KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The Maritime football team wrapped up it's 2014 non-conference slate with a loss to the Merchant Marine Mariners on Saturday afternoon by the score of 34-17 on Captain Tomb Field at Brooks Stadium.
After falling behind by a 31-0 score heading into halftime, the Privateers came back in the second half to outscore their hosts by a 17-3 margin in the final 30 minutes of play.
"We fell behind early, and put ourselves in a hole that we just couldn't get out of," said Privateer head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes after the game.
Leading the way for Maritime on offense was senior fullback Kyle Gardner (Amityville N.Y./St. Anthony's) as he rushed for 104 yards on the day, followed by classmate Greg Caneparo (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet) who collected 99 yards on the ground including a game-high 71 yard rush. Junior Zack Chilcott (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) also collected 77 yards on the ground, while throwing for 69 yards on five passes.
Senior captain Nick Coffiey (Wilmington, Del./Delaware Military Academy) and junior linebacker Kameron Knight (Clayton, N.C./West Johnson) led the defense as both ended the afternoon with 11 tackles each on the afternoon. Freshman defensive back Nick Conte (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) added nine tackles, while senior Hugh O'Brien (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) added eight of his own. O'Brien was also credited with 1.5 sacks, with junior linebacker Dwayne Lacroix (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Malverne ) picking up the other half-sack. O'Brien and junior Brian Price (New York, N.Y./Wadleigh) also collected a forced fumble each on the game.
Merchant Marine won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, but pulled a trick play out of the playbook on the opening kickoff as the Mariners kicked and returned an on-side kick. The Mariners, followed by the Privateers were unable to do anything on their first possessions, giving the ball back to Merchant Marine.
The Mariners scored on their next drive to take a 7-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff Caneparo took the ball at the 8-yard line and returned the ball 40 yards to midfield to give Maritime prime position to even up the game. However, the offense was unable to get a first down and turned the ball over on downs. Merchant Marine added another touchdown on just four plays on its next possession to take a 14-0 advantage.
Maritime was outscored 17-0 in the second quarter as Merchant Marine reached the end zone on its first two series in the period. The Mariners added a field goal with five seconds left in the half to take a 31-0 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Privateers got the ball back immediately after kicking the ball off as Price forced and recovered a fumble to give Maritime the football with just nine seconds off the clock. Three plays later, junior Diogo Dietrich (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/DePaul Catholic) was called on and connected on a 44-yard field goal to give Maritime its first points of the game.
On the next Privateer possession, Maritime needed just three minutes to go 55 yards and reach the end zone for the first touchdown of the day for Maritime as Chilcott darted up the middle for a 1-yard score. The big play of the drive was a 31-yard connection from Chilcott to junior wide receiver Andrew Short (Covington, La./St. Paul's) to put Maritime into the red zone.
Merchant Marine responded with a field goal to take a 34-10 lead, but Maritime got yet another big play on its next drive to score. After getting possession back, the Privateers called Caneparo's number and the senior sprinted down the left sideline, before cutting across the middle of the field and into the end zone for a 71-yard sprint on the first play of the drive to pull Maritime within 17 as the score was 34-17.
On its first possession of the final quarter, the Privateers brought the ball into offensive territory as Short opened the drive with an 11-yard reception. Chilcott also carried the ball for 22-yards on the drive as Dietrich set up for a 44-yard field goal once again, this time against the win. Dietrich's low line drive kick went wide right of the upright as the Privateers were unable to score.
The methodical offense went to work for Merchant Marine as the Mariners went 71 yards on 16 plays while milking just over 11 minutes off the clock to virtually seal the victory as Maritime was left with just 20 seconds on the clock.
Maritime (1-2, 0-0 ECFC) will be off with it's bye week this coming weekend, before opening up ECFC play with a road matchup against Mount Ida on October 4 at 2 p.m.
Merchant Marine (2-1, 0-0 Liberty) will open up Liberty League play next weekend with a tough road test against nationally ranked Hobart at 1 p.m.