Oct. 29, 2005
DUDLEY, MA - A New England Football Conference Title may be out of reach for Endicott College but the young program still has plenty to play for in just in 2005.
The Gulls are shooting for their first-ever ECAC Division III Tournament berth and took another step to that possibility Saturday, registering a 29-0 shutout win on the road at Nichols College.
Endicott (6-3, 4-1 NEFC Boyd) put three different rushers into the endzone and out-rushed the Bison (0-8, 0-5 NEFC Boyd) 293 to 62. The rushing disparity translated into the visitors controlling the ball for 36:43. And when the Gulls didn't have the ball, the defense was busy getting it back to them.
Endicott forced five interceptions and three fumbles en-route to its third shutout of the season. As has been the case all season long, the defensive numbers were spread out. Joe Leaver (Stoughton, MA/Stoughton) led EC tacklers with five to go along with one sack, while Chris Kane (Swampscott, MA/Swampscott) had a pair of interceptions. Pego Jean-Paul (Stamford, CT/Stamford), Bruno Silva (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) and Jay Munroe (Beverly, MA/Beverly) also had picks.
Tailback Gerard Festa (Revere, MA/St. Mary's) led the ground assault, ripping off 6.7 yards per carry on his way to 180 rushing yards on 27 touches and one touchdown. Angelo Ortiz (Mashantucket, CT/St. Thomas More) and Tim Boyd (Rockland, MA/South Shore Vocational) added the other rushing touchdowns.
Adam Mahar (Athol, MA/Athol) got the visitors on the scoreboard with a 21-yard field goal in the first quarter and Festa increased the lead to 9-0 on a 15-yard touchdown scamper with 2:55 remaining in the opening quarter. Quarterback Alex Smith (Winthrop, MA/Winthrop) then hit Ryan MacLean (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) for a 12-yard strike with just over 12 minutes to play in the half before Boyd and Ortiz each found the endzone on one-yard plunges in the fourth quarter.
