Game Leaders
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Time of Poss.
CASTINE, Maine -- Massachusetts Maritime won its third-straight Admiral's Cup with a 52-18 win over Maine Maritime in a non-conference football game Saturday. The Buccaneers used a 40-point first half to set the tone and improved to 2-0. The Mariners, which churned out 444 yards of offense, fell to 0-2.
The Bucs scored three first quarter touchdowns to take a 19-0 lead. Stefan Gustafson capped a four-play, 43-yard drive, with a 14-yard run and John Trudel hooked up with Keith Caruso on a 10-yard scoring strike to give Mass. Maritime a 13-0 lead with 6:27 left in the opening quarter. Mike Stanton's 36-yard pass to Jonathon Wright put the Bucs ahead 19-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The Mariners got on the board with 10:07 left in the first half when Bradley Reed found the endzone on a 5-yard run. Trudel answered with a six-yard run, and a 12-yard scoring strike to Kevin Healy to give Mass. Maritime a 33-6 lead with 2:48 left in the second quarter. Stanton hooked up with E.J. Bennett for a 33-yard touchdown pass before Reed found Ryan O'Neal on a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 40-12 at halftime.
Kevin Healy hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Trudel to put the Bucs ahead 46-12 with 5:56 left in the third quarter. Austin Pearce made it 52-12 with a 14-yard run with 3:25 left in the third.
Maine Maritime scored the only touchdown in the fourth quarter when Reed found Brian Bedard in the endzone on a 14-yard pass.
Billy Wetherbee led the Mariners' offense with a career-high 191 yards on 34 carries. Joseph DiBiase rushed for 95 yards, while O'Neal and Reed churned out 55 and 24 yards. Reed completed 5 of 19 passes for 80 yards, hooking up with Bedard for 59 yards and O'Neal for 21.
The Bucs were paced on the ground by Gustafson's 203 yards and through the air by Stanton's 357 yards. Pierce rushed for 69 yards and David Yerxa had 48 yards to contributed to Mass. Maritime's 391 rushing yards. Trudel and Stanton found 11 different receivers with Kyle Hardy (6-77) and Bennett (4-60) leading the receiving corp.
Matthew King recorded 10 stop for the Bucs' defense, Sheldon Roper had an interception and Kevin Stanton and James Nguyen both recovered fumbles.
Chase Hutchinson led the Mariners defense with 10 tackles, Jonathan Ware had three tackles for a loss and Michael Burgess and Frank True both recorded sacks.
Maine Maritime opens NEFC play when it travels to Western New England Saturday at 1 p.m.