Football
Release
Mariners close out regular season with 21-13 win over Fitchburg State Falcons
Castine, Maine - On Senior Day it was the Mariners who opened the scoring at the 7:58 mark of the first quarter when freshman Alex Coulombe (Kennebunk, ME) caught a 24 yard Brandon Hamilton (Skowhegan, ME) pass. Senior Brian Guillerault’s (South Portland, ME) extra point attempt hit the upright to keep the Mariner lead at 6-0. On the day, Hamilton threw the ball a total of 10 times, completing three passes, all to Coulombe for a total of 92 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 25 times for 82 yards and one touchdown.
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Junior Jon Farrin (Boothbay Harbor, ME) returning a Fitchburg kick off late in the game for 29 yards.
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Both teams traded field position for most of the second quarter until the visitors capped an 8-play, 54 yard drive with quarterback Jim Miller (East Hampton, NY) punching the ball into the end zone from 6 yards out. Matt Jones (Burlington Township, NJ) gave the Falcons the 7-6 lead with the extra point. Miller ran the ball 10 times on the day for 30 yards, and he was 20 of 40 in the air for 179 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Starting the second half with the 7-6 lead, the Falcons marched down the field on a 12 play, 56 yard drive that took them to the Mariner 17 yard line. The Mariner defense held strong though, and Miller’s pass to Dan Langlois (Oxford, MA) on 4th and 5 was incomplete.
Chris Tracy (Westbrook, ME) led the Mariner defense on the day with 12 tackles and 2 sacks. Brian Guillerault added 13 tackles, and Wayne Withers (South Portland, ME) chipped in with 8 tackles. Leading the Falcons on defense were Kris Breen (Griswold, CT) with 10 tackles, and Jonathan Sweeney (New London, CT) with 9 tackles.
On the next Mariner possession it was the tandem of Hamilton and Coulombe that connected on a 35 yard pass on 3rd and 1 from the Mariner 26 yard line to get MMA into Falcon territory. A couple of rushes later, and the pair got together again with Coulombe catching a 33 yard Hamilton strike to give the Mariners the 12-7 lead. The Mariners were successful going for two, with Hamilton again the ball carrier.
With 00:59 left in the third quarter the Falcons punted and recovered an MMA fumble at the Mariner 2 yard line. On 4th and goal Miller completed a 2 yard pass to Langlois to get Fitchburg within a point. After a penalty set the Falcons back 15 yards, the resulting Matt Jones extra point kick failed.
Three times in the 4th quarter Fitchburg turned the ball over on downs, and with 1:04 left in the game Mariner quarterback Hamilton rushed from 6 yards out for another score. Guillerault’s kick was good to give MMA the 21-13 lead.
With time running out, Nate Bolduc (Farmington, ME) intercepted Miller at the Mariner 1 yard line to preserve the victory. With the win the Mariners up their record to 6-3 (5-2 Bogan), and the Falcons fall to 4-5 (3-4 Bogan).
