Football
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COAST GUARD 38, MAINE MARITIME 34
NEW LONDON, CONN.--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.
Junior linebacker Brian Field intercepted Maine Maritime quarterback Tyler Angell (6 of 16, 106 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT/19 carries, 74 yards, 2 TD) with 1:03 left to preserve the win. Field had a career-high 16 tackles to go with a fumble recovery and the interception.
Senior quarterback Christian George (8 of 19, 78 yards, 2 INT) had a career-high four rushing touchdowns as he carried 22 times for 107 yards including a one-yard run which pulled the Bears to within three at 34-31 with 9:02 left in the game.
Coast Guard (7-1, 6-0) won its sixth straight this season, its ninth straight regular season home game while winning its 13th consecutive NEFC Bogan Division game, having never lost a division game since joining the league last season.
Four time defending NEFC Champion Curry will host Coast Guard in the NEFC Championship Game on Nov. 10th at noon, it is a rematch of last season’s championship game in which Curry beat Coast Guard 34-28.
Maine Maritime (5-3, 4-2) took a 20-3 lead and appeared to be on its way to taking over first place in the Bogan Division, when Angell threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Alex Coulombe (3 receptions, 78 yards) with 5:18 left in the first half.
Coast Guard responded by going 57 yards in 11 plays with George scoring a touchdown on a 4th-and-goal from the four to cut the deficit to 20-10 with 2:12 left in the first half.
The Bears got a stop and took over at their own 46 with 37 seconds left, but George was intercepted by Travis Fergola on the next play giving the Mariners the ball back on its own 47 with 28 seconds left. Maine Maritime drove down to the Coast Guard 16, but the clock ran out.
Maine Maritime dominated play in the first half holding Coast Guard to 111 total yards, 59 rushing while totaling 225 themselves, 140 on the ground. Senior running back Brandon Goodrich (34 carries, 131 yards) had 21 carries for 95 yards in the first half.
Sophomore Pat Bennett (4 kick returns, 139 yards) gave Coast Guard a huge lift to start the second half as he returned the kickoff 64 yards giving the Bears the ball at the Mariner 23. It took just four plays to score as George scored on a two-yard run making the score 20-17 with 13:32 left in the third quarter. That would be the only scored of the third quarter. The defenses dominated play in the third quarter as both teams combined for just 80 yards in the quarter.
Late in the third quarter, senior Nate Bolduc intercepted George and returned it 14 yards to the Bear 25. The Mariners would score on the first play of the fourth quarter, a one-yard run by Goodrich, but the extra point was blocked by Bennett and Maine Maritime led 26-17 with 14:47 to go in the game.
The Bears answered quickly as Bennett had another great return, this time a 36 yard return to the Mariner 41. George completed a huge 27-yard pass to senior Erik Wyrick on 4th-and-five putting the ball on the nine. George ran nine yards on the next play cutting the lead to 26-24 with 13:56 left.
The Mariners then went 80 yards in nine plays, capped by an Angell 15-yard touchdown run and Goodrich scored the two-point conversion run making the score 34-24 with 9:37 left.
Coast Guard went into its bag of tricks on the next possession as Lynch threw his first career pass, a 55-yard strike to sophomore Sam England putting the ball on the Mariner one and George scored from there completing a four-play, 68 yard drive that took just 27 seconds making the score 34-31 with 9:02 left.
The Coast Guard defense came up big on the next possession as junior linebacker Brian Yurovich recovered a fumble by Angell at the Mariner 40.
It took Coast Guard six plays to go 40 yards as Lynch capped the drive with his 11-yard run for a 38-34 lead with 5:40 left. Lynch finished with 14 carries for 38 yards giving him 2,027 for his career.
Following an exchange of punts, the Mariners took over at their own 23 with 1:59 left, but Field’s interception on the sixth play gave the Bears the championship.
Maine Maritime outgained Coast Guard 381-316. The Mariners had 71 rushes for 275 yards while Coast Guard rushed 46 times for 167 yards.
