MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME FOOTBALL

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Clean Harbors Stadium, Buzzards Bay, Mass.

FINAL:                   MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 42, COAST GUARD 38

                                                                               1              2              3              4                              Total

Coast Guard (1-2, 0-1 NEFC)                                  7              14           14           3              -                 38

Massachusetts Maritime (2-1, 1-0 NEFC)                0              9              23           10           -                 42

SCORING SUMMARY

CGA:      Jake Wawrzyniak 4 yd run (Tyler Henning kick)                                                           1:38 1^st

MAM:      Brandon Rodrigues 26 yd FG                                                                                           13:38 2^nd

CGA:      Casey Paris 16 yd pass from Jon Resch (Henning kick)                                            9:29 2^nd

MAM:      Barry Reopell 1 yd run (pass failed)                                                                                                5:08 2^nd

CGA:      Collis Brown 18 yd pass from Resch (Henning kick)                                                   0:50 2^nd

CGA:      Pat Meggers 52 yd pass from Resch (Henning kick)                                                   12:39 3^rd

MAM:      Keith Caruso 18 yd pass from Mike Stanton (Caruso pass from Stanton)                              9:56 3^rd

MAM:      E.J. Bennett 9 yd pass from Stanton (Caruso pass from Stanton)                            5:32 3^rd

MAM:      Bennett 60 yd pass from Stanton (Rodrigues kick)                                                      3:26 3^rd

CGA:      Resch 2 yd run (Henning kick)                                                                                          0:08 3^rd

MAM:      Rodrigues 27 yd FG                                                                                                            12:38 4^th

CGA:      Henning 44 yd FG                                             10:40 4^th

MAM:      Stefan Gustafson 66 yd run (Rodrigues kick)                                                                                9:43 4th

Attendance:          1,215

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Junior Stefan Gustafson’s 66-yard touchdown run with 9:43 remaining provided the winning score, as fellow junior Mike Stanton (Quincy, Mass.) threw for a school-record 420 yards and three touchdowns to enable Massachusetts Maritime to rally from a 19-point third quarter deficit and post a wild 42-38 victory over Coast Guard in the New England Football Conference Bogan Division opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium.

Trailing 28-9 just 2:21 into the second half, Stanton rallied the host Buccaneers (2-1, 1-0 NEFC Bogan) with three touchdown passes in a six-and-a-half minute span, as he connected on an 18-yard scoring toss and a subsequent two-point conversion with fellow junior Keith Caruso (Hingham, Mass.) to close Massachusetts Maritime’s gap to 28-17 with 9:56 to play in the third.  Following junior Eddy Ramos’s (Sunny Isles, Fla.) second interception of the day, Stanton connected with sophomore E.J. Bennett (East Wareham, Mass.) on a nine-yard touchdown pass and another two-point conversion to Caruso, and after an interception by sophomore Zachary Ryan (Danvers, Mass.) on the hosts’ 26, Stanton and Bennett hooked up again two plays later on a 60-yard scoring reception that gave the Buccaneers a 32-28 advantage with 3:26 to play in the third stanza.

Senior quarterback Jon Resch (Lititz, Pa.) gave the visiting Bears (1-2, 0-1 NEFC Bogan) the lead back at 35-32 by capping a 10-play, 79-yard drive with a two-yard scoring plunge that came with eight seconds to play in the third, a touchdown that was set-up when he connected with senior Pat Meggers (Manchester, Conn.) on a 56-yard pass on 3^rd-and-20 from his own 42-yard line.  Senior Evan Sheridan (Chelmsford, Mass.) returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to set Massachusetts Maritime up at the Coast Guard 27-yard line to begin the final stanza, and junior Brandon Rodrigues (Brockton, Mass.) booted his second field goal of the day from 27 yards out to even matters at 35-35 with 12:38 to play in the contest. 

Freshman Tyler Henning’s (Cypress, Tex.) 44-yard field goal on the ensuing possession gave the Bears the lead for the final time at 38-35 with 10:40 remaining, but Gustafson provided the margin of victory for the Buccaneers on their ensuing possession, breaking free on the third play of the drive to account for the final points of the day.  Resch drove Coast Guard down to the Massachusetts Maritime 8-yard-line with just over five minutes remaining after converting a 3^rd-and-22 play at his own 47, but sophomore Kevin Stanton’s (Abington, Mass.) first career interception with 5:16 remaining gave the hosts possession, and Gustafson converted a 3^rd-and-3 at the visitors’ 32-yard line that enabled the Buccaneers to run out the clock and notch their triumph.

Coast Guard missed a golden opportunity to take an early lead after Gustafson fumbled on the opening kickoff, as Kevin Stanton and sophomore Victor Andrade (Yarmouthport, Mass.) combined for a stop on the Buccaneer 1 to force a turnover on downs.  Henning missed a 22-yard field goal attempt on the Bears next possession, but after senior Curt Barrett’s (Bremen, Ga.) interception of a Mike Stanton pass at the visitors’ 35, Resch drove his troops down for a 7-0 lead on a four-yard scamper by sophomore Jake Wawryzniak (Sylvania, Ohio) with 1:38 to play in the opening period.  Rodrigues sliced Massachusetts Maritime’s deficit to 7-3 just 1:22 into the second stanza on a 26-yard field goal, but Resch and senior Casey Paris (East Tawakoni, Tex.) hooked up on a 16-yard scoring strike on the ensuing Bear possession and a 14-3 visitors’ edge.  Senior Barry Reopell (South Dennis, Mass.) capped a nine-play, 86-yard drive on the ensuing Buccaneer possession to slice the hosts’ deficit to 14-9, but Resch extended the Coast Guard lead to 21-9 at the break after hooking up with sophomore Collis Brown (Kingswood, Tex.) on a 18-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds to play before intermission, and Meggers hauled in a 53-yard scoring reception on the Bears’ opening possession of the second half that extended the visitors’ advantage to 28-9, setting up the frantic comeback and finish.

Mike Stanton completed 26-of-36 passes to shatter the previous school record of 323 passing yards in a contest set by Mike Blomberg against Framingham State on October 1, 2005, as Caruso tied his own school record with 12 receptions for a career-best 195 yards.  Bennett hauled in eight catches for a career-best 165 yards for the Buccaneers, as Gustafson rushed for a career-high 216 yards on 22 carries for the hosts, who amassed a school-record 695 yards of total offense on the afternoon in posting its third win in 15-series meetings between the two schools.

Resch completed 35-of-65 attempts for 468 yards (one of his school record) to go with his three touchdowns in the setback for Coast Guard, which amassed 602 yards of offense to enable the two squads to combine for nearly 1,300 yards on 179 plays (95 for the Bears, 84 for the Buccaneers).  Meggers hauled in six receptions for 182 yards for the visitors, who also received 108 yards on the ground from Wawrzyniak and 10 catches for 95 yards from Brown.

Kevin Stanton registered a career-high 14 total tackles (11 solo) to go with his interception for Massachusetts Maritime, as Ramos set up a pair of Buccaneer scores with his two picks while adding five stops.  Sophomore Aaron Black (Edmond, Okla.) recorded 13 total tackles (11 solo) and a sack in the setback for Coast Guard, which also received 10 tackles (eight solo) and an interception from senior Dante Adams (Chesapeake, Va.).

Massachusetts Maritime heads to Framingham, Mass. next Saturday afternoon to take on Framingham State in a New England Football Conference Bogan Division match-up that kicks off at Noon, while Coast Guard hosts Fitchburg State in an NEFC Bogan Division contest next Saturday afternoon in New London, Conn. that kicks off at 1:30 p.m.