United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Football - Late Rally Falls Short in NEFC Championship Game

NEW LONDON, CONN.--(11/11/06)--Senior Jarrad Jordan earned New England Football Conference (NEFC) championship game MVP honors for the second straight year leading Boyd Division champion Curry to its fourth straight NEFC championship, a 34-28 win over Bogan Division champion Coast Guard.

Jordan had 24 carries for 174 of the Colonels 328 rushing yards. Coast Guard could muster just 16 yards rushing on 25 carries against the Curry defense.

Curry took a 34-7 lead with 3:17 left in the third quarter before surviving a ferocious comeback by the Bears to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs for the fourth straight time.

Coast Guard, in its first season in the NEFC, drove 54 yards to the Curry one-yard line on its first possession, before senior Josh Williams was stopped on 4th-and-one by senior linebacker Sean Crowley.
The Bears forced Curry to punt and got the ball at the Curry 33-yard line. It took the Bears just three plays to take a 7-0 lead as Lance Lynch (7 carries, 27 yards) scored on a five-yard run with 5:03 left in the first quarter.

Curry (11-0) responded with an eight play, 81 yard drive capped by a 12 yard touchdown pass from sophomore Ryan Van De Giesen (8 of 18, 152 yards, 3 TD) to Jon Sughrue with 1:29 left in the first quarter. The key play was a fake punt on 4th and four from the Coast Guard 36 as punter David Vincent ran eight yards to keep the drive alive.
Curry took the lead on their next possession as they started at the Coast Guard 40 after a 20 yard return by Tim Bloniasz. Sophomore Steve DeFabio (20 carries, 113 yards) went 39 yards on first down and then scored from a yard out taking a 14-7 lead with 14:23 left in the half.

The Colonels outscored Coast Guard 20-0 as they dominated play in the second quarter taking a 27-7 lead into the half.

Van De Giesen threw a 38 yard touchdown pass to sophomore Brian Taylor (3 catches, 92 yards) with 8:11 left and later hit Taylor with a 49 yard touchdown with 3:11 left taking a 27-7 lead after the missed extra point.

Coast Guard looked to score in the final minutes of the first half as they drove down to the Curry four-yard line, but sophomore quarterback Niles Pierson was sacked by senior linebacker Dan Dufour, he fumbled and it was recovered by junior Thomas Pinto as Curry ran out the clock in the first half.

Curry totaled 301 yards of total offense in the first half, 175 on the ground while Coast Guard had 124 total first half yards, 121 passing.

The Colonels added to their lead on a one-yard run by Pinto with 3:17 left increasing the lead to 34-7, but Coast Guard would not go down without a fight.

The Bears (8-2), drove 79 yards in seven plays and Pierson found junior Erik Wyrick for a nine-yard touchdown cutting the lead to 34-14 with 52 seconds left in the third quarter. Wyrick had a career-high 10 catches for a career-high 123 yards.

Coast Guard’s Jack Gill blocked a punt on Curry’s next possession and the Bears drove to the Curry 13 before Pierson was intercepted by Patrick Cronin at the seven-yard line with 13:37 left in the game.
Gill partially blocked the next Curry punt and the Bears marched 60 yards in just three plays as Pierson threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to David Sauls (4 catches, 92 yards) with 9:50 left in the game pulling the Bears to within 34-21.

The Coast Guard defense stepped up again and forced a punt and Pierson drove the offense 80 yards in just 2:35 finding freshman Sam England (seven catches, 89 yards) for a two-yard touchodown with 2:20 left in the game.

Kyle Lieberman recovered the onsides kick to preserve the win.
Curry had 480 total yards while Coast Guard had 362 yards of total offense.

Pierson, who won the Division II/III Gold Helmet last week, was 25 of 40 for a career-high 346 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Curry did not turn the ball over while Coast Guard had three turnovers.

Coast Guard must now await word on a berth in one of three ECAC Bowl Games, Coast Guard is the NEFC’s top team in the ECAC pool with Curry advancing to the NCAA playoffs. ECAC Bowl bids will be announced on Monday.

Crowley led Curry with nine tackles, two for loss while Dufour had six tackles, three for loss, two forced fumbles and two sacks.

Freshman Steve Arguelles led the Coast Guard defense with 12 tackles, 11 solo while senior co-captain Tim Leber had 10 tackles, seven solo.