BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – Saturday afternoon, the Buccaneers hosted Fitchburg State in their conference opener this afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium. In their first home game since their victory over SUNY Maritime in the Chowder Bowl two weeks ago, Maritime picked up their second home win of the season, 28-0, over the Falcons.

The Basics

Final: Maritime 28, Fitchburg 0

Records: Maritime 2-1 (1-0 MASCAC)

                Fitchburg 0-4 (0-2 MASCAC)

For The Bucs

• Curtis Cann (Easton, MA) completed 1 0of 17 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.
• Jonah Mitchell (Sanford, FL) led the rushing attack with 59 yards on eight carries including a 39 yard touchdown run. Colbe Andrews (Old Lyme, CT) carried the ball five times for 56 yards and a 30-yard touchdown run.
• Evan Dyer (East Bridgewater, MA) caught two passes for a team-high 47 yards. Andrew Brightman (Wareham, MA) caught five passes for 43 yards and a touchdown.
• Defensively, Nicolas Ford (Jackson, N.J.) and Chris O'Brien (Scituate, MA) each had seven tackles in the game. O'Brien made six solo tackles and had 1.5 tackles for loss.
• Mack Brown (Harvey, LA) picked up two sacks in the game to go along with his six tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Ian Ahearn (Mashpee, MA) and Hugh Wells (West Hartford, CT) each had a half sack.
• The Bucs recovered five fumbles in the game.
• Cobey Williamson (North Easton, MA) returned an interception to the end zone for a pick six.
• Maritime totaled three sacks, 11 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and one interception in the game.
• On special teams, George Lampros (Bridgewater, MA) converted all four of his PATs.
• Andrew Longwater (Tybee Island, GA) blocked two punts in the game and Sam Huffman (Guildford, CT) also blocked a punt.

For The Falcons

• Joseph Haskins threw four passes, completing two, for 26 yards and the Williamson pick six.
• Frank Sims IV ran the ball 20 times for 53 yards.
• Timothy O'Neill caught one pass for 24 yards.
• Defensively, Michael Brown was all over the field for the Falcons making 14 tackles, nine solo, had a sack and added 2.5 tackles for loss.
• Mukandu Ashema recovered a fumble for the guests.
• All totaled, the Falcons had one sack, nine tackles for loss, a forced fumble, the fumble recovery and two QB hurries.

How It Happened

There was no scoring in the first quarter as the two teams tried to find their grove on an overcast day on Taylor's Point. Maritime's first drive ended on a punt and their other two first quarter drives ended on turnovers on downs. Fitchburgs first quarter drives ended on a punt, a fumble and another punt.

In the second quarter, the Bucs broke the scoreless tie with five minutes to go before the half on a Mitchell 39-yard run up the middle that he took to the house untouched. Lampros made the extra point and the Bucs took a 7-0 lead. A punt by each team to end the half took us to the break with the Bucs leading, 7-0.

The Buccaneers opened the third quarter with a score on Fitchburg's opening drive. Williamson intercepted Haskins in traffic and took it to the house for the Buccaneer touchdown. Maritime led 14-0 after the Lampros extra point. Later in the quarter, Cann found Brightman for an 11-yard score to extend the Buccaneer lead to 21-0 after the Lampros PAT. The teams traded possessions in the final five minutes of the third including the punt by Fitchburg that ended the third quarter on a Williamson 25-yard return.

The Bucs opened the fourth with a turnover on downs followed by a Fitchburg three-and-out. Maritime took over at their own 39 yard line. Running the ball and controlling the clock, a few short runs from Mitchell set up a 20-yard run by Andrews which he followed up with a 30-yard scamper to the end zone for another Buccaneer touchdown to give them a 28-0 lead after Lampros's extra point. Fitchburg, unable to get through the hardnosed Buccaneer defense, couldn't get anything going. The Bucs ended up with the ball deep in Fitchburg territory with 1:30 left on the clock. They kneeled the ball to run the clock out and take the 28-0 shutout win over Fitchburg.

What's Next

The Buccaneers will travel to Westfield State on October 2^nd for a MASCAC matchup with the Owls. Kickoff is set for 1pm.