Oct. 28, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College football team rolled to a rain soaked 28-0 victory over the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon.
The Gulls would strike early as freshmen Tyler Connelly (North Grafton, MA/Cushing Academy) picked up his first career touchdown pass after he found Ryan MacLean (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield) in the endzone for a 24-yard score. After an Adam Maher (Athol, MA/Athol) extra point EC took a 7-0 lead and never looked back.
The Gulls defense was not to be outdone as they would force UMD to punt from its own 15-yard-line. In the sloppy conditions Corsair punter Geor Vasiliadis fumbled the snap, TJ Sawyer (South Burlington, VT/South Burlington) scooped up the loose ball and took it three yards into the endzone making it 14-0.
The score would remain 14-0 until the forth quarter as both teams battled in the middle of the field. The rain played a major role in the game as the two teams rushed a combined 96 times, compared to 28 combined passing attempts. The Gulls were more successful at moving the ball on the ground as they handed off 56 times for 215 yards, chewing up over 31-minutes of clock time.
The Corsairs looked like they would break back into the game but EC's defense, spearheaded by Justin Garland's (Holliston, MA/Holliston) eight solo tackles and Mike Eagan's (West Hartford, CT/Northwest Catholic) seven solo tackles, held UMD to just 141 yards of total offense and forced three fumbles.
The Gulls broke the game open early in the fourth quarter as Angelo Ortiz (Mashantucket, CT/St. Thomas More) barreled his way into the endzone for a five yard touchdown run. Maher converted the extra point to give EC a 21-0 lead, all but sealing the victory.
Endicott celebrated senior day prior to the game and ended the game by getting senior running back Jeff Trinque (Clinton, MA/Clinton) into the endzone in the final minutes of play. Trinque's one yard touchdown run capped a 15 play, 64 yard drive for the Gulls. Securing the 28-0 win.
Trinque (12 carries, 50 yards, 1 TD) and Ortiz (13 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD) shared the heavy rushing load with Mark Killinger (Rockland, MA/Rockland) who carried the ball 15 times for 42 yards, and Gerard Festa (Revere, MA/St. Mary's) who had 10 carries for 26 yards. Connelly completed two passes in ten attempts, including the game winning touchdown and a 13 yard pass to Mark Balkun (West Hartford, CT/Northwest Catholic).
The Gulls improve to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the NEFC Boyd Division with the win, while the loss drops UMD to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference. The Corsairs next take on division leading Curry College, while Endicott next travels to Cambridge, MA to take on the MIT Engineers in the final game of the season.