PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- The Buccaneer football team played their final road game of the 2023 season on Saturday in New Hampshire against Plymouth State. The Buccaneer took an early lead that they could not hold on to and though the Buccaneers mounted a comeback of their own late, the Panthers were victorious, 31-21.

The Basics

Final: Panthers 31, Buccaneers 21

Records: Plymouth State (4-5, 4-3)

               Maritime (2-7, 2-5)

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Quarterback Marc Murphy completed 14-of-18 passes for 155 yards. In the running game, Murphy ran the ball twice for eight yards and a touchdown.
• On the ground, wide receiver Charlie Naylor led the rushing attack with 33 yards on two carries. Zach Proctor had 32 yards on five carries.
• Sean Davis ran the ball four times for eight yards and had two rushing touchdowns in the game.
• Andrew Brightman had his best statistical game of the season with nine catches for 115 yards. Naylor added three catches for 27 yards in the loss.
• Defensively, Hunter Lassere led all players with 13 total tackles with one tackle for loss.
• Defensive back Edward Barlage recorded his second interception of the season to go along with eight total tackles, seven of them of the solo variety.
• On special teams, kicker JAmes Mastroianni made all three of his extra point attempts. 
• Logan Tsika punted twice for an average of 38.5 yards per punt and kept the Panthers inside their own 20 yard line once. 

Plymouth State

• Quarterback Braden Lynn completed 22-of-30 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran the ball three times for 18 yards.
• Willie Lombard ran the ball 17 times for 63 yards. 
• Tyler Gleifert had the only rushing touchdown for the Panthers on one carry for one yard.
• Jake Donohue caught five balls for 81 yards and a touchdown, Kyle Baker caught eight passes for 80 yards and a score, and Reece Davis found paydirt with two catches for 16 yards. 
• Defensively, Luke Normandeau led the Panthers with 12 total tackles, 11 of them solo, and he had a forced fumble. 
• On special teams, kicker Seth DiSalvo made his long field goal attempt from 21 yards out and converted all four of his extra point attempts.

How It Happened

Maritime received the opening kickoff of the game and on the second play from scrimmage turned the ball over on a fumble. Plymouth took over 41 seconds into the game at the Maritime 32 yardline. They drove 28 yards and were stalled by the Bucs defense at the four yard line. DiSalvo came on for the field goal and put the Panthers up 3-0 just over five minutes into the first quarter. On The Buccaneers next drive, they got their redemption after the turnover. Murphy and the Bucs went 74 yards on 11 plays and scored on a three-yard run by Davis, his first touchdown of the day. Mastroianni made the PAT and the Bucs led Plymouth 7-3 midway through the first quarter. The Panthers took over with three minutes left in the quarter and dragged out their drive into the second. The Bucs kept their 7-3 lead after one quarter of play. 

Plymouth continued their drive in the second and extended it to 13 plays as they traversed 69 yards and capped the drive off with a Lynn touchdown pass to Baker to retake the lead. DiSalvo converted the PAT and the Panthers led the Buccaneers 10-7. Maritime was forced to punt on their next drive which took just two minutes. The Panthers got the ball back with 9:34 left in the half and put together another double-digit drive that went 88 yards on 13 plays. Lynn found Davis for his second touchdown pass to extend the Plymouth lead to 10 points, 17-7. Murphy was intercepted on the Bucs next drive with time expiring and the Panthers ran out the clock to take their 17-7 advantage to the halftime break.

The Panthers started the second half with the ball and began driving down the field. On the eighth play of the drive, on a third and 10 play, Lynn was intercepted by Barlage and the Bucs took over deep in their own territory. Maritime couldn't do anything on the possession and ended up punting back to the Panthers. On Plymouth's second drive of the quarter, they went 57 yards on six plays and scored on a 31-yard quick hitter from Lynn to Donahue to extend their lead once again to 24-7. The Buccaneers answered on their ensuing drive as they matriculated 65 yards on eight plays and scored one a Murphy one-yard scamper to get back within 10 points, 24-14, which the score remained at the end of the third.

In the fourth, the Panthers started with the ball and took it down field, 65 yards on eight plays, scoring their fourth touchdown of the day on Gleifert's one-yard score. With just over 10 minutes left, Plymouth led the Bucs 31-14. Maritime wasted no time getting back within 10 points as they drove down field 70 yards on eight plays and scored one Davis's second touchdown of the game from two yards out to make the score 31-21 with seven minutes left. Plymouth took over after the Buccaneers touchdown and pushed the ball up field, wasting all of the clock to earn the 31-21 win over the Bucs.

What's Next

The Buccaneers will host Bridgewater State on Saturday, November 11th for the 44th annual Cranberry Bowl, presented by South Coast Improvement, at 12pm at Clean Harbors Stadium.