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Saturday's Game: Maine Maritime Academy (1-6, 0-5) vs. Nichols College (4-4, 2-3), Ritchie Field, Castine, Maine, 12:00 p.m.
Series History: The Mariners are 21-17 against the Bison, including four-straight wins, in a rivalry that dates back to 1959. In the last five meetings in Castine, the Mariners hold a 4-1 record over the Bison.
Last Meeting: Maine Maritime Academy rushed for 202 yards and held Nichols College to one score on their way to a 17-8 victory on November 14, 2015 in New England Football Conference play.
James Ferrar led Maine Maritime Academy with 128 yards and two touchdowns, while senior quarterback Michael Fahey rushed 18 times for 68 yards.
Both teams struggled to find offensive rhythm in the first quarter, but the Mariners jumped on the board at the start of the second quarter on a 7-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run from Ferrar. Chad Martin's extra-point was good, making it 7-0 in favor of Maine Maritime.
Maine Maritime's defense held Nichols' passing attack to a minimum all game, forcing incomplete passes on back-to-back plays to prevent the Bison from scoring late in the first half from the Mariner 23-yard line.
The Mariners started the second half with a sack from Christopher Ford, to force a Bison punt, and on their next drive, Martin added a 37-yard field goal to make it 10-0 Maine Maritime.
At the end of the third quarter Bryan Hummel threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Warren, and Colton Hudson's two-point conversion pass was good to Lucien Cance, to close the gap to 10-8, but Justin Lovely grabbed an interception with a little over 10 minutes remaining in the game, giving the Mariners possession at the Nichols 21-yard line. The interception set up a 5-yard touchdown run for Ferrar, and an extra point kick from Martin to make it 17-8.
Zachary Faskianos led the Mariner defense with eight total tackles, including four solo stops and 2.5 for a loss. Michael Burgess added six tackles, two for a loss, two quarterback hurries and a sack, and punted eight times for a total of 343 yards, including a long punt of 64 yards. Ford and Robert Bradley, Jr. each added a sack for the Mariners.
Brett McEvoy led the Bison with 14 stops, including 10 solo, while TJ Ellison added 12 tackles, including 3.5 for a loss, and Matt McEvilly recorded 11 tackles.
Maine Maritime's Last Game: Maine Maritime Academy football amassed 372 yards of total offense, led by 136 rushing yard from junior fullback James Ferrar in a 48-25 loss to Western New England on Saturday afternoon, in New England Football Conference action.
Junior Jacob Doolan added 108 yards on nine carries and touchdown, to tally his fourth game with 100 rushing yards or more this season.
The Golden Bears scored on their opening possession of the game, capping off a 9-play 62-yard drive on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Service to Mohamed Camara. Kevin Patterson's extra point kick was good, to give the hosts a 7-0 lead.
Western New England capitalized on a Mariner fumble on the kick return, regaining possession at the Maine Maritime 35-yard line. Nick Connell opened up the drive with an 18-yard rush, setting up his own two-yard touchdown run to make it 13-0. Valentin Wagner added the extra-point to give the Golden Bears a 14-0 lead with 9:37 to go in the first quarter.
The Mariners fumbled on their next possession, giving the Golden Bears possession in Maine Maritime territory. Western New England's Service picked up his second touchdown toss of the game, this time to Laron Gunderway, followed by an extra point from Kevin Patterson to make it 21-0.
Cody Chapman blocked Western New England's punt, setting up a 14-yard touchdown from Spencer Baron and an extra point from Cameron Crook to cut the deficit to 21-7.
The Golden Bears halted the Mariners momentum when Dante Aiken returned Jordan Talbot's punt 93-yards for a touchdown to give Western New England a 27-7 advantage.
Corey Creeger marched the ball 34 yards for the touchdown on a fourth down to make it 27-13 with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
After the high-scoring first quarter, the Mariners held the Golden Bears to just one touchdown in the each of the next three quarters, while scoring touchdowns on their final two drives on a 6-yard touchdown run from Joshua Doolan and a 20-yard touchdown carry by Jacob Doolan.
John Bennett led the Mariners defensively with 12 tackles, including eight solo and a broken up pass. Senior Robert Bradley, Jr. added 10 tackles, seven solo, and Christopher Ford chipped in with seven tackles, one for a loss of four yards.
Nichols College's Last Game: Chris Mullins completed a school-record 43 passes for 432 yards and three scores in Nichols College's 43-25 win over Curry College last Saturday afternoon.
Mullins broke the previous record of 31 early in the third quarter and connected with nine different receivers, including classmate Tony Martignoli, who caught a school-record 17 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown.
Sophomore Brenden Massey caught six passes for 104 yards and one touchdown while junior Mike Abbruzzese hauled in seven passes for 48 yards and one score. The Bison entered the fourth quarter with just 45 rushing yards – all by freshman Joshua Pierre-Charles – before racking up 73 in the final stanza, 20 of which came on the game's final touchdown, which was scored by senior Grant Klimek with 3:35 to go.
Defensively, the Bison intercepted Curry's Alex Corvese three times before he was forced out of the game due to injury; he finished the afternoon 28-of-52 for 313 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior Brett McEvoy got his second in as many weeks while freshmen Aaron Reed-Coward and Michael Spraulding recorded their first collegiate picks. McEvoy and classmate Matthew McEvilly tied for the team lead with 10 stops.
Curry senior wide receiver Jake Cawlina gave the Bison secondary fits all afternoon and finished with 11 catches for 134 yards and three scores. Classmate Anthony Nastasi finished with eight catches for 62 yards while Corvese rushed for a team-high 55 yards and one score.
Following a scoreless first quarter, a nine-yard pass to Cawlina and a one-yard run by Corvese put the Colonels up 14-0. The Bison responded with a 12-play, 95-yard drive that Martignoli capped with a 10-yard TD reception from Mullins with 2:12 remaining in the half. The Colonels answered right back with a seven-play, 60-yard drive that took just 1:17 and ended with Cawlina catching his second touchdown of the afternoon, this one from 11 yards out. Not to be outdone, Mullins drove the Bison 54 yards in four plays on the ensuing possession and hit Massey on a post pastern from 25 yards out with 11 seconds left to send the home team to the locker room down one score at 21-14.
Mullins opened the second-half scoring with a five-yard TD run that put Nichols ahead 22-21 after sophomore Dylan Abercrombie caught a two-point conversion pass from classmate Colton Hudson. Senior Dean Anderson took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a score to put Curry back in front, 28-22, and Cawlina's third touchdown pass of the afternoon at 9:58 put the Colonels ahead two scores at 35-22.
The Nichols defense shut down Curry from there while, on offense, Mullins went to work. His one-yard touchdown run with 1:01 to go in the third made it a one score game at 35-29, and then he hooked up with Abbruzzese on fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line at 9:45 to give Nichols a 36-35 lead. That play capped a five-play, 58-yard drive and ate up 1:06.
The Mariners: After seven games, the Mariners are averaging 372.9 yards per game, including 252 rushing yards and 120.9 passing yards per game. The Mariners are scoring an average of 27.6 points per game, while allowing opponents to score 37.3 points per game. Maine Maritime is allowing opponents to total 391.1 yards per game, including 251.6 passing yards and 139.6 rushing yards per game.
Corey Creeger leads the Mariners with 769 passing yards on 36 completions, averaging 8.5 yards per completion and 109.9 passing yards per game. The junior quarterback has tallied six touchdowns in the air and 13 touchdowns on the ground.
James Ferrar leads the Mariners with 643 rushing yards on 133 carriers, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and 91.9 yards per game. Ferrar has two rushing touchdowns. Jacob Doolan has 555 yards on 65 carries, averaging 8.5 yards per rush and 92.5 yards per game, with three touchdowns.
Jordan Susi leads the receivers with 16 catches for 410 yards and five touchdowns. Susi also leads the Mariners in return yards totaling 309 yards on 14 kick returns.
Cody Chapman leads the Mariners with 64 tackles this season, including 33 solo tackles and 12 tackles for a loss. Chapman averages 9.1 tackles per game, while also recording three broken up passes, two forced fumbles, 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.
The Bison: After eight games Nichols averages 406.6 yards per game, including 272.75 passing yards per game, and 133.9 rushing yards per game. The Bison average 20.88 points per game, while allowing opponents to score 31 points per game. Nichols is allowing opponents to tally 415.6 yards per game, including 242.75 passing yards and 172.9 rushing yards per game.
Chris Mullins leads the Bison with 2,180 yards on 188 completions and 14 touchdowns. Mullins also leads the Bison with five touchdowns on the ground. Tony Martignoli has 45 catches for 665 yards and six touchdowns, while Joshua Pierre-Charles leads the rushing attack with 517 yards on 101 carries and three touchdowns.
Matthew McEvilly leads the Bison with 98 tackles this season, including 50 solo and 15 for a loss.
Aerial Attack: Corey Creeger has 769 passing yards this season, the most by a Maine Maritime quarterback since BJ Dunlap tallied 821 yards in 2005. Jordan Susi's catches account for 410 of those yards, the most by a Maine Maritime receiver since Alex Coulombe has 419 yards in 2008.
Honor Roll: Jacob Doolan was named to the NEFC Offensive Honor Roll following the game at Western New England last week, and teammate Spencer Baron was named to the Defensive Honor Roll.
100-Yard Rushers: Jacob Doolan recorded his fourth game of the season with over 100 rushing yards with 108 yards against Western New England. Teammate James Ferrar tallied his third game with 100+ rushing yards with 136 yards against Western New England.
Career Firsts: Spencer Baron became just the third player in the NEFC this season to score a touchdown following a punt, when teammate Cody Chapman blocked a punt last week against Western New England, Baron was there to scoop up the ball and returned it for a touchdown. The touchdown was the first of Baron's career.
Game Highs: The Mariners tallied 71 carries last week against Western New England, and 22 first downs by rushing, the most of any team in the NEFC this season.
Conversion Leaders: The Mariners continue to sit atop the NEFC in third down and fourth down conversions. The Mariners are 42.6 percent (43-101) successful on third down opportunities and 59.3 percent (16-27) successful on fourth downs.
