Nov. 6, 2004
Beverly, MA-- The Gulls wrapped up their 2004 season overpowering MIT, 47-17. With the win, Endicott finished in 2nd place in the NEFC Boyd Division and improved their record to 6-4. This marks the program's first winning season, as the Gulls were 4-5 last year in their first varsity season.
The Gulls' offense struck almost immediately. Twelve seconds into the first quarter Endicott recovered an MIT fumble. On the same possession, Jeff Trinque (Clinton, MA/ Clinton) rushed 2 yards for a touchdown to give Endicott the early lead. Just a few minutes later, Endicott recovered another MIT fumble and once again scored on the same possession on Kevin Samaha's (Concord, NH/ Concord) 17 yard reception from quarterback Vinny Orlando (Manchester, MA/ Manchester-Essex).
MIT scored the first points of the second quarter on Matt Ramirez's (Wichita Falls, TX/ Hirschi) 21 yard field goal. The MIT field goal was answered with three Endicott touchdowns in the same quarter. Gerard Festa scored on a (Revere, MA/ St. Marys) 49-yard touchdown run increasing the Gull's lead to 19-3. Later in the quarter, Endicott recovered another MIT fumble and once again scored on the same possession on a Tim Boyd (Rockland, MA/ South Shore Voke) 2 yard touchdown run. Finally, Trinque capped off the first half scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run.
Festa and Matt Thompson (Clinton, MA/ Clinton) each added touchdowns respectively in the third quarter to increase the lead to 47-3. At 9:13 in the third quarter, TJ Sawyer blocked an MIT punt that led to Festa's touchdown on the following play. MIT would not go out quietly, scoring their first touchdown of the game in the 4th quarter off a Thomas Scotton (Alta Vera, CA/ Flintridge) run. One minute later, the Engineers struck again when quarterback Phil Deutsch's (Dobbs Ferry, NY/ Ardsley) 30 yard pass found Warren Chia (Edison, NJ/ Stevens) in the end zone.
Festa led the Gulls offense with 134 rushing yards. Justin Garland anchored the defense with 6 total tackles, 1 of which for loss. Garland also had a forced fumble and recovered one as well. The Gulls were not forced to punt at all in the game.
Playing their final collegiate football games were seniors Josh Clark and Jon McBride. Endicott finishes their season 6-4 overall and 5-1 in the NEFC Boyd Division.
