MARSHFIELD, Mass. - Husson University and Maritime College each lost in their postseason games this past weekend. The Eagles fell to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 38-14 in an NCAA Football First Round game while Springfield College defeated the Privateers 17-14 in a New England Bowl matchup.

Husson vs. #23 RPI

FOR HUSSON:

• Cory Brandon completed 30-of-44 pass attempts for 288 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions. The senior quarterback broke the program's single-game records for most passes completed and attempted. The passes attempted record was set in the program's first season in 2003. Brandon also became the second Eagle in program history to achieve 7,000 career yards of total offense.
• Kyle Gaudet caught nine passes for 93-yards to become the first player in program history to surpass the 1,000 receiving yard mark in single-season with one touchdown catch.
• Keyshaun Robinson finish with 103 yards off nine catches.
• Robinson and Gaudet both tied the single-game record for most passes caught.
• Miece Loureiro carried the ball 14 times for 49-yards to become the eighth player in program history to surpass the 1,000 career rushing mark.
• Elvin Suazo recorded a career-high 14 tackles (three solo, 11 assisted, the third most in a single-game) with one tackle for loss.
• Zach Connolly tallied ten tackles (four solo, six assisted).
• Elvin Suazo contributed ten tackles (two solo, eight assisted).

FOR RPI:

• George Marinpoulos finished with 273 yards through the air off 16-for-26 attempts with three touchdown passes.
• Nick Cella carried the ball 18 times for 123 yards.
• Keaton Ackermann led all Engieer receivers with six catches for 123 yards on the day with a touchdown, while Nick Smith and Conor Davies each caught a touchdown.
• John Sadak finished with a game-high 16 tackles (seven solo, nine assisted).
• Jack Hoggard had ten tackles (three solo seven assisted, 0.5 for loss), an interception and a breakup.

GAME REVIEW:

• A Eagle turnover on the opening drive of the game setup RPI's first scoring drive that was capped off by a 1-yard Tommy Avery run for the only points scored in the first quarter.
• After the Eagles forced RPI to punt and six plays later Brandon found a wide open Gaudet for a 35-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-all.
• The game remained tied until the final play of the first half when Marinopoulos completed a 34-yard pass to Smith to give the Engineers a 14-7 lead at half.
• Sanjay Krishnan's 22-yard field goal pushed RPI's advantage to 17-7 with 10:26 left in the third quarter.
• The Eagles and the Engineers traded punts back-and-forth until Marinopoulos found Conor Davies with 22 seconds remaining in the third for a 16-yard touchdown pass, making the the score, 24-7.
• On the Engineers next drive, the Eagles forced RPI to punt the ball back, but Quan Soyini had different plans as he return it for a single-game record of 82-yards to the house to cut RPI's lead to ten, 24-14.
• A 12-yard touchdown pass from Marinopoulos to Ackermann and an 89-yard picked six by Luke Watanabe to give RPI the 38-14 victory.

 TEAM STATS:

• Both teams combined for 782 yards of total offense.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Today's matchup marks the first game between Husson's and RPI's football programs.

Maritime vs. Springfield

The Privateers got off to a strong start in the game as senior quarterback Thomas Wright (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) found Antonio Clark (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Central Catholic) across the middle for a big 43-yard gain all the way down to the two early. The second drive of the game for Maritime's offense was then capped off by yet another touchdown pass from Wright to Brandonn Drumgole (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai), their 13th of the season.

Although Maritime's offense struggled for the remainder of the half, the defense wouldn't give up any ground to Springfield and kept them off the board in the first quarter.

An untimely turnover from the Privateers in the second quarter gave the Pride the ball inside the red zone in the second quarter, but the Maritime defense stood strong and forced Springfield into a field goal as they held the lead at 7-3.

Despite out playing the Pride for the majority of the first half, momentum shifted at the end of the quarter as Springfield finally found the end zone with just 13 seconds remaining to take their first lead of the game heading into the locker room.

Strong defense from both side continued into the second half as both sides were held scoreless in the third quarter.

With time winding down in the final quarter of the season, the Pride were the first to strike as they marched down the field and made it a two possession game with under 7 minutes left. However, Wright turned to Drumgole on the ensuing drive and completed a 45-yard pass to get the ball moving. Once the ball was inside the 10-yard line, Wright found Drumgole for the second score of the game and the Privateers closed the gap to 17-14 with just under five minutes remaining. 

Unfortunately, the powerful run offense of Springfield was able to run out the clock and they escaped with the New England Bowl title.

Wright finished with 127 yards and was the leading rusher with 60 yards on 10 carries. Drumgole finished with 7 catches for 80 yards. Defensively, Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) led the way once again as he recorded a game-high 17 tackles while Jabari Corsfield (Ozone Park, N.Y./Jamaica) and James Varga (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) also reached double digits with 11, and 10 tackles, respectively. Karl Riek (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek) picked up a a key second half interception in the game and Tayler Trapani (Waveland, Miss./St. Stanislaus) recovered a fumble as well.

Maritime finshed the 2018 season at 7-4 overall and reached the postseason for the third consecutive year.