LEICESTER, Mass. (October 12, 2013) – In their second ECFC contest of the season, the Maritime Privateers improved to 2-0 in league play with a 30-7 victory over the Becker Hawks on Saturday afternoon on Alumni Field.
 
The Privateers finished the game with 20 fourth quarter points to put the game well out of reach after entering the quarter with just a three-point lead. Three different rushers reached the end zone on the offensive side of the ball, while the defense turned the ball over three times including a fumble return for a touchdown.

"I was proud of how our team hung in there and continued to play tough until we were able to break away from Becker," said head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes after the game. "We escaped out of a few tough situations and battled to generate some explosive plays on offense, defense and special teams. 
 
The game started out well for Maritime as the Privateers began the game on the defensive side of the ball. On the third play of the game, sophomore defensive back Beau Warrington (Milford, Del./Sussex Technical) jarred the ball loose from Hawk running back Romario Vincent and Maritime recovered the fumble to takeover possession of the ball.
 
Maritime ran the ball on its first play as freshman quarterback Ryan Heizman (Commack, N.Y./Commack) ran for a quick 28-yards to open the series. The Becker defense stymied the Privateers over the next few plays and Maritime was forced to punt, which ended at the 10-yard line as freshman punter John Arny (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) booted the ball for 38 yards.
 
Both offenses struggled over their next several possessions until the Privateers got the ball back with 4:29 to go in the period. Heizman and junior fullback Kyle Gardner (Amityville N.Y.St. Anthony's) combined for 30 yards on seven carries to send the game to the second quarter.
 
After entering the red zone, sophomore kicker Diogo Dietrich (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/DePaul Catholic) was called into action and sent a 34-yard field goal through the uprights to put the first points on the board for the game.
 
The Privateer defense had put together a solid effort again against the Becker offense, and the Hawks set up for the field goal on 4th-and-9. Quarterback Dejahn Dawkins, who also is the team's placekicker, faked the field goal and took a pitch before sprinting into the end zone for the 14-yard score to take a 7-3 lead after he kicked on the extra point.
 
Maritime returned the favor with a long drive of its own as Gardner's number was called on eight of the drive's first nine plays as he picked up 32 yards on his carries. Senior Frank Laino (Rockaway, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) also picked up 12 yards on a pair of carries. Gardner got the call and pounded the ball into the end zone for Maritime's first touchdown of the game to make the score 10-7 in favor of the Privateers.
 
Both teams again struggled to move the ball on their next few series, and a missed field goal by Becker with no time left in the half sent the game to intermission.
 
Maritime and Becker both went 3-and-out on their first possessions of the half to give the Privateers the ball back with 9:39 to go in the third. On the first play of the drive Heizman lost control of the ball to give the ball immediately back to the Hawks.
 
Several plays after the drive began, Baker dropped back on 2nd and goal from the three, where it was picked off by Privateer senior Chris Klass (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet ) to return the ball back in favor of Maritime.
 
After taking over deep in its own zone, Maritime worked their way forward into Becker territory. Gardner, Heizman and Laino were able to get Maritime from its own 3-yard line the 48-yard line before Arny punted the ball away for 40-yards. The two sides punted once more through the quarter before Becker got the ball to start the fourth quarter.
 
Dylan McGuire was called on the run the ball for the first Becker play of the drive, but sophomore Andrew Auriemma (Melville, N.Y./St. Anthony's) stripped the carrier of the ball. Junior defensive lineman Hugh O'Brien (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) scooped up the ball at the Becker 10-yard line and proceeded into the end zone to put the Privateers ahead 16-7.
 
The defense came up again with another big stop on the next Becker series to give the ball right back to the offense after the Hawks attempted a rushing play on 4th-and-6. Gardner picked up 28 yards on his first two carries to push him over the 100-yard mark for the day. Heizman finished off the drive with a 1-yard dash into the end zone for another Privateer touchdown to make it 23-7 in favor of Maritime.
 
After the Privateer defense allowed one first down on the ensuing series, it came up big once again to force Becker to turn the ball over on downs. Gardner rushed for two yards, and then Heizman was bottled up for no gain. Caneparo was given a chance to carry the rock once again and he sprinted for an 85-yard touchdown score as Maritime continued to cushion its lead.
 
Caneparo's 85-yard run was the longest Maritime rushing play from scrimmage in the history of the program. The rush broke the previous record of Travis Scott, who had a 73-yard rush against Becker on October 17, 2009.
 
After yet another successful offensive series, the defense was asked once again to come up with a big stop and did just that by not allowing a big play by the Becker offense. The Hawks rushed for the majority of the series and ended up hurting their own efforts by taking 5:42 off the clock before turning the ball over on downs.
 
Maritime ran off the final 1:39 off the game clock and finished the game with 20 points in the fourth quarter for the 30-7 victory and the second win in league play in as many ECFC contests.
 
Final statistics saw Gardner lead the way in rushing with 123, Caneparo picked up 95 yards on the ground while Heizman ended with 28 yards. The trio all picked up one touchdown each.

Defensively junior Nick Coffiey (Wilmington, Del./Delaware Military Academy) had 11 tackles, as he led the team for the third straigt game. Classmate Duke Alvora (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) was second on the team with seven wrap-ups, sophomores Warrington and Francis Gannon (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) each had six tackles, while Warrington was credited for a forced fumble. Aureimma also had a forced fumbled, which was picked up by O'Brien for the touchdown. Klass had the lone interception for the defense, while also picking up the fumble on the opening series of the game.
 
On special teams, Dietrich was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts (34 yards) and also went 3-for-3 on extra point attempts. Dietrich also sent the ball away six times on kickoffs, averaging 57.8 yards per kick. Arny punted the ball five times for an average of 39 yards, including a pair that were pinned inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
 
Maritime (2-3, 2-0 ECFC) will face a tough task on the road next week in Northfield, Vt. against the Norwich Cadets with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff slated for next Saturday. Becker (1-4, 0-2 Becker) will also head on the road next week to take on Husson at 1 p.m. in Bangor, Maine.