BEVERLY, Mass.—The Cadets gained 317 yards of total offense and staged a second half comeback but could not overcome a 20-0 deficit on the road against Endicott College in the ECAC North Atlantic Bowl at Endicott Stadium as they fell 34-14.
The home standing Gulls got off to a fast start, recovering a bad snap from the Cadets on a punt attempt inside the Norwich five-yard line. They scored two plays later on a Jared DiBiase touchdown run to take an early 7-0 lead.
The Gulls scored on their next two possessions as well when Mike Murphy caught his 14th touchdown of the year and Mike Wheeler punched another in from four-yards out. A missed extra-point gave the Gulls a 20-0 lead at halftime.
The Cadets finally broke through with 10:20 left in the third quarter when running backAl Georgio (West Greenwich, R.I.) scored on a five-yard scamper to make it 20-7.
The Cadet defense picked up its intensity in the second half, forcing three punts and a turnover. After Georgio's touchdown, the Gulls fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but the Cadets turned the ball over on downs inside the Gulls 10-yard line.
Senior quarterback Kris Sabourin (Georgia, Vt.) engineered another scoring drive with 12 minutes left in the game when he led the Cadets 86 yards in 13 plays and foundAdam Fraser on a slant for a 14-yard touchdown, bringing the Cadets to within six.
Sabourin went 15-30 for 143 yards and a touchdown in his final collegiate appearance. He goes down as the program's all-time leader in rushing yards and passing touchdowns.
The Gulls answered right back when quarterback Drew Frenette found Murphy again on a 55-yard wide receiver screen to make it 26-14. The two-point conversion failed.
The final score of the game came when Wheeler ran for his second touchdown of the game with under three minutes to play.
Norwich was led offensively by Derek Pitts (Schenectady, N.Y.), who gained 64 yards on 19 carries and Joshua Menge (Hagaman, N.Y.), who caught five passes for 58 yards.
The Cadets conclude the season with a 7-3 overall record, while the Gulls finish the season at 9-2.
