PAXTON, Mass.— Senior Derek Victory threw for 354 yards and accounted for five touchdowns as he threw for three and ran for two more in just over three quarters leading Coast Guard to a convincing season-opening 34-0 win at Anna Maria in the first Division III football game in New England in the 2016 season.
Coast Guard registered its first shutout since a 40-0 win over Maine Maritime in 2013 and its first season-opening shutout since a 27-0 win over Mass. Maritime in 2005.
Victory was 28 of 44 and became the first Coast Guard quarterback to eclipse the 5,000 passing yard mark in his career as the Bears all-time leader finished the game with 5,220 passing yards. He has now thrown 193 straight passes without being intercepted.
"Midway through the third quarter coach LaForte told me that Derek is about as spot on as he can be," said Coast Guard head coach Bill George. "That is what you hope for in a quarterback that is a a senior and he delivered tonight."
The Coast Guard defense was outstanding, especially in the second half holding the AMCATS to 195 total yards, just 66 in the second half.
The Bears finished with 509 total yards, 405 of those in the air.
Junior tight end Cody Bain had six receptions for a team-high 107 yards and a touchdown while senior Kyle Jackson had a game-high nine receptions for 91 yards and a score. Sophomore Jacob Pawlina added five receptions for 84 yards in the win.
On the opening possession of the second half, the Bears marched 77 yards in 11 plays with Victory scoring on a 7-yard run, on 4th and 1 and following freshman Patrick Crowley's extra point the Bears led 20-0 with 8:57 left in the third quarter.
Following a punt, Coast Guard marched 90 yards capped when junior Darius Adams, making his collegiate football debut, leaped and caught a 29-yard touchdown pass, his first career reception, from Victory with 2:34 left in the third quarter and the PAT pushed the lead to 27-0.
Coast Guard dominated play in third quarter outgaining the AMCATS 190-14.
The Bears struck for the third straight time as Victory scored on a 1-yard run with 12:38 left in the game and Crowley's kick made it 34-0 and ended the night for Victory
The Amcats drove 66 yards on their opening possession of the game before getting stuffed on a 4th and 1 at the Coast Guard 11-yard line.
Following an exchange of punts, the Bears drove 80 yards in ten plays and got on the board when Victory threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to senior Kyle Jackson on 4th and 13 with 2:14 left before freshman Patrick Crowley added the extra point. The key plays in the drive were a 25-yard pass to junior tight end Cody Bain on a 3rd and nine and a roughing the passer penalty which extended the drive.
On the Bears next possession, the Coast Guard special teams set up the Bears at the Anna Maria 17-yard line when freshman Michael Goldsworthy recovered a fumbled punt.
The Bears couldn't not much and it would be the Anna Maria special teams coming up big when freshman Jaevin Milhouse blocked a 31-yard field goal by Crowley to keep the score 7-0 with 12:04 left in the first half.
Coast Guard's defense forced a third straight punt and sophomore Jeff Porter's 65-yard run gave the Bears a first-and-goal at the AMCAT 6-yard line, but a fumble two plays later at the 2-yard line would keep Coast Guard off the scoreboard once again with 8:08 left in the opening half.
The Bears once again stalled in the red zone in the final minute of the first half and Crowley missed a 31-yard field goal with 36 seconds left. Victory had a pair of big completions on the drive, a 25-yard strike to Bain followed by a 24-yard throw to sophomore Jacob Pawlina.
It appeared Coast Guard would take just a 7-0 lead into the half, but Anna Maria went three-and-out and Pawlina had a 32 yard punt return giving the Bears the ball at the AMCAT 27-yard line with ten seconds left.
A pass interference call moved the ball to the 13 with four seconds left and Victory came up huge on the final play of the half finding Bain for a 13-yard touchdown with no time left, a bad snap on the extra point kept the score a 13-0 at the break.
"We made some mistakes in the first half, but us scoring on the last play of the first half changed a really tight battle, it took the wind out of them and we carried that momentum into the second half," said George.
Coast Guard had 259 yard in the first half, 182 passing and 77 on the ground while the AMCATS totaled 129 yards, 78 of those in the air.
"It's nice to get that first one, everyone can enjoy it this week, but we are not goi Wng to get sidetracked," said Victory. "I think last year we got a little ahead of ourselves and came out flat against Merchant Marine. We are not going to let that happen this year."
The Bears recovered three fumbles in the win as Goldsworthy, junior Vince DeTerlizzi and sophomore Tommy Jones each had one. Junior strong safety Ryan Robertson led the Bears with seven tackles while sophomore linebacker Titus Creamer, making his first career start at linebacker, led the way with three tackles for loss.
The Bears are back in action on Sept. 10th when they host archrival Merchant Marine in the annual battle for the Secretaries' Cup at 2:30 p.m.