BUZZARDS BAY, Mass — The Buccaneers football team hosted the Worcester State Lancers in conference play on Thursday night at Clean Harbors Stadium. The Bucs were down five, 12-7, at the half and rallied in the second half, scoring 15 points, to win in comeback fashion over Worcester, 22-19.
The Basics
Final: Buccaneers 22, Lancers 19
Records: Maritime (2-4, 2-2)
Worcester (1-5, 1-3)
Inside the Numbers
Maritime
- Quarterback Marc Murphy completed five passes in the game throwing for 71 yards and a touchdown.
- On the ground, James Cassidy ran for 64 yards on five carries including a 59-yard touchdown run. Cassidy also converted a two-point conversion on the ground for the Bucs to give them the three-point lead they won by.
- Zach Proctor had 17 carries for 42 yards and a score.
- Wide receiver Andrew Brightman caught three passes for 16 yards and the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter.
- Charlie Naylor and Declan Van Nest each had one catch for 31 and 24 yards respectively.
- Defensively, Nicolas Ford led all players with eight total tackles.
- Billy Horlbogen recorded two sacks and had two QB hurries. Kyle Stephens tallied one sack. They each had two tackles for loss in the win.
- Joshua Cannon had an interception to go along with five total tackles.
- On special teams, freshman kicker James Mastroianni converted both of his PAT attempts.
- Punter Logan Tsika punted five times for an average of 38.8 yards with a long of 43 yards and one punt inside the Lancers 20 yard line.
Worcester
- Quarterback Mike Loveless completed 16-of-31 passes for 194 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
- Nico Holmes led the ground attack with 124 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown.
- Lance Williams caught two passes for 13 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
- Drew Von Klock led all receivers with 57 yards on three catches.
- On defensive, Curt Marshall had eight total tackles with two for loss and forced a fumble.
- Conor McTigue had three tackles and recovered a fumble.
- On special teams, kicker Santiago Rodriguez-D’Atri made two field goals in the game with a long from 29 yards. He went 1-for-2 on extra points.
- Punter Oliver Sciascia had three punts for an average of 34.7 yards and one inside the Bucs 20 yard line.
How It Happened
Maritime turned the ball over on downs on the first possession of the game which was followed by a punt for each team. On the Lancers second drive of the first quarter, starting on the Bucs 34 yard line, they drove 28 yards in 10 plays and were stalled at the Bucs six yard line. Rodriguez-D’Atri came on for a 23-yard field goal and converted to put the Lancers up 3-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter. The Buccaneers lost the ball on a fumble on their ensuing drive and Worcester took over with under a minute left in the quarter.
Continuing their drive into the second quarter, the Lancers could only muster nine yards of offense. Though they had a touchdown that was called back due to an illegal man downfield, they stalled again, this time at the Bucs 12 yard line. Rodriguez-D’Atri came on again and hit his second field goal of the game from 29 yards out to give his team a 6-0 advantage early in the second. The Worcester defense forced another Maritime punt on the next drive. On second down for the Lancers, Loveless was intercepted by Cannon and took over deep in Worcester territory at the four yard line. It took the Buccaneers three plays to get into the endzone on a Proctor one yard run up the middle and Mastroianni converted the PAT to put Maritime on top, 7-6. The Buccaneers lead didn’t last long as Worcester drove 68 yards on seven plays tht included a Loveless to Von Klock pass and catch of 33 yards. The Lancers finished off the drive with a Loveless to Williams six-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead, 12-7. Initially going for two points on the PAT, Worcester was hit with a delay of game and elected to kick the extra point, which they missed, keeping the score at 12-7. Neither team was able to score in the final five minutes of the quarter and Worcester took their five-point, 12-7 lead into the halftime break.
Worcester received the second half kickoff and in two minutes and 44 seconds they drove down the field and scored on a Holmes 18-yard run to extend their lead to 12 points after the PAT. With 12:16 left in the third quarter, the Lancers led the Buccaneers 19-7. Maritime punted on their next drive and the Bucs forced a turnover on downs by Worcester. Maritime ran three plays, all runs by Murphy, including a diving play to get a first down on third down and they followed it up with a 59-yard touchdown run by Cassidy and cut the Lancers lead back to five points, 19-14, with just under two minutes to play in the third. Worcester carried their five-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
The start of the fourth quarter saw punts by both teams, then another by the Bucs. On Worcester’s next drive they were forced to punt and Sciascia dropped the snap. The ball was eventually recovered by the Lancers at their own 10 yard line which is where the Buccaneers took over on downs. Murphy looked for Van Next in the end zone and couldn’t connect. Proctor ran for two yards and then Murphy went to Mr Reliable, Brightman, on a fade route in the back of the end zone for the eight yard touchdown to put the Buccaneers up 20-19. Wanting to give themselves a field goal lead the Buccaneers went for two and converted with Cassidy on a pitch to the left. The Buccaneers took their first lead since the first half, 22-19. Worcester for the ball back and were on the move. They went 46 yards in 10 plays and needed a fourth down conversion on the 10th play of the drive. Loveless’s pass to Williams was broken up by Keiran Glover near the sideline and Maritime took over with 3:03 left in the game. The bucs got the first down they needed to be able to sit on the ball and run out the clock and they did just that to earn the 22-19 comeback win in conference over the Lancers on Thursday night under the lights at Clean Harbors Stadium.
What’s Next
Maritime travels to Western Connecticut for their next game next Friday, October 20th to face off against the Wolves at 7pm.
