PAXTON, Mass. – The Maritime football team picked up its first Eastern Collegiate Football Conference victory on Saturday afternoon, knocking off the Anna Maria AMCATs by the score of 22-0 on AMCAT Field.
The Privateer defensive unit was one of the headlines as Maritime held its hosts to a program-record 20 yards of offense on the game, breaking the previous mark of 63 yards set in last season's finale at home against Gallaudet. The team also had a program-best 15 tackles for a loss in yardage on the afternoon, shattering the previous mark of 12 tackles for a loss in yardage set back in 2012 vs. Husson, and 2006 vs. Norwich.
The shutout was Maritime's second shutout in its last six games, dating back to last year's finale against Gallaudet, and was also the program's eighth all-time shutout dating back to the 2007 season, with five of those shutouts coming against ECFC opponents.
Junior Wesley Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) had four tackles on the afternoon, with all four coming for a loss in yardage, which is just 0.5 tackles shy of the single-game mark for the Privateers set by Nick Coffiey '15, who had 4.5 tackles for a loss in yardage against William Paterson in 2012. Freshman Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) also added three tackles for a loss in nine yards, while eight other defensive players had a hand in at least 0.5 tackles for a loss in yardage.
Senior Brian Price (New York, N.Y./Wadleigh) and junior Craig Hinrichs (Islip, N.Y./Islip) led Maritime with five tackles apiece, while sophomore Payton Campbell (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) along with Joseph and Baily had four stops each. Seniors Eric Wallace (West Point, N.Y./James O'Neill) and Dwayne Lacroix (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Malverne), along with juniors Garrett Stryzs (Wilmington, Del./Delaware Military Academy) and Nick Conte (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) each had three stop on the afternoon. Price also had a blocked punt in the second quarter to help the Privateer defensive effort.
Maritime's offense performed just as well, clicking on all cylinders as junior quarterback Thomas Wright(Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) completed 18 passes on the afternoon for a program-record 294 yards through the air. His 18 completions are second on the single-game record list, as his 21 earlier this season vs. Merchant Marine is the single-season standard.
Junior Matt Ward (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) was Wright's favorite target on the afternoon, as he hauled in seven passes to set a single-game mark for catches in one contest. Ward's 95 receiving yards, was also fourth on the all-time, with the single-game bar set at 121 receiving yards. Senior Andrew Short (Covington, La./St. Paul's) caught five passes for 78 yards, while senior Joe Modica (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) caught two passes for 50 yards, including the team's lone receiving touchdown of the afternoon.
Junior Jacob Shinnick (Pleasanton, Calif./Granada) added 40 receiving yards, while sophomore Cormac Quigley (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) had 30 yards in the air. Junior Chris Olberding (Dix Hills, N.Y./Walt Whitman), sophomore Severino Torelli (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley), and senior Nick Fischetti (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) all had one catch apiece on the afternoon.
Torelli led the Privateer ground attack with 115 yards, while Modica chipped in with 25 yards and junior Devin Kenny (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) added 23 yards on six carries. Wright had Maritime's lone rushing score as he carried the ball eight times for nine yards.
For the second week in a row, junior Matthew Murphy (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) set a personal best, as he connected on a 46-yard field goal to open the scoring in the first quarter, which is tied for the fifth longest field goal in program history, and six yards shy of the program-record 52-yard kick set by Diogo Dietrich '16 in his final collegiate game last season. On the game, Murphy converted for three field goals. Senior John Arny (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) had the weekend off in the punting game as Maritime did not punt the entire contest.
Senior Krystian Cardinal-Charles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys and Girls) had one kickoff return for 53 yards, while Stryzs had five punt returns for 80 yards. Price and Modica also had one punt return apiece on special teams.
After kicking off to open the game, the Maritime defense forced a punt to give the Privateers possession with 13:02 left in the opening quarter. On the drive, Maritime needed 11 plays to drive 57 yards before Murphy drove his 46-yard field goal attempt through the uprights to put Maritime ahead by a 3-0 score.
The Maritime defense held Anna Maria to seven plays and four yards before getting the ball back, and milking the drive into the second quarter. Several plays into the stanza, Maritime turned the ball over on downs on 4th and 6 from the Anna Maria 10-yard line. On the next offensive drive for the Privateers, Murphy missed a field goal wide left on a 45-yard attempt.
The Privateer offense got going again on the next drive as Maritime needed nine plays to drive 47 yards, with Wright darting into the end zone on a one-yard carry for the first touchdown of the afternoon. The extra point was missed as the Privateers had a 9-0 advantage.
Maritime scored again on its next possession after the defensive unit forced Anna Maria backwards to force another AMCAT punt. After picking up 15 yards on seven plays, Murphy converted on a 35-yard field goal to push Maritime ahead by a 12-0 score.
As play progressed into the second half, Maritime was unable to get the offense going and stalled out on a 4th and 2-play to turn the ball over on downs. The defense had its best series of the second half, pushing Anna Maria backwards by 16-yards to force another punt.
On the ensuing offensive drive, the Privateers took 2:02 off the clock on 11 plays and 34 yards to set up another Murphy field goal. The 35-yard kick was converted as Maritime added to its lead at 15-0.
After another negative-drive for Anna Maria caused by Maritime's defense, the Privateers took over possession at their own 31-yard line. Wright rushed for one yard, and then found Olberding out of the backfield for a 14-yard gain. Two plays later, Wright found short for another eight yards. After a few incomplete passes, Wright found Torelli for nine yards to set up 4th and 6 at the Anna Maria 29.
The next call was for Wright to pass the ball, and he found Modica for a 29-yard hookup that resulted in Maritime's second touchdown of the day. Murphy's extra point was good to make the score 22-0 with 1:50 left in the third quarter.
As play crossed into the fourth, Wright had his longest pass of the game on a 40-yard completion to Ward for the quarterback's longest completion of the season. Wright later found Ward on the drive for a 15-yard completion as the pair picked up their second first down of the series. Maritime was unable to get the ball into the endzone and turned it over on downs with Anna Maria taking over from the AMCAT 6-yard line.
Maritime added 26 yards of total offense on their next drive, then later added another 53 yards on their final drive of the game. The big play on the final drive came as sophomore quarterback Joseph Butterworth (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) found Quigley for the second straight week. The pair picked up the final first down needed to drain the clock, as Kenny rushed twice to finish up the game as Maritime recorded the 22-0 victory.
Maritime (3-2, 1-1 ECFC) will return home on Saturday afternoon, when the team welcomes in the Becker Hawks for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Reinhart Field.
Anna Maria (0-5, 0-2 ECFC) will look to regroup next Saturday, when the AMCATs welcome in the Norwich Cadets for their Homecoming matchup slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. on AMCAT Field.
Record-Setting Performances Pace Maritime in 22-0 Win over Anna Maria
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161008_zjcf.xml
2016
SUNY-Maritime
22
Anna Maria
0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUNY-Maritime (3-2) | 3 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 22 |
| Anna Maria (0-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Oct 08, 2016