdoin took over at their own 40 with 5:45 to play. A 17-yard pass from Romero to Matt Perlow put the Polar Bears at the Tufts 37 and Donnarumma and Pierce took over from there, carrying the ball seven consecutive times, ending in a five-yard dive to paydirt by Donnarumma with 2:36 to go.
Tufts took the next kickoff and drove to the Bowdoin 32 with under a minute to play. But a fourth-and-nine pass by Dodds was broken up by Jon Fraser to seal the victory for the Polar Bears.
Griffin Cardew made 14 tackles to lead Bowdoin. Tommy Meade and Sam Diss had 10 tackles each for the Jumbos. The Polar Bears will travel to play at Hamilton next Saturday at noon. Tufts will return to action next Saturday at Trinity for a 1:30 p.m. start.
Bates 33, Williams 6
LEWISTON, Maine — Bates College dominated Williams College from start to finish, winning 33-6 at Garcelon Field on Saturday for their third win ever against the Ephs, and their second straight.
Bates (2-1) ran the ball 66 times for 305 yards and piled up 28 first downs to Williams’ 12. Patrick George ran the ball 22 times for 104 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Trevor Smith turned 19 keepers into 98 yards, career-high totals for both players. Teddy Downs ran 14 times for 68 yards and another score. Smith also completed 12 of 14 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns, both to Kevin Davis.
Bates is off to a 2-1 start for the second straight year, again matching the team’s best start after three games since 1982. The Bobcats upset the Ephs a year ago in Williamstown by a 35-26 score.
The Bobcats forced four turnovers and committed none, maintaining their average of a plus-three difference in giveaways per game. Bates possessed the ball for 37:59 to Williams’ 22:01 and outgained the Ephs in total offense, 420-188.
Bates led 33-0 before Williams broke up the shutout with 7:56 left in the game, on a 1-yard touchdown run by Kristian Lapointe. Lapointe finished with 76 yards on 18 carries.
Williams (1-2) quarterback Adam Marske completed 9 of 24 passes for 86 yards and three interceptions. Chris Cameron had a game-high 11 tackles for the Ephs, including two for a loss.