Maine Maritime Academy Athletics

Football
MIT Release

9.6.08 / box score

MIT holds on to beat MMA 42-39 in season opener

Tyler Angell and Travis Fergola have career days

Portland, Maine – The Maine Maritime Academy Mariners and the MIT Engineers scored on seven straight possessions in the second half before MIT pulled out the victory on their last possession and scored with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter to win 42-39. The game featured 874 yards of total offense and some outstanding performances by both teams on each side of the ball.

Junior quarterback Tyler Angell (pictured left) led the Mariner attack throwing for 173 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for another 98 yards on 14 carries. Junior running back Jim Bower (South Paris, ME) rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries and two scores for MMA while junior wide receiver Alex Coulombe (Kennebunk, ME) had four catches for 116 yards and two scores. Junior linebacker Travis Fergola (Mexico, ME) (11 tackles and11 assists) was a bright spot on a Mariner defense that gave up 404 yards of total offense.

MIT junior running back DeRon Brown (Galax, VA) was outstanding in the win for MIT rushing for 137 yards on 28 carries and scoring two touchdowns. Junior quarterback Rick Mancuso (Dunmore, PA) also played well passing for two touchdowns and 152 yards while completing 18 passes. Senior wide receiver Kevin Vogelsang (Versailles, KY) had eight catches for 75 yards and a touchdown while Ben Grannan (Greenland, NH) had 16 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown.

The Engineers got on the board first, scoring on their second drive of the game when quarterback Rick Mancuso threw a two-yard strike to tight end Thomas Franklin (Independence, MO) in the back of the end zone to put MIT up 6-0. Kicker Peter Gilliland (Grand Ledge, MI) converted the extra point to cap the drive and push the score to 7-0.

Maine Maritime answered back on their next possession when Tyler Angell hit Alex Coulombe for a 43-yard touchdown pass on only the second play of the drive to get MMA within a point at 7-6. The MMA extra point attempt by Michael Brennan (Manchester, ME) was blocked by William Vega-Brown (Salem, NJ), which kept the score at 7-6. The Engineers went three and out on their next possession and turned the ball back over to the Mariners. The Mariners marched 76 yards and capped the scoring drive off with a five-yard Jonathan Farrin (Boothbay Harbor, ME) touch down run. Jim Bower (South Paris, ME) converted the two-point conversion run to push the MMA lead to 14-7.

MIT bounced right back and scored with 1:32 left in the half when Rick Mancuso hooked up with Kevin Vogelsang in the back corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown pass. The drive was capped off by a Peter Gilliland extra point conversion, which tied the score at 14-14.

The Mariners got the ball back with 43 seconds to go in the half at their own 47-yard line and proceeded to score again before the end of the half. The MMA offense worked the ball down to the MIT 16-yard line with 6.2 seconds left in the half when quarterback Tyler Angell connected with Alex Coulombe for a touchdown at the horn. The touchdown was the junior wide receivers second of the day and put MMA up 20-14. Michael Brennan converted the extra point and MMA went into the half up 21-14.

The second half turned out to be a track meet as both teams combined for 46 points and at one point in the half the teams exchanged blows scoring on seven straight possessions to keep the fans on the edge of their seats.

The Engineers answered, the bell early in the third quarter scoring on their first possession when running back DeRon Brown ran the ball off of the right tackle into the end zone from 1 yard out. The drive consumed over eight minutes and took 14 plays before Gilliland converted his third extra point of the afternoon tying the score at 21 apiece. The Mariners once again answered quickly taking only four plays to score on a 51-yard hookup between Tyler Angell and sophomore wide out Josh Elwell (Owlshead, ME). Brennan missed his second extra point of the afternoon and the score remained at 27-21.

MIT quickly responded to start out the fourth quarter connecting on an 8 play, 69-yard drive, capped of by a four-yard touchdown run by Ben Grannan The extra point was converted by Peter Gilliland to put MIT up 28-27. Maine Maritime once again responded with a long drive of their own to go back up by the score 33-28. A Jim Bower rush from a yard out finished off the 10-play, 76-yard drive, to put MMA up by five points. The two-point conversion attempt by Jonathan Farrin fell short and MMA held a slim advantage with 9:20 left in the game.

The Engineers scored on their very next possession when DeRon Brown scampered in from 21 yards out to put MIT back on top 34-33. The two-point conversion pass failed when Mancuso threw an incomplete pass to Grannan. MMA would not go away and again scored when Jim Bower rushed off the right guard from 7-yards out and found pay dirt for the second time on the afternoon. The drive was set up by a Tyler Angell 25 yard run that got MMA inside the MIT 10-yard line before they punched it in for the 39-34 lead.

MIT had the final blow on the afternoon as they capped off a late rally when senior running back Robert Utz ran the ball in from the MMA 7-yard line to put the Engineers up for good with just seconds to go. The two–point conversion was good for MIT and the three-point lead would be enough to ice the game for the Engineers.

MMA outgained MIT 470 to 404 but MIT held the time of possession advantage 33:48 to 26:12. MMA linebackers Travis Fergola (22 Tackles) and sophomore Wade Mondoux (Berwick, ME) were outstanding for the Mariners making 37 tackles between the two of them. Connor Callahan (Southington, CT) had 13 tackles while senior Cody Andrews (Holden, ME) had nine tackles and a sack in the loss.

The MIT defense was led by linebackers Peter Gilliland and defensive back Kevin Foley (Libertyville, ILL), who had nine tackles each. Brian Mickle (Port Allegany, PA) played well in the victory collecting 8 tackles and intercepting the ball on the final play of the game.

MMA (0-1) will be back in action when they host Becker College on Saturday September 13^th at 1pm. MIT (1-0) will be back on the gridiron when they host Massachusetts Maritime on the 13^th at 2pm.

MMA Athletics • Pleasant Street • Castine, ME 04420 • (207) 326-2450