NEW LONDON, CONN. – Junior quarterback Robert Moore ran for 203 yards while sophomore running back Wiley Martin ran for 101 yards and pair of touchdowns leading Merchant Marine to a come-from-behind 31-27 win over Coast Guard in the annual battle for the Secretaries' Cup.
Coast Guard (1-1) led 21-14 at half behind three touchdown passes from senior quarterback Derek Victory, but Merchant Marine held the Bears to just one first down and 29 total yards in the second half.
Merchant Marine had 460 yards of total offense, 411 of those on the ground in the season-opening win. The Mariners, who did not attempt a pass in the second half, ran for 274 yards in the second half and kept the Bears offense off the field as they dominated the time of possession 23:36 to 6:34 in the second half.
Coast Guard finished with 299 total yards. Victory was 21 of 36 for 229 yards with three touchdowns. He was 15 of 23 for 204 yards in the first half. He threw a 12-yard pass to junior Cody Bain on the Bears first offensive play of the second half, but that would be Coast Guard's last first down of the game.
The Bears got on the board first when Victory threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Jeff Porter, his first career touchdown and sophomore Cole Austin added the kick for a 7-0 lead with 6:07 left in the first quarter.
Merchant Marine tied the game on a 3-yard touchdown run by Martin and Jake McDonough added the PAT with 14:33 left in the first half. The Mariners converted twice on 4th down to keep the drive alive.
Victory's 21-yard touchdown pass to Bain with 11:43 left gave the Bears a 14-7 lead, but again Merchant Marine responded this time as Moore threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Luke Jamison to tie the game with 7:28 left in the first half.
Victory would lead the Bears on a 79-yard scoring drive and hit sophomore Chip Crowley with a 34-yard touchdown, his first career TD reception, with 4:12 left as Coast Guard took the 21-14 lead into the half as the Mariners would miss a 50-yard field goal with 3:04 left.
The Mariners moved all the way to the Coast Guard 9-yard line on its first possession of the second half, the Bears defense and sophomore Tommy Jones came up big on a 4th-and-1 as the Mariners turned the ball over on downs.
Merchant Marine missed a 43-yard field goal with 7:38 left in the third quarter.
The score remained 21-14 until a 6-yard touchdown run by Spencer Blauw with 14:11 left tied the game 21-21.
The Bears went three and out and Merchant Marine took the lead 28-21 on a 3-yard run by Martin with 11:05 left in the game.
Coast Guard again went three and out, but the only turnover of the game gave the Bears life as sophomore Nate Harvey picked up a fumble and returned it 34 yards with 7:34 left. However, a bad snap led to the PAT being missed wide right and the Mariners still led 28-27.
Junior Erik Swayne booted a 28-yard field goal with 1:19 left to close the scoring.
Victory ran for one yard before three straight incomplete passes sealed the win for Merchant Marine.
Victory led the Bears with 29 yards rushing on five carries. He again was not intercepted pushing his streak to 229 consecutive passed without an interception.
Bain (64 yards), Crowley (56 yards) and Porter (44 yards) each had five receptions and a touchdown to lead the Bears receivers.
Junior strong safety Ryan Robertson had a career-high 14 tackles, 13 solo to lead the Coast Guard defense while classmate free safety Matt O'Donnell finished with a career-best 11 tackles, ten solo. Senior defensive lineman Logan Mars added ten tackles for the Bears.