Buc Defense Tallies 11 Sacks in Win over Lancers

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – This weekend marked Homecoming for Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Buccaneer football welcomed in Worcester State to Clean Harbors Stadium for their second conference game of the season. After a lackluster performance in the first half, the Buccaneers scored 21 second half points to secure a 28-13 victory over the Lancers. The win mean that the Bucs are 4-0 to begin the season. This is the first time they have started a season 4-0 since 2000.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 28, Lancers 13

Records: Mass Maritime 4-0 (2-0 MASCAC)

                Worcester State 0-5 (0-3 MASCAC)

For The Bucs

• Senior quarterback Matt Long (Weymouth, Mass) went 10-for-19 through the air for 72 yards and an interception. On the ground, he ran the ball 25 times for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Including one from 41-yard out. Long also caught a 13-yard pass from wide receiver Will Bennett (Sandwich, Mass).
• Bennett led the Bucs in receiving yards with 30 on two catches.
• On defense, Jack Fontana (Grafton, Mass) led the team with 14 tackles. He also had a sack.
• Maritime's defense racked up 11 sacks total. Six of which, three apiece, came from Coling McCabe (Dartmouth, Mass) and Kyle Johnston (Raynham, Mass). Freshman Hugh Wells (West Hartford, Conn) had 1.5 sacks on the day.
• The Bucs forced four fumbles in the game, two by Johnston and one by Kyle Rogers (Abington, Mass). On a deep pass play destine for the end zone, Rogers came up behind the receiver and punched the ball out.
• The three fumble recoveries by the Bucs were by Austin Stahmer (Wareham, Mass) on the Rogers force, and two by McCabe including one in the end zone for a Martime touchdown.
• Junior Peter Banks (Webster, Mass) had a timely interception of Worcester which he returned for 59 yards to set up the Buc offense.
• On special teams, kicker/punter George Lampros (Bridgewater, Mass) converted all four of his extra point attempts and punted the ball six times for 237 yards, two of the punts pinned Worcester inside their own 20.
• Long punted four times for 129 yards, three inside the Worcester 20 yard line.

For The Lancers

• Quarterback Austin-Moses Williams (Springfield, Mass) completed 30 of his 41 pass attempts for 405 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
• Running back Amir Mells led the team in rushing yards with 44 on 15 attempts.
• Tight end Colin Robinson (Centerville, Mass) caught seven passes for a game high 156 yards.
• Wide Receiver Cam Kergo (Mashpee, Mass) caught a game-high 10 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
• Defensively, AJ Byard (Deerfield Beach, Fla) led the Lancers with eight total tackles. He also had a sack for a loss of seven yards.
• Gus Ranstrom (Natick, Mass) had the only other sack of the game for Worcester to go along with five tackles.
• Noah Peterson (Millbury, Mass) intercepted the Buccaneers and had two tackles.
• On special teams, punter Kyle Wall (Sterling, Mass) punted the ball six times for 259 yards, with a long of 60 yards. He pinned the Bucs inside their own 20 three times.
• Williams fumbled the ball three times, Robinson once. Three of the four fumbles were recovered by the Buccaneers.

How It Happened

The first quarter of play began with back-to-back three an outs by the Bucs and Lancers. Each team had three possessions in the first 15 minutes. Unable to move the ball for than 45 yards down the field, the score remained 0-0 at the end of one period of play.

The second quarter began with a Maritime punt which was shanked for 29 yards. On the first place of the drive, Worcester scored on a 30-yard pass from Williams to Kergo to put the Lancers up 7-0.  Later in the second quarter, The Buccaneers tied the game on a three-yard run by Long to cap off an 11-play, 70-yard drive. Worcester would get the ball back but run the clock out over eight plays and forty yards to bring the first half to a close with the score tied, 7-7.

To open the second half, Worcester received the opening kick and proceeded to go 65 yards in three players to retake the lead, 13-7, after a missed PAT. The teams once again traded possessions throughout the remainder of the third quarter with no team finding the end zone. Worcester took a 13-7 lead to final 15 minutes of play.

In the fourth quarter, Maritime opened the quarter by scoring on a five-play, 80-yard drive to tie the score and take the lead, 14-13. Long scored the touchdown on a 41-yard scramble, followed by Lampros' extra point. After shutting down the ensuing Worcester possession with a Bank interception of Williams, the Buccaneers began a drive at the Lancer eight yard line. Following a pass to Bennett, Long took the ball in to the end zone for his third score of the day, 12^th of the season on the ground to go up 21-13. Maritime held the one-score lead late in the quarter and eventually extended the lead with just under four minutes remaining in the game. On a drop back, Worcester's quarterback fumbled the ball which was kicked around until it was recovered by McCabe in the end zone for the Buccaneer score. That would be the final scoring play of the game and the Buccaneers sealed their 28-13 victory over the Lancers.

The win is the fourth of the season for the Bucs, they are 2-0 in the MASCAC. It is the first time since 2000 that the Buccaneers have begun a season 4-0.

Up Next

The Buccaneers travel to Danbury, Conn next Saturday to take on Western Connecticut State University at 5pm in Conference play.