NEWTON, Mass. – Mount Ida used a balance offensive attack and racked up over 500 yards of offense on Saturday as they scored a 56-34 victory over Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) opponents Anna Maria at Alumni Field.
With the win, their second in a row, Mount Ida levels their season record at 3-3, and improves to 2-1 in the ECFC.
The Mustangs, who rushed for nearly three hundred yards, also saw quarterback Jawad Yatim (Shrewsbury, Mass.) throw for over two hundred more, while accounting for four touchdowns on the day, two of them through the air.
Both of those touchdown passes went to Jordan Hyman (Middletown, Conn.), who caught eight balls for 154 yards, and was Yatim's top target on the day.
Gregory McGoldrick (Brooklyn, N.Y.) threw for 145 yards and a touchdown in the loss, while Amcats running back Robert Small (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) ran for 141 yards, including a 74-yard touchdown burst, the longest play from scrimmage in the game.
The second and third quarters were the key to Mount Ida's success in this contest, as they outscored their opponents 42-14 over the middle two frames. The Mustangs took the lead for good with 2:49 left in the first half when freshman EJ Isom (Cranston, R.I.) punched in a 30-yard touchdown run, making it 26-21 in favor of the Green and White.
Isom had a standout day running the ball for Mount Ida, picking up 108 yards on just 9 carries, and getting into the end zone on two occasions.
The Mustangs got on the board first when Yatim connected with Hyman for a 27-yard touchdown just three minutes into the game, but the Amcats took a 14-7 lead thanks to a run by Small and a 22 yard pass from McGoldrick to William Ricard (Billerica, Mass.), who led all recievers with 189 yards on 13 receptions.
Hyman caught his second touchdown, a nine yard screen pass, as the second quarter opened, with senior Joe Casey (Merrimack, Mass.) providing the extra point to tie the game at 14.
Casey was 5-6 on extra point attempts, and hit the first field goal of the year for Mount Ida, a 36-yard attempt.
On the first play from scrimmage following that score, however, Small burst up the middle and went 74 yards untouched to the Mount Ida end zone, and the Amcats had a 21-14 lead.
Mount Ida controlled the clock on their next drive, which took 5:20, and used a 24 yard pass to Hyman to get into the red zone, where sophomore Melquawn Pinkney (Springfield, Mass.) punched it into the end zone from two yards out. Pinkney was the leading rusher for Mount Ida, gaining 130 yards on 27 carries.
The Mustangs trailed by a point after the extra point attempt failed, but that score began a run that would include Isom's 30-yard scamper to the corner pylon and two rushing touchdowns by Yatim, one with 28 seconds left in the half from a yard out, and one that went for 60 yards on what was supposed to be a QB sneak in the third quarter.
Isom added another 30-yard score with 2:14 left in the third, and freshman fullback Josh David (Sandown, N.H.) got his first career touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter with a two-yard run.
Small, who had three touchdowns in the game, provided the only offense for Anna Maria during the 41-7 run for the Mustangs between the middle of the second quarter and the final five minutes of the play when he capped a 4 play, 36 yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.
Ricard would score the final points of the day, catching a 44-yard pass from Troy Faretra (Westford, Mass.) with five minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Junior defensive back Jovan Wilkins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) had ten tackles to lead Mount Ida and picked off a pass late in the third quarter, while Anna Maria junior defensive back Billy Bishop (Uxbridge, Mass.) victimized Yatim with two interceptions in the game.
Dominique Spaulding (West Hartford, Conn.) had two of Mount Ida's four sacks, and three tackles for a loss.
Linebacker Kayln Smithson (Vilseck, Germany) also tackled the Amcats behind the line of scrimmage three times, and recorded a sack himself, as well as a pass break-up, eight tackles, and the block of a point after attempt by Anna Maria kicker Julian Diaz (Providence, R.I.), who made his four other extra point tries.
Jordan Koehler (West Warwick, R.I.) led the visitors with ten tackles and got his hands on a field goal attempt by Casey. Kevin Card (Deer Park, N.Y.) also had ten tackles for the Amcats.
Anna Maria finished the game with over 200 yards passing as a team, and 376 yards in total offense.
Mount Ida controlled the clock, with nearly ten minutes more possession, and converted on 7 of 16 third down chances, while the visitors managed only 3-14.
Mount Ida visited the red zone six times in the game, and Anna Maria made three trips, with neither team coming up empty on any of their stays inside the opponent's twenty.
Mount Ida hits the road next week with a 1:00 pm game at ECFC foe Becker before returning home for their last game at Alumni Field on Nov. 2nd against Norwich.
Anna Maria has now dropped four straight games, and falls to 1-5 on the year, while looking for their first conference win in three tries.
They will try to get that win on the road next week when they travel to Norwich for a 4:00 pm matchup.