Football Sunk by Mass. Maritime

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – With most of the area college games moved to Friday or Sunday due to the impending nor'easter affecting the area, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Worcester State University football teams braved the storm Saturday afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium and celebrated six Buccaneer seniors prior to the game as part of the teams annual senior day. With the rain coming down sideways and the wind blowing, both teams did their best to keep the ball on the ground. Between the two teams, there were a total of 17 passes thrown for 21 yards. At the end of the 60 minutes, with puddles all over the field, the Buccaneers sealed their second victory of the season by shutting out the Lancers, 26-0, in MASCAC play.

For the Buccaneers, running backs Matt Long (Weymouth, Mass) and Benjamin Sheehan (Wilbraham, Mass) each scored twice in the game and each posted career highs on the ground. Long ran for 105 yards on 20 carries and Sheehan gained 75 yards from scrimmage on 14 carries. Long also made an impact on special teams, punting the ball five times for 197 yards with a long of 73 yards, pinning the Lancers inside their own 20 on one occasion. Senior running back, Andrew Decarteret (Nashua, N.H.) carried the ball eight times for the Bucs for 56 yards. Due to the weather, the passing game for the Buccaneers was nonexistent. Quarterback Ty Ebdon (Gales Ferry, Conn) threw the ball a total of five times, completing one pass for negative five yards. Ebdon did have four carried of his own for 17 yards. Defensively, it was a breakout game for sophomore linebacker Jack Fontana (Grafton, Mass) as he totaled 11 tackles, eight solo, in the game while also forcing a fumble and breaking up a pass. The Buccaneers had no sacks in the game but did tackle the Lancers behind the line of scrimmage eight times in the game for a loss of 20 yards total. Defensive lineman Kyle Johnston (Raynham, Mass) and freshman defensive back Cobey Willaimson (Easton, Mass) each had two tackles for loss in the game. All totaled, the Bucs gained 15 first down, 14 by way of the rush and once on a Lancer Penalty. They racked up 271 total yards, 276 on the ground and the negative five through the air.

The Lancers were led offensively by Austin Nunn who ran the ball 15 times for 33 yards. Running back Hunter Paupaw carried the ball 11 times for the visitors for 28 yards. Quarterback Mike Kadlick led both teams throwing the ball, completing four of 12 passes for a modest 26 yards. Wide Receiver Cam Charette led all receivers with two catches for 15 yards. Charette, also the Lancers punter, punted eight times in the game for 258 total yards. Defensively, AJ Byard led the way for Worcester with nine solo tackles. Sam Lis and Gus Ramstrom each had nine tackles as well, seven solo and two assisted. The Lancers stopped the Bucs behind the line of scrimmage a total of five times for 18 yards lost.

The Buccaneers opened the scoring four minutes in to the game. Following an illegal kicking penalty on Charette for kicking the ball out of the end zone following a snap over his head, the Buccaneers took over on the Worcester one yard line. On the first play, Long found the end zone and George Lampros (Bridgewater, Mass) hit the extra point to give the Bucs a 7-0 lead which they would take to the second quarter as neither team was able to get close to the end zone for the remainder of the first quarter.

In the second, The Buccaneers scored with 10 minutes left until half time on a 13-yard Sheehan run to cap off a two-play, 32 yard drive. Lampros made the point after attempt again to bring the score to 14-0 in favor of Maritime. With just over a minute to play in the half, the Bucs regained possession. With a short, 26-yard field in front of them, they drove down in five plays finishing off the drive on a Sheehan two-yard score. With puddle forming on the field, holder Paul Sances (Middleboro, Mass) was unable to get down a high snap in to the puddle for Lampros forcing the Bucs to miss the extra point. With the score 20-0 in favor of the hosts, the teams went back to a dry, warm locker room for the halftime break.

In the second half, with a soaked Clean Harbors Stadium field, the Buccaneers would find the end zone one more time on a one-yard run by Long with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. The score would remain 26-0 as this time, the wind got the best of Lampros' PAT and it rattled the left upright. The Lancers would have their chances in the third and fourth periods but were unable to make anything happen against a stout Buccaneer defense. The Buccaneers got the ball back in the fourth with 1:29 on the clock and knelt on the next three plays to wind the clock out, winning the game 26-0.

With the win, the Buccaneers improve to 2-6 on the season and are now 1-5 in the MASCAC. With the loss, the Lancers fall to 2-6 on the season and fall to 1-5 in Conference play.

#LancerNation

Release courtesy of Mass. Maritime Sports Information.