CASTINE, Maine – The Endicott football team put up a season-high 555 yards of total offense in a 45-28 Gulls victory over Maine Maritime on Saturday as freshman full back Lavante Wiggins(Dalton, Mass.) had a breakout game with 132 yards rushing and a score while senior quarterback Drew Frenette (New Bedford, Mass.) threw for 408 yards on 27-of-38 pass attempts with four touchdowns.
Endicott (3-2, 2-0 NEFC) moved above .500 with their third straight win which includes victories over NEFC opponents in the first two weeks of the conference schedule. The Gulls return home on Saturday, October 11th for a 1:00 pm kickoff with conference opponent Nichols. The Bison (1-4, 0-2 NEFC) are coming off a loss to Salve Regina in week five. Endicott is 9-2 all-time against Nichols including a 4-1 record at Endicott Stadium.
The Gulls put together their largest rushing output of the season thanks to Wiggins' 6.0 yards per carry average on 22 attempts. Wiggins scored his first collegiate touchdown midway through the second quarter as his three-yard rush across the goal line capped off a seven-play, 60-yard drive that put Endicott ahead 28-14.
Through the air, the Gulls passing attack also set a new season-high with 408 yards passing from Frenette who connected with senior Nate Lewis (Acushnet, Mass.) 12 times for 172 yards, threw two touchdown passes and for 109 yards to senior Brett Egizi (Walpole, Mass.), and hit junior tight end Dimitri Skinsacos (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) and sophomore receive Jake Pelletier(Trumbull, Conn.) in the end zone for scores.
Defensive, Endicott also set a new record for most fumble recoveries (5) and tied the all-time record for forced fumbles in a game (6).
Sophomore end Craig Anderson (Franklin, Mass.) led the team with 13 tackles with a half a sack with teammate John Fortes (North Reading, Mass.). Defensive backs Brian Mey (Marshfield, Mass.) and Mike Romanelli (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) were tasked with confronting Maine Maritime's high-powered rushing game and recorded 12 and 10 tackles, respectively. Freshman linebackerErik Goguen (Waltham, Mass.) had his second straight game with double-digit tackles with 10 takedowns.
Graduate student linebacker Andrew Holfinger (Sterling, Mass.) failed to continue his streak of consecutive games with a sack but did recover one of Endicott's six fumble recoveries. Senior defensive back Jake Cox (Wrentham, Mass.), sophomores John Elnagger (Rowley, Mass.) andMatthew Dow (Nottingham, N.H.), and freshman Robert Williams (Wayland, Mass.) all recovered fumbles.
Williams' force and fumble recovery came on the opening kickoff that set the Gulls offense up on the Maine Maritime 23-yard line. Endicott converted a 4th-and-13 from the Maine Maritime 26-yard line on a 23-yard pass from Frenette to Lewis and two plays later found the end zone on a Pelletier rushing touchdown for the game's first points.
Later in the first quarter, the Mariners showed off the nation's top rushing attack as junior quarterback Michael Fahey (Union, Conn.) found a hole in the defense and ran 71 yards down the field for what looked like a touchdown. Gulls cornerback Jake Cox, however, miraculously knocked the ball loose on the one-yard line which rolled into the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback. Endicott took over possession and rattled off a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a touchdown pass from Frenette to Skinsacos from 15 yards out.
Maine Maritime cut into Endicott's 14-0 lead on their very next possession as freshman tailback Jacob Doolan (Fairfield, Maine) recorded a 64-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7. Doolan, who had two touchdowns in the game, thrashed the Gulls defense for 219 yards on 21 carries at 10.4 yards per attempt.
Endicott regained a two-touchdown advantage on their next drive that ended in a 28-yard touchdown catch by Egizi. The Blue and Green held a 21-7 advantage at the 14:31 mark of the second quarter.
After another Maine Maritime rushing touchdown, a six-yard score by freshman fullback James Ferrar (Cumberland, Maine) that made it a 21-14 game, the Gulls came back down the field and scored as Wiggins crossed the goal line. A 38-yard completion to Lewis on 2nd-and-9 on the 43 set Endicott up nicely on the Mariner five-yard line.
Maine Maritime continued the offense-heavy first half with a drive that lasted 6:32 on their next possession. The Mariners rushed on 15 out of 16 plays on the drive including Doolan's four-yard touchdown run with just 35 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing Endicott drive, pass completions to Lewis (30 yards) and Pelletier (eight yards) helped to set up sophomore Kyle Regan (Nashua, N.H.) for a 36-yard field goal to make it a 31-21 lead at the break.
On Endicott's first offensive possession of the second half, Frenette threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Egizi and a 36-yard touchdown pass to Pelletier to stretch the Gulls lead up to 24 points. At the end of the third quarter, Fahey would complete an 86-yard pass to Doolan for Maine Maritime's final touchdown. The remaining offensive possessions by Maine Maritime all ended in forced fumbles and possession changes.