United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Game #6 Preview

ON THE AIR: The Coast Guard live video telecast can be found at www.ustream.tv/channel/coast-guard-sports.

THE SERIES: Coast Guard leads 7-1.

LAST YEAR: Senior Evan Berneche rushed 37 times for 236 yards and a touchdown in his collegiate debut at running back to lead Westfield State to a 26-15 victory over Coast Guard.

Westfield defeated Coast Guard for the first time in the eight-game series.

Berneche rushed for 141 yards on 24 carries in the first half as the Owls took a 13-6 lead.

Senior Kyle Ennis recovered a Berneche fumble at the Bears 47 and 11 plays later sophomore Pat Meggers scored on a one-yard run. Junior Jacob Shackleford’s PAT was wide right and the Owls led 7-6.

Westfield then marched 67 yards in 12 plays with fullback Justin Karrat scoring from 1-yard out. The PAT was blocked by senior Pat Bennett and Westfield led 13-6 with 5:41 remaining in the first half.

Coast Guard closed to within four, 13-9, early in the third quarter on a 39-yard field goal by Shackleford, the school-record 24th field goal of his career.

Westfield took the ensuing kickoff and marched 80 yards in nine plays, with the big play a 60-yard sprint by Berneche to the Coast Guard 1-yard line. Tyler Dow scored on a quarterback sneak for a 20-9 lead with 7:35 remaining in the third stanza.

Coast Guard made things interesting when it scored on a 13-yard pass from backup quarterback senior Jesse Karr to sophomore tight end Casey Paris with 5:10 remaining in the game. The run for the PAT was no good and the Owls led 20-15.

The Bears defense got a stop to give the offense a chance to win the game, but O’Connell iced the victory when he intercepted his second pass of the game, cutting in front of Coast Guard receiver sophomore Ryan Vinall, and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown at the 2:55 mark.

The Owls registered a season-high six sacks and limited Coast Guard to 45 net yards rushing on 27 carries.

Sophomore quarterback Jon Resch was 17 for 23 for 136 yards while Karr was 10-21 for 111 yards, but was intercepted three times in the fourth quarter. The duo combined for 247 passing yards.

Sophomore Eric Gerken was the leading receiver with seven catches for 59 yards, followed by Paris (5-63).

Ennis led the Bears with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.

LAST WEEK: Bridgewater State scored late in the second quarter and on its first possession of the second half to take 20-2 lead enroute to a 34-16 win over Coast Guard.

Bridgewater State sophomore quarterback Mike McCarthy accounted for four of the Bears’ five touchdowns on the afternoon as he threw for two scores and ran for a pair.

Turnovers again cost the Bears, as they had a 67-yard fumble return for a touchdown and later fumbled the ball on the Bridgewater State one-yard line, both in the first half.

Westfield State lost a heartbreaker as Maine Maritime quarterback Matthew Rende rushed for 151 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Mariners to a 36-34 double overtime victory over Westfield State.

The Mariners rallied from a 14-0 deficit. It was the second overtime setback in three weeks for Westfield, who lost at home to Worcester State in triple overtime, 42-40, on Sept. 24th.

WARRIOR GAME ATHLETES TO BE HONORED THIS WEEK: The U.S. Coast Guard Academy, in conjunction with U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), will honor three retired Coasties during the game on Saturday.

Lieutenant Sancho Johnson, Chief Petty Officer C.J. Shunk, and Petty Officer Mike Bell were all members of the 2011 Coast Guard team that competed at the 2011 Warrior Games, a competition for wounded, ill and injured servicemen, women and veterans, all of whom have a physical or visual disability. The second annual competition was a collaborative effort between the Department of Defense and U.S. Paralympics.

All three athletes have used sport to enhance their rehabilitation process and can attest to the power of physical activity in their lives. Research shows that participation in regular, physical activity provides clear benefits for wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans, including less stress, reduced dependency on pain and depression medication, higher achievement in education and employment, and better overall health.

GERKEN CONTINUES TO SHINE : Junior wide receiver Eric Gerken has been a force to be reckoned with during the first half of the season. He caught a school-record 15 passes in the second game of the season and he has gone over 100 receptions and the 1,000 yard mark for his Coast Guard career. He now has 117 career receptions for 1,260 yards and nine touchdowns. The transfer from Iona, had ten receptions for 100 yards for the Gaels during his freshman season, thus this is his final year of eligibility.

He leads the NEFC this season with 50 receptions and 599 receiving yards and he is second in the conference with five touchdown receptions. Gerken is also second in the conference with a 12.7 yard punt return average this season.

Gerken is also among the national leaders in both receptions and yards per game. He is tied for third in Division III this season with ten receptions per game while he is 14th in the nation with 119.8 receiving yards per game.

GERKEN LOOKS TO REWRITE THE RECORD BOOKS: Eric Gerken is already closing in on the single-season school record of 61 receptions set by Kelly Hatfield in 1984. The single-season school record of 936 receiving yards set by Christian Lee in 1996 and the single-season record of nine touchdown receptions set by Al Thompson in both 1996 and 1997 are also within grap with four games left this season. Gerken has 50 receptions for 599 yards and five touchdowns this year.

A LOOK BACK ON THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST NCAA PLAYOFF APPEARANCE: In 1996, the Coast Guard Bears won the Freedom Football Conference (FFC) and made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA playoffs. The team started 1-2, but won seven straight games to end the regular season and win the FFC and earn the NCAA berth where the Bears lost 17-16 to heavily favored East Region power, College of New Jersey. Each week, we will look back at a game or games in that magical season.

After beating a solid Western Connecticut team 14-13 to improve to 4-2, the Bears week seven opponent was Union, the #2 team in the East rankings on the road. Coast Guard opened a few eyes around the region by snapping Union’s 14-game regular season winning streak with a convincing 31-6 win. James Jones carried 35 times for 114 yards and three touchdowns. He had touchdown runs of 15 and 29 yards in the second quarter as Coast Guard led 14-0 at halftime.

Coast Guard led 17-6 early in the fourth quarter when Dan Warren threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Christian Lee to give the Bears a 24-6 lead and give the Bears one of the biggest wins in recent history.

SCOUTING COAST GUARD: The Bears look to snap a two-game slide this week as the Academy celebrates Parents’ Weekend.

Coast Guard has the top passing attack in the NEFC Bogan Division averaging 230 passing yards per game while scoring 29.4 points per game, fourth best in the conference. The Bears have allowed just three sacks on the season, second best in the NEFC and no team is better in converting third downs in the conference than Coast Guard, which converts 47.4 percent of the time (36 of 76).

The Bears had not turned the ball over the in red zone in the first three games, but a pair of costly ones, each of the last two weeks, along with a 67-yard fumble return for a touchdown last week, have been the difference. The offense has moved the ball, in fact, last week the Bears had the same number of first downs (18) as Bridgewater State and just two fewer total yards (346-344), but the timely turnovers proved to be the difference. The offense has moved the ball averaging 352 yards per game this season, 230 passing, 122 rushing.

Senior quarterback Jarrod Owens leads the Bogan Division with 165.6 passing yards per game. He is 80 of 124 for 828 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions while junior Jon Resch has also been solid coming off the bench in each game completing 26 of 47 passes for 322 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Owens is also second on the team with 58 carries for 138 yards with four rushing touchdowns.

Sophomore Tyler Hames leads the Bears on the ground with 74 carries for 334 yards and five touchdowns. He also has nine receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.

Coast Guard has the top receiver in the NEFC in junior Eric Gerken. He leads the NEFC with 50 receptions and 599 receiving yard and he is second with five touchdown receptions. He is also a very dangerous special teams weapon for the Bears as he leads the team with a 12.7 yard average on punt returns (6 for 76 yards) which is second best in the conference.

On the defensive side of the ball, Coast Guard is allowing the most total yards (419.4) and the most passing yards (204.2) per game. The Bears are allowing 215.2 rushing yards per game and 34.2 points per game this season.

Junior strong safety Dante Adams leads the team with 35 tackles, 25 solo while junior linebacker Curt Barrett is second with 33 tackles, 22 solo, to go with his team leading seven tackles for loss and two sacks.

The Bears are the second least penalized team in the NEFC with just 23 penalties for 179 yards in the fivegames.

SCOUTING WESTFIELD STATE: The Owls, who have lost a pair of overtime games in the last three weeks, are a perfect 2-0 on the road this season, but 0-4 at home.

Freshman Steve Guercio made the first start and just the second appearance of his career on Saturday and was 10 of 17 for 86 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He had not attempted a pass before Saturday.

Westfield State is averaging 23.2 points and 289.3 yards per game, 169.3 passing and 120 yards rushing per game.

Junior wide receiver Kevin Parnell leads the team with 17 receptions for 234 yards and a touchdown while sophomore tight end Jeff Winchell is second with 14 catches for 158 yards and a score. Junior tight end Jake Storey has 12 receptions for 150 yards with a team-high three touchdowns.

Freshman Michael Mercadante leads the Owls ground attack with 96 carries for 403 yards and five touchdowns.

The Owls defense is second to last in the NEFC only to the Bears, allowing 372.5 yards per game. Westfield however has the second best pass defense allowing just 129.5 passing yards per game, but they are allowing a league-high 243 rushing yards per game.

Junior linebacker Justin Ehrhardt leads the team with 56 tackles, 33 solo while senior strong safety Ryan O’Connell has three of the team’s eight interceptions this season.

NEXT WEEK: Coast Guard hosts Worcester State on Saturday at noon in the final home game of the season.