WORCESTER -- A second-half turnaround led visiting Maritime over the WPI football team, 28-21, on Saturday on H.Carr Field at Alumni Stadium. The Privateers improved to 4-2 overall, 2-1 in their first season in NEWMAC play. The Engineers dip to 3-3, 1-2 in the conference.
WPI opened a 14-0 advantage and led 14-7 at the half before Maritime scored 21 straight points to take over the game. The Engineers closed the gap with a fourth-quarter touchdown, but the final WPI drive of the game stalled and the Privateers held on for the victory.
For WPI, Stephen MacDonald (Georgetown, MA) was 22-for-33 with 230 yards and a touchdown. Jay Mezzo (Naugatuck, CT) had eight catches for 103 yards, while Bryce Curtin (Bristol, CT) had three receptions with 33 yards and a score. On the ground, John Chau (Suffern, NY) rushed the ball 17 times for 84 yards and a touchdown, with Tom McGraw (Portsmouth, RI) having 18 attempts for 55 yards.
Defensively for WPI, Max Anderson (North Easton, MA) led the team with eight tackles, while Jimmy Espinal (Salem, MA) and Gavin Chieff (Bernardsville, NJ) both had six. Espinal added a sack and an interception, while Ryan Antes (Conway, MA) and Mohamed Barry (South Windsor, CT) also added sacks.
Maritime's Steven Stassi (East Islip, NY) finished the game 17-for-25 with 205 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air with one on the ground. Luke Caliendo (North Babylon, NY) caught six passes for 87 yards with two touchdowns, while Ian Derda (Guilford, CT) had five receptions for 48 yards and a score. Devin Cline (Miller Place, NY) was the team's top rusher with 16 attempts for 41 net yards.
Defensively for Maritime, Dylan Denicker (Queens, NY) led the unit with 10 tackles with a sack. Vinny Fundaro (Levittown, NY) and Gino Fundaro (Levittown, NY) each recorded sacks, while Aidan Griffin (Queens, NY) and Patrick Noto (Smithtown, NY) both had interceptions.
WPI led 3-0 after a quiet first quarter. The Engineers used a 13-play, 54-yard drive to get on the board on their first possession of the game, as a 29-yard field goal from Brock Dubey (Dudley, MA) started the scoring. Maritime punted twice in the first quarter, as the frame ended with WPI on top.
Early in the second quarter, WPI's Jimmy Espinal (Salem, MA) intercepted a pass on the Maritime 20 to set up another Dubey field goal that doubled the Engineers' advantage to 6-0. After the Privateers punted, WPI put together a nine-play, 73-yard drive that ended in a MacDonald to Curtin 23-yard touchdown. Curtin then ran it in on the two-point conversion to make it 14-0 Engineers.
Maritime finally broke through on its final possession of the second quarter, taking the ball 57 yards down the field for a score. Stassi found Derda on an 18-yard strike to cut the lead to 14-7, where it would stay at halftime.
The Privateers turned the tables in the third quarter, outscoring the Engineers 14-0 to take a 21-14 lead. A 19-yard Stassi rush tied the game at 14-14, as the quarterback marched his team 74 yards for the score. Maritime intercepted passes on the next two drives, with the second leading to a 36-yard Stassi to Caliendo touchdown that put the Privateers up by a score.
Maritime continued the scoring into the fourth quarter, as another Stassi to Caliendo connection went for a three-yard touchdown. The score put the visitors up 28-14 with 1216 on the clock. WPI made it a one-score game with a six-yard McGraw run, cutting it to 28-21 with 8:49 to go.
The Engineers forced a Maritime punt on their next possession, but the ensuing WPI drive stalled with an incomplete pass on the Maritime 40. After the Privateers came up empty as well, the Engineers had the ball on their own 15 with 1:27 on the clock, but an incomplete pass on fourth and 11 from the WPI 26 sealed the game for Maritime.
Both teams are off next weekend and return to action on Saturday, October 21 at noon. WPI will be at Merchant Marine, while Maritime returns home to host MIT.