Oct. 7, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College football team jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as the Gulls rolled to a 24-7 victory over conference rival Plymouth State University.
The Gulls got on the board early as Alex Smith (Winthrop, MA/Winthrop) completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Andy Roy (Manchester, NH/Manchester Central). Adam Maher (Athol, MA/Athol) added the point after to give EC a 7-0 lead just over eight minutes into the game.
Endicott would score again at the close of the first quarter when Ryan MacLean (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) hauled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Smith on the opening play of the drive.
The Gulls would take a 21-0 lead in the second quarter as Angelo Ortiz (Mashantucket, CT/St. Thomas More) capped of an eight play, 55-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run.
Plymouth State threatened in the second quarter putting together a solid 11 play 42-yard drive that found the Panthers on the Endicott 10-yard-line. PSU quarterback Tye Seastedt looked to have the Panthers poised to score but Dave Gilmore (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry) intercepted Seastedt's would be touchdown pass and returned it 79-yards.
Gilmore was brought down at the Panther 21-yard-line but the Gulls would fail to find the end zone again before the end of the half.
Endicott came out strong in the second half and showcased its running game as EC chewed up over eight minutes of clock time in the third quarter, culminating in a 29-yard field goal by Maher. That field goal would give EC a 24-0 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
The Panthers would get on the board in the forth quarter as Shawn Durgin pulled down a 34-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Seastedt, spoiling the Gulls shutout bid.
Endicott's offense and defense where clicking on all cylinders as Smith was 14 of 18 passed for two touchdowns and 154 yards, while Ortiz rushed for a team high 46 yards on seven carries. Sharing the rushing load and showing off EC's depth in the back field were Matt Thompson (Clinton, MA/Clinton) eight carries for 38 yards, Tim Boyd (Rockland, MA/South Shore Vocational) eight carries for 25 yards and Gerard Festa (Revere, MA/St. Mary's of Lynn) nine carries for 20 yards.
MacLean was the Gulls leading receiver as he caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Not to be outdone however was the Endicott defense. The Gulls lead the nation in take-aways last season and created a number of turnovers against Plymouth Saturday evening.
Jared Giblin (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) and T.J. Sawyer (South Burlington, VT/South Burlington) had interceptions along with Gilmore. The Gulls defense also forced Seastedt to fumble twice, losing one.
Plymouth State falls to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the New England Football Conference, while the Gulls improve to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the NEFC. Endicott will next take on rivals Curry College in the annual Homecoming game. The Gulls host the Colonels next Saturday at noon at Endicott Stadium.
