Plymouth State's Defense Holds in 13-7 Nail Biter
CASTINE, Maine – Plymouth State made a late goal line stand to preserve a 13-7 win over Maine Maritime Academy in New England College Football conference inter-divisional play on Saturday. The middle of the Panthers' line held as Mariners fullback Billy Wetherbee (Veazie, Maine) attempted to punch in on fourth and goal from the one in the waning seconds of the contest, giving Plymouth its first win of the season to move to 1-2. Maine Maritime slides to 0-2.
The late-game drama was set up by freshman Michael Fahey's (Union, Conn.) 32-yard toss to Spencer Bowring (S. Portland, Maine). Bowring out-jumped a pair of Panthers before falling to the Plymouth one-yardline. Ryan O'Neal (Higganum, Conn.), who rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown in the game, punched into the end zone on the next play with 55 seconds showing, but a controversial illegal shift call took the points off the board and put the pigskin back on the Panthers' six. A Fahey botched snap was followed by a Wetherbee four-yard plunge before he was wrestled to the ground by Mark Hennessy (Westford, Mass.) at the one, setting up the Mariners' ill-fated, fourth down attempt.
Plymouth's Andrew Foglia (Montauk,N.Y.), who rushed for 98 yards on the day, broke through the left side of the Mariners' defense for 21 of them to give his team the 13-7 lead late in the second quarter. The defenses held the rest of the way. The Mariners piled up 321 yards of offense to Plymouth's 258, and recorded 17 first downs to the Panthers' dozen, but Plymouth's defense answered the bell at every ring.
The Mariners' started in Plymouth territory on consecutive possessions in the third quarter, stalling out on downs on the Panthers' 35 and 14. A Joel Chadbourne (Westbrook, Maine) interception set Maine Maritime up on the Panthers' 28, but after gaining only two yards after a pair of Hennessy-stopped plays, William Alsbrooks (Mobile, Ala.) 42-yard field goal attempt missed just wide right.
Hennessy recorded eight tackles including one for a loss. Plymouth's Ray Boulay (Keene, N.H.) posted 11 tackles, including nine solo stops to go with an interception and a pass breakup. Josh Morgan (Foster, R.I.) had eight solo tackles and an assisted stop.
Chadbourne led all tacklers with 13 stops, including 10 solos. He recovered a fumble to go with his pick on the afternoon. Brock Lawrence (Benton,Maine) recorded nine tackles, with one for a loss of two yards, while John Regis (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) had seven tackles and a forced fumble. Alex Hermes (Fallsington, Pa.) forced a fumble and tipped the pass that ended up in Chadbourne's hands. Christopher Hale (Standish, Maine) also recorded an interception.
Plymouth's Dustin Matthews (Elliot, Maine), started the day's scoring with a one-yard plunge to cap an 11-play, 71-yard drive on the Panthers' first possession. The fullback finished the day with 50 yards on nine attempts. The Mariners' answered with O'Neal, cashing in on a Plymouth fumble that gave Maine Maritime possession on the Panthers' 35. O'Neal punched in on his second 12-yard run on the drive. He averaged 7.1 yards on his 15 carries.
Maine Maritime returns to action next Saturday at Fitchburg State to open Bogan Division play. Plymouth heads to Mass.-Dartmouth to start its Boyd Division slate.