THROGS NECK, NY – The Husson Eagles scored 35 unanswered points against the Privateer defense to win their 5th game of the season and improve to 5-2. Maritime drops to 3-4 overall before their bye week next Saturday.
The Privateers opened the game with the ball, and marched down the field 35 yards before turning the ball over on downs at the Husson 35. The Eagles took the next 6:23 and drove down to score, rushing the ball on all 12 plays in the drive. The drive culminated with Julius William's first of four touchdowns on the afternoon.
The lead was short lived though, as Maritime fought back and tied the score with 15 seconds to go in the first quarter. Robert Nichols (Ossining, NY/Ossining) rushed for 11 yards on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for the drive. Two plays later, Michael Smooke (Land O'Lakes, FL/East Lake) completed a 13 yard pass to Greg Campisi (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) to bring the ball into the Husson side of the field. The very next play, James Spanopolous (Franklin Square, NY/H. Frank Carey) broke free for a 21 yard rush, putting the ball on the 25 yard line. Nichols ran for another 12 yards, putting the Eagle defense in a big hole. A costly personal foul on the Eagles put the ball on the 4 yard line, and Spanopolous took care of the rest. David Kittinger (Fort Myers, FL/South Fort Myers) added the extra point to tie the game at 7.
The Eagles needed only 3 plays on their next drive to regain the lead, as James McCandles found James Dobson wide open down the middle for a 56 yard touchdown catch. Down a score, the Privateers took over the ball ready to tie again, but Smooke's third down pass was intercepted by Doug Blades at the 50 yard line. Two penalties during the runback put Husson back 25 yards but that didn't seem to matter, as they drove the ball 14 plays and 59 yards to take a 21-7 lead.
With 2:13 to go in the half, down 28-7, the Privateers got a great kickoff return from John Gagliano (Islip Terrace, NY/St. Anthony's) who brought it 33 yards out to midfield. With a short field, the Privateers took advantage and drove all the way to the Husson 10, taking all but 38 seconds off the clock. After a timeout, the Privateers lined up ready to run their play, but a bad snap forced a fumble that was recovered by the Eagles. The teams went into the half with Husson ahead 28-7.
The Privateer offense struggled in the third quarter, forced to a 3-and-out in their only two drives. Husson scored on both their drives, adding 14 more to their lead which stood at 42-7. The Eagles ended the third quarter with the ball in the redzone and capitalized on the first play in the fourth quarter for their final score on the afternoon.
The Privateer defense forced their first punt of the game late in the fourth quarter, and got the ball back on the 30. Not giving up, the Maritime offense continued to plug away and drove 70 yards on 12 plays to score their second touchdown on the afternoon. Anthony Gagliano (Islip Terrace, NY/St. Anthony's) came off the bench in the 4th quarter and led the team down the field, completing 2-3 passes including a crucial 3rd and 6 play from midfield. James Falkenstern (Northvale, NJ/Northern Valley Old Tappan) had a 22 yard rush on 3rd and 4 to put the Privateers inside the 10 yardline. David O'Connor (Carmel, NY/Carmel) took the next handoff and ran it in for the score. After the Kittinger extra point, the score was 49-14. The Eagles ran the clock out in their next possession.
Defensively, the Privateers were led by Dawit Goodall (Amityville, NY/Amityville) with 6.5 total tackles. Cormac Gee (Islip Terrace, NY/East Islip) had a sack in the game for a loss of 6 yards.
The Privateers have an off week this week, and will take the extra time to prepare for Becker College on November 1st. The game will be the final home game this season, and kickoff is set for 1:00PM. Following Becker, the Privateers will travel to Newton, MA to take on Mt. Ida College in the final regular season game.
