Home  Football Football - Bears Rally for Huge Win at Fitchburg State
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Football - Bears Rally for Huge Win at Fitchburg State |
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 Christian George
The Falcons (2-3, 1-2 NEFC Bogan) took a 27-24 lead into the fourth quarter and tacked on a Matt Jones 31-yard field goal with 6:51 remaining in the fourth quarter. But the visitors would not be denied. USCGA (4-1, 3-0 NEFC Bogan) took the ensuing kickoff and marched 59 yards on 11 plays, chewing 5:18 off the clock in taking a 31-30 advantage with 1:33 to play. Fitchburg got the ball back at its own 35 but the drive stalled on downs at the Coast Guard 45 and George took a knee to end the contest.
Falcons' running backs William Early and Tyler Kennedy each ran for 119 yards on the day, while quarterback Jim Miller was 11-of-21 for 127 yards and a score. Neither team turned the ball over in this back-and-forth affair that saw George score three touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 passing). George finished with 41 yards on the ground and two touchdowns and 128 passing yards completing 5-of-11.
The game looked more like a track meet in the early stages which resulted in seven consecutive scoring drives. However, the pace would not last as the Falcons went to their one-two running punch of Early and Kennedy to hold the ball for 35:51 compared to 24:09 for the Bears.
Coast Guard opened the scoring with a David Lieberman 25-yard field goal six minutes into the game, starting the scoring onslaught. Fitchburg answered less than five minutes later with an eight-play 65 yard drive which culminated in Miller's 47-yard touchdown strike to Dan Langlois to give the hosts a 7-3 lead.
After George scrambled in from 23 yards out on four-and-one, Dan Sanabria took a handoff 10 yards for another Falcon's score, but the extra point failed and the team's headed back up field with Fitchburg on top
13-10 with 2:33 to play in the first quarter.
George hooked up with David Sauls at the 14:37 mark of the second quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass to put the visitors back in front 17-13, but no lead was safe in the first quarter and Kelton Francis erased it in a flash when he took the kickoff 95 yards to the house for a 20-17 FSC advantage. The Bears rounded out the first-half scoring with a 13-play 65-yard drive and score by Josh Williams.
Fitchburg answered every Coast Guard scoring drive in the first half and the hosts did the same to open the final 30 minutes of play. The Falcons held the ball for over 10 minutes in the third quarter, including opening the second half with a 15-play scoring drive that took almost eight minutes. Early was the primary culprit, carrying the ball nine times for 38 yards. He toted the final five plays and broke through the goaline from three yards out for a 27-24 Fitcbhurg lead.
George led the Bears right back down the field, but the drive stalled on the 10th play when George was taken down for a loss by Nick Pisanelli and Josh Croft . The Falcons added a 31-yards field goal by Jones with 6:51 remaining in regulation, but George and running back Lance Lynch found a way to move the chains and put the ball in the endzone for the winning score. Lynch carried for 16 of his team-leading and season-high 101 yards on the final driv. The key play of the drive was afive-yard run by Williams, who lined up at quarterback on the biggest play of the drive, scrambling off tackle for four yards on third-and-three from the FSC 16-yardline.
Coast Guard's Keenan Prather led all defensive players with 13 tackles and one sack. Teammate Jack Gill had 12 stops while Tim Leber added six tackle for the Bears.
Coast Guard has now scored over 30 points for the fourth straight week for the first time in school history. The Bears will play at Bridgewater State next Saturday in a key conference game as both teams enter tied for first place in the Bogan Division with 3-0 league marks.
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