Oct. 14, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott football team turned the ball over five times, including three interceptions, as the Gulls suffered a 35-14 loss to Curry College on Saturday afternoon at Endicott Stadium.
The Gulls, who came into the game with 16 interceptions only picked off Curry quarterback Rich Van De Giesen (North Attleboro, MA/Bridgton Academy) one time and struggled to capitalize on offense.
Endicott got on board first, when Angelo Ortiz (Mashantucket, CT/St. Thomas More) ran 16 yards for a touchdown, but that would be the only score by the offense on the day. After Mike Nicolo (Saugus, MA/Saugus) picked up a blocked punt and ran the ball 20 yards for a touchdown, Curry's David Vincent's (Grafton, MA/Grafton) PAT failed and the Gulls led 7-6.
Orlando Johnson (Newport, RI/Rogers) opened up the second quarter with a shifty cross field punt return for a 74 yard touchdown to give the Gulls a 14-6 lead. Curry would go on to score four unanswered touchdowns, capped off with a 30 yard field goal from Vincent to secure the win.
Curry forced an Alex Smith (Winthrop, MA/Winthrop) fumble with 10:43 left in the second quarter and Thomas Pinto (Plymouth, MA/Plymouth North) recovered, running the ball in for a 10 yard touchdown. The two point conversion failed, however, and Endicott still held the lead, 14-12.
Van De Giesen (8-of-24 for 112 yards, 1 TD) put the Colonels up for good when he connected with Felix Borukhov (Newton, MA/Newton South) in the end zone for a 24 yard touchdown pass. The two point conversion failed again, and Curry led by four points.
After Curry forced Endicott to punt, Van De Giesen led the Colonels down the field and capped off a nine play, 54 yard drive with a three yard rushing touchdown. Vincent tacked on the extra point to put his team ahead, 25-14.
The score stayed 25-14 going into the half. Endicott received the ball to begin the second half but was forced to punt. However, Johnson intercepted a Van De Giesen pass, returned it 41 yards and the Gulls seemed to be gaining momentum. Three plays later, Endicott gave the ball back to Curry when Smith (7-of-15 for 39 yards, 3 INT) was picked off at midfield by Patrick Cronin (Pembroke, MA/Silver Lake Regional).
Curry capitalized on the good field possession, leading to a three yard touchdown run by Jared Jordan (Framingham, MA/Framingham).
Cronin made his second interception of the game with 4:25 remaining in the game. Vincent hit a 30 yard field goal to put his team ahead, 35-14 and that is where the score would stand.
Endicott falls to 4-3 overall but 3-1 in the NEFC Boyd Division, the Gulls visit WNEC next Saturday at 1 p.m. while Curry (7-0 4-0 NEFC Boyd) visits Plymouth State on the same day.