Home  Football Football - Bears Comeback to Win 300th All-Time Game
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Football - Bears Comeback to Win 300th All-Time Game |
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 Eric Gerken's 52-yard touchdown reception was the difference leading the Bears to a 17-14 win.
Coast Guard is now 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the Bogan Division while the Lancers fall to 1-7 overall and 1-4 in division play. The Bears are 5-0 against WSC since the series started in 1995.
Also on Saturday, Westfield State upset Bridgewater State 28-19, putting Coast Guard back in the race for the Bogan Division championship.
After the teams traded their opening possessions, Coast Guard started on their own 15 and manufactured a sophomore Jacob Shackleford 35-yard field goal with 2:33 left in the first quarter. The drive that took over six minutes off the clock was highlighted by three-headed rushing attack of Jesse Karr along with sophomore running backs Ryan Webster and senior Steve Arguelles who ran for 58 yards on the ground in the drive.
Three plays into their next drive, WSC sophomore quarterback Tony Tokarz was picked off by freshman Andrew Russo, but the Lancers held firm as they stopped Coast Guard on fourth down as they started again on their own 28. Worcester State was able to register a pair of first-downs, but their next drive only went as far as the Bear 37.
After senior punter Pat Skelton pinned the visitors on the 14, Karr converted a third and five for a fresh set of downs, but had to leave the game with a shoulder injury after an incomplete pass on the next play. That set the stage for freshman Jonathan Resch to toss a 75-yard touchdown reception to senior Cale Cooper for his first career completion for the 10-0 lead with 6:32 left in the first half.
The ball went back and forth once before the Lancers found themselves on their own 29 with 3:47 left in the second quarter. Tokarz started things off with a pair of six-yard completions before he scrambled ahead for 31 yards to Coast Guards 38. From there, Tokarz hooked up with senior Jake Macleay for 26 yards and then after a timeout, the quarterback found junior Anthony Monahan alone in the middle of the end-zone as he flicked a nine-yard touchdown pass with just five seconds left in the half, to make the score 10-7.
Coming out of the locker room, neither squad advanced into the red zone on each of their next drives to start the second half as Worcester State started their second possession of the stanza on their 40-yard line. Facing third and long, Tokarz connected with MacLeay for a 40-yard scoring strike as the Lancers went up 14-10 at the 5:47 mark in the third quarter.
After Coast Guard was forced to punt on their next drive, WSC brought the ball down to the opposing 19 and looked to increase their advantage with a 35 yard field goal, but Skelton’s attempt went wide to the left.
The Bears pounced on the opportunity and went up 17-14 after seven plays into their next drive on Gerken’s touchdown reception.
Worcester State tried to respond and got inside Coast Guard’s 16, but Tokarz coughed up the ball on a third and one rushing play. Four plays later, Webster fumbled the ball and with a new set of downs to work with the Lancers were in good field position on the Bears 43.
WSC got as far as the visitors 36, but the Bears defense did a good job to allow the Lancers to go no further, which included a stop on fourth and 14 as their Tokarz’s pass attempt to freshman Jamaal Atkins was too high to be caught.
With 4:48 left in the game, Coast Guard grinded down the clock and after Cooper caught an 11-yard reception on third down with 2:41 left and an Arguelles 26-yard scamper two plays later, CGA then took a knee and ran out the clock.
The Bears held a slight advantage in passing yards (213-195), total yards (408-389) and time of possession (31:26-28:34), but the Lancers edged the visitors out in rushing, 241-195.
Arguelles paced Coast Guard on the ground as he rushed 14 times for 111 yards while Karr and Webster combined for 18 carries and 92 rushing yards. Karr also went 14-for-20 with 138 yards in the air with one score and no interceptions.
Cooper caught five passes as he led all receivers with 105 yards. Senior Sam England grabbed four receptions for 31 yards.
Tokarz combined for 214 yards as he ran for 66 yards on the ground and passed for 148 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore running back Marcus Price added 91 yards rushing while freshman David Bougan rushed 11 times for 50 yards. Macleay registered five receptions for a season-best 96 yards.
Defensively, Coast Guard was propelled by senior lineman Doug Piper’s team-high 12 tackles as he added a sack while classmate Troy Robison notched 11 stops for the visitors.
Coast Guard beats Worcester State 17-14 with a fourth quarter comeback for the second straight season. There has been a fourth quarter lead change in nine of Coast Guard's last 10 games dating back to last season.
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