United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Game #9 Preview - Bears Look to Win Run Win Streak to Seven

COAST GUARD (7-1, 6-0) at FRAMINGHAM STATE (2-6, 1-5)

November 3rd, Maple Street Field, noon

ON THE AIR: no broadcast.

THE SERIES: Coast Guard leads 1-0.

LAST YEAR: Sophomore quarterback Niles Pierson, making his second career start, won the Gold Helmet given by The Boston Globe, as he tied a school record throwing four touchdown passes and also ran for one, the first five touchdowns of his career leading Coast Guard to its eighth straight win, a 42-21 win over Framingham State in a New England Football Conference Bogan Division game, the regular season finale for both teams.

The Coast Guard defense forced seven turnovers including a season-high six interceptions, three by freshman Steve Arguelles, who tied the Coast Guard single-season school record with 11 interceptions.

Pierson was 24 for 33 with 288 yards with the four touchdown passes and the one touchdown run. He left the game with the Bears ahead 42-14 after three quarters.

Coast Guard, came out and dominated the first quarter rolling up 158 yards of total offense while holding the Rams to 15 total yards while taking a 14-0 lead on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Pierson to David Sauls (4 catches, 76 yards, 2 TD) with 9:31 left and a three-yard touchdown run by Lance Lynch with 1:54 left in the quarter.

Following a Framingham State touchdown, Coast Guard added a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter as Pierson threw an eight-yard touchdown to senior tight end Luke Spurrier with 4:47 left in the half, the first catch of his career, and then Pierson threw a nine-yard touchdown to Sam England as the Bears took a 28-7 with 1:06 left in the first half. England led Coast Guard with eight catches for 80 yards.

Pierson was 17 of 24 for 196 yards with three touchdowns in the first half as Coast Guard totaled 252 first half yards.

On Coast Guard’s first play from scrimmage in the second half, Sauls was hit as he caught a pass and Adam Emery intercepted it and went 43 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 28-14 with 14:16 left in the third quarter.

Pierson scored on a two-yard run and Sauls caught his second touchdown of the game, another 27-yarder with 1:02 left in the third quarter as the Bears took a 42-14 lead.

Sophomore Rob Woods led the Coast Guard ground attack with 14 carries for a career-high 86 yards as the Bears rushed for 107 yards. Coast Guard finished with 419 yards of total offense while Framingham totaled 338 yards, 230 yards passing.

Coast Guard’s Pat Bennett had his second interception of the season while seniors Vince Vasaturo and Chuck Arena each had their first career interceptions.

LAST WEEK: Senior running back Lance Lynch went over the 2,000 yard rushing mark for his career, completed a huge 55-yard pass on a halfback option in the fourth quarter, and scored the game winning touchdown, an 11-yard run with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter as Coast Guard overcame a 17-point first half deficit, a ten-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Maine Maritime 38-34 and win its second straight New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division championship. Senior quarterback Christian George had 107 yards rushing and a career-high four touchdowns in the win.

Framingham State dropped its fifth straight with a 30-13 loss to Mass. Maritime. The Buccaneers took the lead on a 75-yard punt return in the second quarter and never looked back scoring 30 straight points before a late Ram touchdown closed the scoring.

FIELD NAMED NEFC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior linebacker Brian Field was named the New England Football Conference (NEFC) Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Bears Bogan Division clinching 38-34 win over Maine Maritime on Saturday. Field was quite simply all over the field as he registered a career-high 16 tackles and had the game clinching interception in Coast Guard territory with 1:03 left. He also recovered a fumble of a punt in the third quarter as the Bears won their sixth straight this season and 13th straight NEFC Bogan Division game.

IT COULD BE NO. 1 vs. NO. 2 NEXT WEEK: Coast Guard, jumped one more spot to second in the New England Division III poll after the 38-34 win over Marine Maritime. Curry remained the # 1 team as the Colonels received 12 of the 14 first place votes and 136 points overall. This sets up a showdown of the top two teams to meet in the NEFC Championship Game next week, if the poll remains the same. Coast Guard received 114 total points, just two more than Middlebury which had 112 total points and two first place votes despite having a 5-1 record.

BEARS CONTINUE TO OWN THE BOGAN: Coast Guard won its 13th straight NEFC Bogan Division game to wrapup its second consecutive division championship. The Bears which joined the NEFC last season are a perfect 13-0 in division play.

THE BEARS ARE STREAKING: The Bears have won six straight this season and 13 straight NEFC Bogan Division games.

VOTE FOR GEORGE: Christian George is making a statement for NEFC Bogan Division Offensive Player of the Year honors once again. He was named the Bogan Division’s Unanimous Offensive Player of the Year last season. This year, he leads the Bears with 710 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns while throwing for 799 yards and five scores. He is currently fourth in the conference in total offense with 188.6 yards per game, he leads all quarterbacks with 88.8 rushing yards per game to go with his 100 passing yards per game. The stats are even more impressive when you consider that the Bears use a two-quarterback system.

BEARS CONTINUE TO WIN THE CLOSE ONES WITH GEORGE LEADING THE WAY: Coast Guard won its fourth game of the season by five points or less with the 38-34 win over Maine Maritime. Coast Guard also won three games by four points or less last season. The Bears are now 7-0 in games decided by five points or less over the past two seasons. Christian George has scored the game winning touchdown in four of those games while two have been 3-0 victories with field goals by David Lieberman. This is a change from year’s past as prior to the 2005 season, the only three close games the Bears played in the 2004 and 2005 seasons were losses, a 34-33 loss to St. Lawrence and a 35-28 loss to WPI in 2004 and the memorable heartbreaking 7-0 loss to Union in 2005.

2007 BEARS SHARE MARK WITH AN NFL HALL OF FAMER: Coast Guard has now won four games by five points or less for just the second time in school history. The only other team to win four games by less than five points in one season was the 1962 team led by head coach and NFL Hall of Famer Otto Graham. The 1962 team had a record of 5-2-1. They had a pair of two point wins and two one-point victories.

AND MORE FROM OTTO: Coast Guard has now seven games by less than five points over the past two seasons something Otto Graham’s teams did in the 1962 and 1963 seasons. Graham’s team’s won those seven games over a two-year stretch by just 14 total points. In fact, the final four games of the 1962 season and the first three games of the 1963 season, were all decided by three points or less with Coast Guard posting a 6-0-1 mark in those games.

HE IS FLUTIE LIKE: Christian George now has five fourth quarter comebacks in his two-year career (two last year and three more this year) a quarterback whom George reminds many of is Boston College’s Doug Flutie, who had six 4th quarter comebacks during his career, four of them came on the last drive of a game. George has three on the last drive of the game.

COACH GEORGE MAKES HISTORY: Coast Guard head coach Bill George in his ninth season, has now become the first head coach in the 84 year history to lead the Bears to back-to-back postseason appearances. Coast Guard went to the NCAA Playoffs in both 1996 and 1997, however it was Bill Schmitz who was the head coach in 1996 and Chuck Mills, who was the head coach in 1997.

CHANCE TO BE THE BEST IN BACK-TO-BACK SEASONS: In the 84 year history of Coast Guard football, the best two-year regular season record was posted in 1996 and 1997 when the Bears were 17-3 for an .850 winning percentage. If Coast Guard wins this week, the Bears would be 16-2 over the past two seasons for an .888 winning percentage. Coast Guard has won 15 of its last 16 regular season games. During a stretch which covered three seasons (1996, 1997 and 1998) the Bears won 17 of 18 regular season games.

BEARS MAKE IT A BAKERS DOZEN: Coast Guard won its 13th straight Bogan Division game on Saturday, the Bears were a perfect 7-0 vs. division opponents last season, their first season in the league, and are now 6-0 in 2007.

SUCCESS IN LEAGUE PLAY: Coast Guard won all seven league games last season for the first time since the 1997 season when the Bears went a perfect 6-0 in the Freedom Football Conference and won their second straight league title. In 1997, Coast Guard also advanced to the NCAA Playoffs for the second straight season. Coast Guard was a combined 0-14 in league play as a member of the Liberty League in 2004 and 2005.

BEARS OFFENSE ON A ROLL: The Coast Guard offense has averaged 41.5 points per game over the past four games and the Bears now lead the NEFC Bogan Division with 33.2 points per game.

LIEBERMAN KICKING HIS WAY TOWARD ANOTHER RECORD: Senior kicker David Lieberman is having a sensational season as he has made 10 of 12 field goals and he is a perfect 28-for-28 on extra points this season. He is second on the team with 58 points. Lieberman now has 21 career field goals, just two shy of the school mark of 23 held by Steve Ciccalone (1971-’73). Earlier this season, Lieberman became the Bears all-time leader in extra points, he now has 82 for his career.

LYNCH ELCLIPSES 2,000 YARD MARK: Senior running back Lance Lynch went over the 2,000 yard mark for his career on Saturday as he carried 14 times for 38 yards to give him 2,027 career yards. Lynch is a solid blocker out of the backfield and showed off his arm on Saturday, when he threw a 55-yard pass, the first passing attempt of his career, on a halfback option. He also scored the game-winning touchdown, an 11-yard run with 5:40 left on Saturday. Lynch is second on the team this season with 121 carries and 517 yards with three touchdowns. He is third on the team with 19 receptions for 299 yards and a score.

PUTTING THE STUDENT IN STUDENT ATHLETE: Three members of the Coast Guard Academy football team have been nominated for Academic All-America honors given by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Junior quarterback Niles Pierson, who carries a 3.76 GPA in Civil Engineering, junior linebacker Brian Yurovich, who has a 3.33 GPA in Operations Research and Computer Analysis along with senior offensive lineman Matt Krueger who sports a 3.23 GPA as a Government major, were all on the district ballots.

SCOUTING COAST GUARD: Bogan Division champion Coast Guard, ranked 2nd in New England, finally gets a chance to enjoy a second straight magical season. The Bears have had three straight games with first place on the line, and now have a spot in the NEFC Championship Game on Nov. 10th vs. four-time defending NEFC Champion Curry.

Coast Guard, which has won six straight this season and 13 straight NEFC Bogan Division games is averaging a division best 33.2 points along with 388 yards per game, 210.4 rushing and 177.6 passing.

NEFC Bogan Division Offensive Player of the Year candidate, senior quarterback Christian George leads Coast Guard with 124 carries, 710 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns, all of which are career highs. He has completed 69 of 143 passes for 799 yards with five touchdowns and seven interceptions. Junior quarterback Niles Pierson, who won the Boston Globe’s Gold Helmet vs. Framingham State last year, is 44 of 86 for 567 yards with a team-high seven touchdown passes and six interceptions. Pierson should again see significant time this week, resting George for the NEFC Championship Game, which he missed last season with a broken foot.

Senior running back Lance Lynch is second on the team with 121 carries, 517 yards and three touchdowns. Lynch is tied for third on the team with 19 receptions for 299 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore Sam England leads the team with 33 receptions for 438 yards and five touchdowns while senior Erik Wyrick is second on the team with 20 receptions, 241 yards and three scores. Sophomore running back Matt Keith is tied for third with 19 receptions for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bears offensive line has allowed just five sacks this season which is best in the nation.

The Coast Guard defense is allowing 22.8 points per game and 382.1 yards per game. The Bears are allowing 160.9 rushing yards per game and a league-high 221.2 passing yards per game.

Freshman linebacker Kyle Ennis leads the team with 57 tackles, 44 solo, three for loss and two sacks, sophomore cornerback Pat Bennett is second with 54 tackles and two interceptions. Junior linebacker Brian Yurovich is third with 53 tackles, 29 solo, 4.5 for loss and a team-high three sacks. NEFC Defensive Player of the Week, junior linebacker Brian Field is now fourth on the team with 52 tackles, 27 solo.

Coast Guard has several special teams weapons as the Bears have one of the top punters in the nation in senior Jesse Harms, who leads the NEFC with a 40.6 yard average. Senior kicker David Lieberman is 10 for 12 on field goals and a perfect 28-for-28 on extra points this season. Sophomore Steve Arguelles is second in the NEFC with a 23.8 yard average on kick returns and he is third in punt returns with and 8.9 yard average.

SCOUTING FRAMINGHAM STATE: The Rams have been the victim of some close losses this season with three of their six losses coming by a touchdown or less. Framingham looks to snap a five-game losing streak this week in its season finale.

Framingham State is averaging 19.9 points and 286 yards per game, 112.1 rushing and 173.9 passing. Senior quarterback Eian Bain is 49 of 94 for 643 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions while sophomore signal caller Patrick Franey is 71 of 145 for 748 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions, both quarterbacks have seen action this season.

Freshman Shawn Miller leads the Rams on the ground with 123 carries for 457 yards and a touchdown while senior Luke Guarino is second with 106 carries for 338 yards and two scores.

Senior James Hanafin leads the team with 34 receptions for 382 yards with one touchdown while sophomore Roland Gervais has 33 receptions, 463 yards and a team-high seven touchodown catches.

The Rams defense is allowing 26.1 points and 316.1 yards per game, 158.2 rushing yards and 157.9 passing.

Freshman Joe Miller leads the defense with 63 tackles, 33 solo, 8.5 for loss while freshman Joe Treacy is second with 59 stops and a team-high nine tackles for loss.

NEXT WEEK: Coast Guard travels to four-time defending NEFC champion Curry as the Bears and Colonels meet in the NEFC Championship Game for the second straight season. Curry beat Coast Guard 34-28 in 2006. Kickoff is set for noon.