United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Game #9 Preview

ON THE AIR: There is an audio broadcast at www.sportsjuice.com.

THE SERIES: Coast Guard leads 2-1.

LAST YEAR: Senior quarterback Bruce Rich scored on a 13-yard run with 10 seconds left as Framingham State scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to beat Coast Guard 25-23 in NEFC Bogan Division game, the final game of the season for both teams.

Framingham State (5-5, 3-4), which had 508 yards of total offense, finished the season at .500 for the first time since 1986.

Coast Guard was leading 23-19 and appeared to have the game in hand when junior Pat Bennett intercepted Rich with 3:47 left on the Coast Guard 16-yard line, but junior running back Steve Arguelles fumbled with 52 seconds left on the Framingham 41-yard line giving the Rams one last chance and it took them just four plays to go 59 yards and win the game.

Rich threw a 14-yard pass to sophomore Shawn Miller and Rich then ran for 20 yards moving the ball to the Coast Guard 25. Rich then threw a 12-yard pass to sophomore Jonathan Hayes before scoring the game winning touchdown. Hayes had a game-high 13 catches for 115 yards.

Coast Guard, which led 10-0 fumbled on its first possession of the second half before four straight touchdown drives, two by each team in the third quarter and Bears led 23-13.

Framingham punted and Pierson was intercepted on the next two possessions before Miller capped a five play, 56-yard drive with an 11-yard run, the two-point pass failed making the score 23-19 with 11:12 left in the game.

Coast Guard punted on its next possession, Framingham took over at its own 10 and drove down to the Coast Guard 35-yard line, but Bennett had the interception which appeared to clinch the win for the Bears.

Miller had 245 yards of total offense as he carried 25 times for 171 yards and the three scores while also catching eight passes for 74 yards. Rich was 35 of 47 for 306 yards as the Rams dominated time of possession, keeping the ball for 39 minutes and 23 seconds.

Arguelles led Coast Guard, which finished with 403 total yards (124 rushing), with 15 carries for 93 yards while England had a team-high seven catches for 99 yards.

Sophomore linebacker Anthony Pappagallo led the Rams with 10 tackles, eight solo while senior linebacker Brian Yurovich led Coast Guard with 12 tackles, seven solo and a sack.

LAST WEEK: Junior Dave Leach rushed for 171 yards and a touchdown to lead Framingham State to a 20-13 New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division win over Massachusetts Maritime. Leach, who entered the game with 2,089 yards rushing in his career, was just 122 yards shy of the Framingham State College all-time rushing record which was 2,211 yards and was held by Tom Reusch (1983-86). Leach now has 2,260 yards rushing in just two seasons. The Rams offense amassed 232 yards on the ground compared to just 108 yards rushing for the Buccaneers. Neither team had much success passing the ball in the game as Mass. Maritime threw for 62 yards on seven completions and the Rams completed just four passes for 19 yards.

Maine Maritime set an NCAA Division II/III record with 730 rushing yards and scored a New England Football Conference (NEFC) record 76 points as the Mariners beat Coast Guard 76-49 in a NEFC Bogan Division shootout. The Mariners carried 63 times in the record breaking performance falling short of the NCAA All-divisions record of 768 yards (72 carries) set by the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kansas State in 1988. Coast Guard set some records of its own as freshman quarterback Jon Resch came off the bench to set school record with 469 yards passing and six touchdowns. Resch tied a school-record with 34 completions on 46 attempts with one interception. The Bears also set a single-game record with 482 passing yards in the game which featured an NEFC record 125 points. Coast Guard had a season-high 584 yards of total offense and scored a touchdown on six of its last nine possessions, but turned the ball over five times in the game, four interceptions and a fumble.

A DEBUT FOR THE AGES: Freshman quarterback Jon Resch earned NEFC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors as he came off the bench to set school record with 469 yards passing and six touchdowns in the loss on Saturday. Resch tied a school-record with 34 completions on 46 attempts with one interception. The Bears also set a single-game record with 482 passing yards. The old Coast Guard school records were 412 passing yards set by Jeff Hagan in 1985 vs. Trinity which was also the team record for passing yards in game. Four different quarterbacks had thrown four touchdowns in a game to share the record coming into the day. The record of 34 completions is now also held by Hagan in that in 1985 game vs. Trinity.

ENGLAND TOPS THE LIST: Senior wide receiver Sam England had a career-high 10 receptions for 109 yards and became the Bears’ all-time leader with 157 career receptions breaking the record of 149 held by Christian Lee (1993-’96). Lee is the Bears all-time receiving yards leader with 2,356 yards while England is second with 1,979 career yards.

FOUR GO OVER 100 FOR FIRST TIME: Coast Guard had four players with over 100 receiving yards for the first time in school history as England (106 yards) was joined by senior Cale Cooper who caught nine passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, senior running back Steve Arguelles had eight receptions for 101 yards and a scored and freshman Ryan Vinall finished with three catches for 110 yards and his first two career touchdowns.

MORE FROM THE SHOOTOUT: The 76 points scored by Maine Maritime match the most points allowed by Coast Guard tying the 76 points Army scored in a 76-0 win in 1944. The 49 points scored by Coast Guard is the most points scored in a loss in school history, the previous high was 35 in a 49-35 loss to WPI in 2001.

The teams combined for 1,330 yards of total offense just 65 yards shy of the all-time Division III record of 1,395 yards set in 1993 when Occidental (753 yards) played Claremont Mudd Scripps (642 yards).

Maine Maritime set NEFC records for points (76), total offense (746) and rushing yards (730) while tying the conference record with 11 touchdowns. The old records were 75 points (Fitchburg vs. Framingham, 2005), 665 yards of total offense (Curry vs. MIT in 2006 and 2008) and 552 rushing yards (Maine Maritime vs. UMass Boston, 1995). The Mariners carried 63 times in the record breaking performance falling short of the NCAA All-divisions record of 768 yards (72 carries) set by the Oklahoma Sooners vs. Kansas State in 1988.

SCOUTING COAST GUARD: Coast Guard features the top passing offense in the Bogan Division with 267.5 yards per game. Freshman Jon Resch, who had a record setting performance last week will make his first collegiate start this week.

Junior quarterback Jesse Karr, who injured his shoulder vs. Worcester State on Oct. 24th, is 138 of 260 for 1,596 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions while Resch is now 35 of 50, completing 70 percent of his passes, for 544 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception.

Senior running back Steve Arguelles leads the Bears with 639 rushing yards on 132 carries and he has a team-high 39 receptions for 317 yards. Senior wide receiver Sam England is second on the team with 38 receptions while leading the team with 526 receiving yards to go with three touchdowns. Senior Cale Cooper, who has 28 receptions for 478 yards, leads the team with five touchdown receptions.

Coast Guard is averaging 23.4 points and the Bears are second in the NEFC with 402.1 yards per game
and a league best 267.5 passing yards per game. The offense had a season-high 584 offensive yards in the loss on Saturday.

The Bears defense which allowed 746 yards, including the record 730 rushing yards will look to put that behind them in the final game of the season.

Junior linebacker Ben Barrett leads the defense with 56 tackles, 40 solo and four for loss while senior defensive end Doug Piper is second with 50 tackles, 28 solo and team-high 4.5 for loss and two sacks. Sophomore Chris Izurieta, junior Chris Costello and freshman Andrew Russo lead the team with two interceptions each.

The Bears are allowing 30.2 points and a league-high 415.5 yards per game, also a NEFC-high 295.1 on the ground.

SCOUTING FRAMINGHAM STATE: Junior quarterback David Leach leads the Rams balanced offensive attack with 1,226 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Framingham State needs a win to finish with a winning record for the first time since 1986 when they finished 6-4.

Leach has thrown just 12 passes (5 of 12) for 27 yards while junior Patrick Franey, who also sees action at quarterback is 140 of 251 for 1,407 yards with nine touchdowns, but 18 interceptions.

Sophomore wide receiver James McCarthy leads the NEFC with 6.5 receptions per game and leads the team with 52 receptions for 574 yards with two touchdowns while senior Anthony Kewley is second with 42 catches for 476 yards and three scores.

The Rams are averaging 19.7 points and 320.3 yards per game, 155.2 on the ground.

Framingham State is allowing 23.7 points and 312.7 yards per game, just 126.1 passing yards per game.

Junior linebacker Joe Treacy leads the team with 67 tackles, 32 solo to go with five for loss. Sophomore defensive lineman David Akasa is second with 61 stops, 28 solo and a team-high 5.5 for loss.