Home  Football Football - Bears Win Wild One 36-31 to Secure Secretaries' Cup
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Football - Bears Win Wild One 36-31 to Secure Secretaries' Cup |
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 Senior quarterback Christian George scored the game winning touchdown, a 10-yard run, with 52 seconds left.
George was 12 of 19 for 185 yards while rushing 12 times for 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Junior quarterback Niles Pierson was six of 12 for 68 yards with touchdowns and an interception, as Coast Guard, which has now won nine straight regular season games, used a two-quarterback system.
Coast Guard led 16-10 going into what turned out to be a wild fourth quarter which saw the teams combine for 41 points.
Merchant Marine (0-2), which had won eight of the last nine meetings against Coast Guard, took a 31-30 lead as freshman quarterback Derrick Ventre (27 of 46, 327 yards, 3 TD) threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to sophomore fullback Davey May with just 1:58 left in game and Geoff Troy’s extra point gave the Mariners the lead.
Coast Guard responded going 80 yards in just over one minute. The big play in the drive was a 32-yard pass from George to senior running back Lance Lynch (18 carries, 98 yards/six receptions, 93 yards) putting the Bears at the Mariner 38-yard line. Sophomore Sam England (six receptions, 84 yards, 2 TD) caught a 13-yard pass down to the Mariner 13-yard line before George rushed for three yards on first down and 10 yards for the touchdown.
Merchant Marine drove from its own 36 to the Coast Guard 18-yard line, but Ventre threw back-to-back incompletions including a pass out of the corner of the endzone to end the game.
The game featured 964 yards of total offense, 528 by Coast Guard and 436 by the Merchant Marine Academy. The 36 points scored by Coast Guard is the most it has ever scored in the 36 meetings with Merchant Marine.
Coast Guard scored on the opening drive of the game as junior Scott Rupnow scored on a two-yard run with 12:51 left for a 7-0 lead.
Merchant Marine tied the game at 7-7 on its first possession as May scored on a an eight-yard run with 8:36 left in the first quarter.
Coast Guard punter Jesse Harms, who also plays on the field goal block team, blocked a 33-yard field goal attempt on the Mariners next possession to keep the game tied.
The Bears took the lead on the final play of the first quarter on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Pierson to England. The extra point snap was fumbled and the Bears led 13-7.
Coast Guard’s David Lieberman kicked a 31-yard field goal for the only points of the second quarter for a 16-7 halftime lead.
Coast Guard had 189 yards of total offense (100 rushing) in the first half while Merchant Marine totaled 100 total yards, just 14 yards rushing on 23 carries as the Coast Guard defense had six first half sacks.
Merchant Marine had the only points of the third quarter, a 23-yard field goal by Geoff Troy with 1:23 left cutting the lead to 16-10. Troy also missed a 49-yard attempt on the opening possesion of the third quarter, as the long field goal hit the cross bar.
Coast Guard scored on the first play of the fourth quarter as Pierson threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to England. The two point pass was incomplete and the Bears led 22-10.
Ventre threw a two-yard touchdown to Grant Wright and Troy kicked the extra point to make the score 22-17 with 9:30 in the game.
George scampered 27 yards for a touchdown and Pierson ran in the two-point conversion as the Bears increased the lead to 30-17 with 7:20 left.
Ventre hit Jon Spiropoulos (14 receptions, 121 yards, TD), from the Mariner 36-yard line and Spiropoulos fumbled as he was going into the endzone, but recovered it himself for the touchdown and Troy’s extra point cut the lead to 30-24 with 5:41 left.
The Coast Guard defense finished with seven sacks as Caleb Robards led the way with two sacks. Pat Bennett and Chris Hunt each had 10 tackles to lead the Bears.
Calder Kaatz led Merchant Marine with eight tackles. |
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