Oct. 27, 2007
NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA - Senior running back Bob Sullivan (Dudley, MA/Shepherd Hill HS) carried 29 times for 159 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Corsairs past visiting Endicott, 40-14, in a New England Football Conference Boyd Division game at Cressy Field.
Sullivan scored three times in the second half to help UMass Dartmouth put the game away. His first score, from a yard out, capped a 76-yard; 10-play drive that began after Christopher Brennan's missed field goal gave the Corsairs the ball at the Endicott 24. He added a pair of scores in the fourth quarter, scoring from three yards out with 4:33 remaining after the Gulls had cut UMass Dartmouth's lead to 27-14, and capping the scoring with a five-yard run with 55 seconds to play.
The Gulls broke on top, scoring on their first possession when quarterback Alex Smith hit Ryan MacLean with a 34-yard touchdown pass just 49 seconds into the game. The Corsairs tied it later in the quarter, moving 65 yards in eight plays on the ground before junior quarterback Alex Garro (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester Regional HS) connected with junior wide receiver John Henry (Tenafly, NJ/ Tenafly HS) on a 15-yard pass to tie the score with 3:11 left in the first quarter.
UMass Dartmouth took advantage of a special teams mistake to take the lead. A bad snap to punter Adam Labbe resulted in Labbe barely getting off a two-yard punt that went out of bounds on the Endicott eight-yard lines. Three plays gained a single yard, and sophomore kicker George Vasiliadis (Worcester, MA/St. Peter-Marian HS) kicked a 24-yard field goal to give the Corsairs a 10-7 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Smith's pass was intercepted by senior defensive tackle Chris Azevedo (Lakeville, MA/Apponequet HS), who returned it eight yards to the EC 16 yard line. Sullivan picked up the first 13 yards on the drive and Garro the final three, with the junior quarterback scoring on a sneak from the one-yard line to give the Corsairs a 17-7 lead at halftime.
Sullivan led a Corsair offense that gained 363 yards, 241 on the ground. Garro completed nine of 22 passes for 152 yards, and junior running back Aaron Russo (Johnston, RI/Johnston HS) gained 56 yards in nine carries. Smith was 11 of 25 for 148 yards for Endicott, and Drew Cusato led the Gulls on the ground with 53 yards on 10 carries.
UMass Dartmouth improved to 5-4 and 4-3 in the NEFC Boyd Division with the victory, while Endicott fell to 2-6 and 2-4 with the defeat. The Corsairs will return to action when they visit Curry next Saturday, while Endicott will host MIT.
