EC POSTGAME INTERVIEW | ALFRED STATE POSTGAME INTERVIEW
BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 10/11 Endicott football team defeated Alfred State, 44-0, in NCAA Tournament First Round action on Saturday afternoon at Hempstead Stadium.
Defensively, the Gulls pitched their second shutout of the season (Hilbert, 9/21, 58-0) by holding Alfred State to its second-lowest yardage total on the year (61 plays, 186 yards, 3.0 yards per play).
Endicott did not allow a single third down conversion (0-13), only had to defend one red zone scoring chance late in the 4th quarter (2:29 drive, never advanced past the 19-yard line), and limited the Pioneers to an average drive start at their own 19-yard line on 12 chances.
Tied 0-0 in the first quarter, Matthew Whelan (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) and Colin Meropoulos (Monroe, Conn.) combined on a 4th-and-1 stop at Alfred State's 30-yard line to force a turnover on downs and shift momentum in the stalemate.
Mike Bartley (North Caldwell, N.J.) connected on a 24-yard field goal on the Gulls' ensuing drive (1:37) to get the offense going and the hosts never looked back.
Bryan Metayer (Norwood, Mass.) and Jayson Little (Natick, Mass.) both scored in the second quarter (5:22, 1-yard run | :06, 6-yard catch), while Zachariah Twardosky (Merrimack, N.H.) put the game on ice with a 25-yard pick-6 to make it 23-0 in the third.
The Gulls also saw Clayton Marengi (Lynnfield, Mass.) scamper for a 64-yard TD (12:34, 30-0) and Michael O'Brien (Guilford, Conn.) find paydirt twice in the fourth quarter (4:59, 4-yard run, 37-0 | 2:36, 48-yard run, 44-0) to account for the remainder of the scoring.
Marengi concluded the game 15-for-26 passing for 159 yards and one touchdown alongside 78 rushing yards on four attempts (19.5 average, 1 TD).
O'Brien compiled 81 yards rushing and a career-high two touchdowns, while Yavier Cosme-Diaz (Stratford, Conn.) tied his career high for rushing yards with 118 on 20 attempts (5.9 average).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- First NCAA Tournament win in program history (established 2003).
- Today's game was the first-ever meeting between the programs.
- Twardosky registered his third career interception return TD (1st all-time) and seventh career interception (tied 10th all-time).
- Twardosky and Meropoulos finished with a team-high-tying six tackles (3-3-6, 1 INT, 1 PBU | 2-4-6, 1.0 TFL, 2 QBH).
- Marcus Rivera (Lawrence, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with four tackles (3 solo), one sack (17 yards), two tackles for a loss (20 yards), and one blocked punt.
- River set career highs for total tackles and TFLs and logged his first career sack/block.
- Mason Bachry (Haverhill, Mass.) preserved the shutout with his first career interception in the right corner of the end zone with 16 seconds to play in the matchup.
- Caleb Luz (Hudson, Mass.) forced his first career fumble.
- Ryan Smith (Glastonbury, Conn.) controlled the field position game with 126 yards on punts (42.0 average, tied season-high 3 inside 20) and 455 yards on kickoffs (56.9 average, 1 touchback).
- The Pioneers entered today's contest as the two-time defending Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) champion.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 10/11 Endicott (10-1) travels to No. 2/2 Cortland (10-0) on Saturday, November 30 at 12 PM (NCAA Tournament Second Round).
Alfred State sees its 2024 season come to a close at 5-6 overall.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
