WORCESTER, Mass. – On Saturday, the Maritime Football team traveled to Alumni Field on the campus of Becker College for its first road conference matchup of the 2015 season. Maritime held a 13-7 lead late in the game, but Becker scored a touchdown in the closing minutes to take the matchup by a 14-13 score.
"It was a great college football game," said Privateer Head Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes after the game. "With the game going down to the wire, both teams played their hearts out. They [Becker] made a few more plays than we did at the very end, but overall I'm very proud of the team today. We will rebound."
On the day, Maritime was led by senior Diogo Dietrich (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/DePaul Catholic (N.J.)), who converted on a pair of field goals and also knocked through an extra point to lead the team in scoring with seven points. Junior Brett McKinney (Westernville, N.Y./Rome Free Academy) scored the lone Privateer touchdown of the day on a 44-yard touchdown run.
McKinney ended the afternoon with 129 yards on the day, while classmate Joe Modica (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) recorded 57 yards on the ground. Senior quarterback Zack Chilcott (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) collected 49 yards on the ground, while also completing a pair of passes for 10 yards. Junior Nick Fischetti (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) rushed for 41 yards on the day, and also completed his second pass of the season for a 20-yard hookup with sophomore Jordan Formicola (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley).
Defensively, sophomore Kendal Parker (Evans, Ga./Lakeside) led the team with a season-high 15 tackles, followed by senior Kameron Knight (Clayton, N.C./West Johnson) with a dozen. Knight also had a fumble recovery, which was forced by classmate Patrick Connick (Spanish Fort, Ala./Spanish Fort), who also ended the day with seven tackles of his own.
Sophomore linebacker Daniel Hink (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) registered a pair of sacks, while senior Andrew Auriemma (Melville, N.Y./St. Anthony's) picked up one of his own. Senior Beau Warrington (Milford, Del./Sussex Technical) also picked off a pass to go along with his seven tackles.
In addition to Dietrich's pair of made field goals, the special teams unit saw junior John Arny (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) record three punts for an average of just over 36 yards per kick. Sophomore Matthew Murphy (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) kicked the ball off on four occasions, while averaging 57 yards on his 229 total yards. Freshman Karl Riek (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek) had one kickoff return for 24 yards.
Neither side got their offense going in the early stages of the first quarter, but Becker took over control of the ball with 5:06 left in the stanza. The Hawks had 13 plays for 62 yards and found the end zone to take the early 7-0 lead.
Both teams turned the ball over on downs, before Maritime was forced to punt. On the next Becker drive the Hawks went 59 yards, but missed a 26-yard field goal to give the Privateers possession once again.
Maritime took back possession with 6:02 left in the half, junior Krystian Cardinal-Charles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys and Girls), Chilcott and Fischetti marched down the field as did McKinney before facing a 4th-and-6 from the 15-yard line of Becker. The Privateers sent the field goal kicking unit onto the field and Dietrich nailed the 32-yard attempts to put the first Maritime points on the board.
The Privateers stormed out of the gates in the second half after a long 24-yard run back by Riek on the opening kickoff. Fischetti, McKinney, Modica and Chilcott all rushed for gains to set Maritime up at 3rd-and-6 from the Becker 44. The handoff was to McKinney, who dashed down the field for a 44-yard touchdown score to give Maritime its first lead of the day at 10-7 after the extra point from Dietrich.
Maritime's defensive units forced a pair of turnovers two of the Hawks' next three drives as Knight picked up the loose fumble forced by Connick, and on Warrington's interception. However, the Maritime offense was unable to convert on either off the turnovers.
With play crossing into the fourth quarter, the Privateers took over the ball from their own 13-yard line and drove down the field. Chilcott rushed for a first down, as did Fischetti, two plays later. Facing a 3rd-and-6, the play call was once again for Fischetti, however he threw the ball down the field and connected with Formicola for a 20-yard gain and another first down.
McKinney rushed for another first down, to put the ball on the Becker 33-yard line. After a few short plays, Maritime faced fourth down once again and put Dietrich back on the field for a 44-yard field goal attempt. The right-footed kicker booted the ball through the uprights for the score as Maritime inched itself ahead to a six-point lead at 13-7.
The defensive unit of the Privateers forced a punt, but the team gave the ball away on its next possession. Becker took over with just 4:32 remaining in regulation, and used up 3:14 of the clock as the drive resulted in a touchdown for the Hawks, who regained the lead at 14-13 after the extra point.
The Privateers had one last chance with 78 seconds left on the clock, as McKinney rushed for two yards before an incomplete pass stopped the clock. Chilcott found senior Vincent Jones (Cudjoe Key, Fla./Key West) for a catch that resulted in a three-yard loss before burning a time out on fourth down. Chilcott looked for Fischetti out of the backfield on a passing attempt, but the pass was incomplete and possession returned to the Hawks. Becker sat on the ball to end the game and hand Maritime its first conference loss of 2015.
As a team, Maritime led with 291 yards on the ground, but the Hawks led in the passing game. Total offense was relatively close with just 37 yards separating the Privateers and Hawks, as time of possession was also close at 31:49 to 28:11 in favor of the Privateers.
Maritime (3-2, 1-1 ECFC) will travel to New England once again for its next game as the Privateers will square off against the Norwich Cadets for a 1 p.m. kickoff in Northfield, Vt.
Becker (3-2, 1-1 ECFC) will also be on the road next weekend when the Hawks travel to Bangor, Maine for a date with the Husson Hawks for a 12 p.m. start time.
Privateers Drop Close Matchup with Becker, 14-13
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20151010_hp1v.xml
2015
SUNY-Maritime
13
Becker
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUNY-Maritime (3-2) | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| Becker (3-2) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Oct 10, 2015