Bucs Second Half Surge not enough in Loss to Panthers

Bucs Second Half Surge not enough in Loss to Panthers

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Saturday afternoon, the Buccaneers travelled to Plymouth State to take on the Panthers in MASCAC Play. In what was a low scoring affair, the Panthers kept the Bucs winless in conference winning the game, 17-14.

Offensively for the Bucs, quarterback Ty Ebdon (Gales Ferry, Conn) threw for 136 yards and two touchdown on 13 completions. Wide Receiver, Will Bennett (Sandwich, Mass) led the team in receiving with 63 yards on three catches, adding a 38-yard score. Ebdon's second touchdown pass was caught by senior Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass). Sances recorded six catches in the game for 51 yards. Coming off an injury that sidelined him for two weeks, running back Matt Long (Wymouth, Mass) led the Bucs on the ground with 37 yards. The ground game was split three ways as Long, Benjamin Sheehan (Wilbraham, Mass), and Andrew Decarteret (Nashua, N.H.) each had over 20 yards in the game. Defensively, Hunter Leveille (Easthampton, Mass), led the team and the game with nine tackles while also forcing and revering a fumble. Captain, Kamil Bak (Southampton, Mass) recorded a sack in the game, the only sack by the Maritime defense. Punter George Lampros (Bridegwater, Mass) punted nine times in the game totaling 338 yards with a long of 47 yards and averaged 37.6 yards per punt, pinning the Panthers inside their own 20 yard line once.

For the Panthers, quarterback Zack Edwards passed for 183 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the game, completing 14 of 22 passes. Running back David Hamilton rushed for 108 yards and a score in the game on 15 carries. Wide Receiver, Jacob Szulc caught three passes for a game high 74 yards and a score. Defensively, Matt Shea led the Panthers with six total tackles. Zac Garside recorded the only sack on the day for Plymouth.

The first half was all Plymouth State on the scoreboard, scoring 14 first half points, seven in the first, seven in the second. The host's first quarter touchdown came on a Hamilton nine-yard run, scoring five minutes in to the game after the Buccaneers gave the Panthers a short field. They extended their lead to 14-0 in the second quarter on a 55-yard strike from Edwards to Szulc.

In the second half, the Buccaneer defense held the Panthers to just three points, which ended up being the different. Early in the third quarter, the Bucs cut the Panther lead in half by way of a 38-yard touchdown pass from Ebdon to Bennett. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Panthers drove 75 yards in 14 plays but were stopped shot by the Buc defense, forcing a field goal from 16 yards out that Plymouth kicker Jeremy Martin hit to give the home team a 10-points lead over Maritime. On the ensuing drive, The Buccaneers cut the deficit to three points on the Sances touchdown from six yards out. Though the Bucs got the ball back late in the fourth quarter, they turned the ball over on downs. With one time out remaining and 2:40 left on the clock, the Buccaneers were unable to stop the Panthers from getting a much needed first down. Following the first down, Plymouth kneeled the ball three times to run the clock out and take a 17-14 victory in conference over the Bucs.

With the loss, the Buccaneers fall to 1-6 on the season, 0-5 in the MASCAC. The Panthers improve to 4-3, 3-3 in conference play.

Next up for the Buccaneers is a home game on October 27th at 12pm against Worcester State at Clean Harbors Stadium. Prior to the game, Maritime will recognize five seniors as part of Senior Day.