Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
Kings Point, NY --- Merchant Marine wide receiver Talsen Smith (Roseville, CA) had three touchdown receptions over 60 yards each on his way to a school record 324 receiving yards and quarterback Gervy Alota (San Diego, CA) amassed 355 yards on 17-of-26 passing with three touchdowns to lift the Mariners past visiting WPI 40-28 in high-scoring NEWMAC football contest played Saturday afternoon at Brooks Stadium on Long Island.
USSMA is now 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in conference play and travels to Springfield, who is undefeated in league action next weekend. The Pride defeated Salve Regina this afternoon in a battle of NEWMAC unbeatens and a Merchant Marine victory could lead to a three-way tie in the standings. The Engineers drop their third straight contest and slip to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in NEWMAC action.
The hosts jumped out to 9-0 lead on a 35-yard field goal Jackson Tinkis (Bossier City, LA) and a long Alota touchdown pass just 5:11 into the matchup but then the game went on the see-saw with the alternating touchdowns accounting for eight straight touchdowns and the game going back-and-forth between a two-and nine-point margin. Merchant Marine led 30-28 entering the fourth quarter and ended the wild game with a Tinkis 32-yard field goal and finally a Ceaser Gonzalez (Norco, CA) nine yard touchdown scamper with 3:19 to go to give the game its final score of 40-28.
WPI received a strong effort from its quarterback Terrence Benedict (Ticonderoga, NY). The senior made his first collegiate start a memorable one, completing 21-of-31 pass attempts for 276 yards and three touchdowns. The TD receptions went to three different players - Douglas Cain (Jefferson, MA), who finished with 66 yards, Jay Mezzo (Naugatuck, CT), who had 65 and senior Bryce Curtin (Bristol, CT), who had 49. Noah Herzig (Hubbardston, MA), who missed the last game with an injury, returned to corral a team-best five catches for 45 yards and tailback Hunter Carey (South Hadley, MA), in his first action since a week three injury, paced the running game with 58 yards, including a 11-yard score.
Defensively Gavin Chieff (Bernardsville, NJ) totaled a game-high 13 stops for the Crimson and Gray while Frankie Polito (Shrewsbury, MA) and Jimmy Espinal (Salem, MA) each chipped in with nine tackles with Espinal recording one tackle for a loss and Polito recovering a fumble. Special teams excelled for the Boynton Hillers as Brock Dubey (Dudley, MA) drilled all four of his PATs and Nick DeMasi (Chapel Hill, NC) averaged 39.2 yards per punt and landed two boots inside the 20.
Jack Temple (Rockville Centre, NY) registered three sacks of the Mariners on his way to 4.5 tackles for loss. C.J. Livesay (Morristown, TN) posted a team-high eight stops for the hosts while Nicolas Espada (Babylon, NY) and Aidan Graham (Allen, TX) each added seven tackles.
Merchant Marine registered 500 yards of total offense, compared to WPI's 336, and enjoyed a sizeable bulge in time of possession (34:02 to 25:58). Each team had one turnover (both fumbles) and there were just nine total penalties in the contest.
WPI returns home next week to face Salve Regina at 1pm.