NEW LONDON, Conn. – Senior Mike Clancy ran for a career-high 134 yards and a touchdown while junior quarterback Derek Victory threw a touchdown pass and ran for another leading Coast Guard to a 28-13 win over MIT in New England Football Conference (NEFC) game on Homecoming Weekend.
Clancy had 12 carries for 106 yards and his touchdown in the second half and the Coast Guard defense shutout MIT in the second half.
The Bears, who ran for a season-high 204 yards on 40 carries, won their third straight for the first time since 2007 to improve to 4-2 overall and remained just one of two unbeaten teams at 3-0 in conference play. MIT drops to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the NEFC.
MIT scored the opening possession of the game on a 32-yard field goal by junior Tucker Cheyne for a 3-0 lead with 10:16 left in the first quarter.
Later in the first quarter, the Coast Guard defense came up big as senior Joe Rizzardi returned an interception 16 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 7-3 lead with 3:46 left.
Cheyne booted a 24-yard field on the next possession as the Engineers trimmed the lead to 7-6 with 14:04 left in the opening half.
Coast Guard would then march 81 yards in 14 plays with Victory scoring on a 1-yard run on 4th down to push the lead to 14-6 with 8:27 left in half. The key play on the drive was a 45-yard pass to sophomore tight end Cody Bain on 3rd and 10 to get the ball down to the 2-yard line.
MIT would answer by going 71 yards in nine plays with sophomore quarterback Jon King throwing a 10-yard touchdown to classmate Jared Hansen cutting the deficit to 14-13 with 4:42 left in the first half.
Coast Guard would have its only turnover of the game, at the MIT 24 on the next possession, but MIT was forced to punt and the Bears led 14-13 at halftime.
MIT freshman running back Adis Ojeda had 17 carries for 138 yards in the first half and finished the game with 27 carries for 208 yards.
The Bears extended their lead by going 77 yards in seven plays on the opening possession of the second half and Victory threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to junior Kyle Jackson to take a 21-13 lead with 12:49 left in the third quarter. The drive was aided by a roughing the kicker penalty which wiped out a 67-yard punt by Tyler Henning.
MIT would turn the ball over at their own 39 on the next possession as senior Mark Behne recovered the fumble for Coast Guard.
Henning knocked a punt out at the six-yard line and MIT would drive all the way to the Coast Guard 8-yard line before Rizzardi blocked a 25-yard field goal attempt to keep the score 21-13.
Following an exchange of punts to start the fourth quarter, Coast Guard got great field position when MIT had to punt from its own end zone after Henning knocked punt inside the 5-yard line.
The Bears started at the MIT 35 and five plays later Clancy scored on a 10-yard run to close the scoring giving the Bears a 28-13 lead with 11:09 left.
MIT looked to make it a one score game before senior linebacker Ed Lazowski intercepted King in the end zone with 2:49 left.
The Engineers finished with 509 yards of total offense, 269 rushing and 240 passing. King was 23 of 41 for 240 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Senior Seve Esparrago had four receptions for 36 yards to lead MIT, who had 11 different players with a reception.
Victory was 13 of 24 for 168 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. Jackson led the way with four catches for 56 yards while Bain had three receptions for 66 yards in the win.
Lazowski led the Bears with eight tackles while seniors Eli Maurer, Kyle Wood, Rizzardi and sophomore Jacob Brown each had seven tackles.
Coast Guard is back in action next Saturday at Curry with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Bear Remain Unbeaten in NEFC
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20151017_ziby.xml
2015
MIT
13
Coast Guard
28
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIT (1-5) | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Coast Guard (4-2) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Oct 17, 2015