SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Despite a school record 16 receptions with 198 yards receiving by senior Nate Lewis (Acushnet, Mass.) and 421 yards passing with three touchdowns by senior quarterback Drew Frenette (New Bedford, Mass.), the Endicott football team dropped their second straight NEFC game losing 33-28 to Western New England on the road. The Gulls saw their 2014 season record fall to 5-4 (4-2 NEFC) heading into their regular season finale at Salve Regina on Saturday, November 15th.
Lewis continues to amaze in his final season as the senior receiver now has 79 receptions and 1,172 receiving yards this fall. Heading into Endicott's week 10 game against Western New England, Lewis ranked ninth in receiving yards, 12th in receiving yards per game, and 18th in receptions per game. Frenette came 30 passing yards shy of breaking his own record of 450 yards through the air set back on October 20th, 2012 at UMass Dartmouth.
Despite putting up 530 yards of total offense against the Golden Bears on Saturday, Endicott came one yard shy of the end zone on their final drive as time expired in the fourth quarter. With the ball on the Western New England 10-yard line and only 12 seconds left on the clock, Frenette hooked up with Lewis for the final time but Lewis was taken down on the goal line. Time ran out and the Golden Bears walked off the field with a 33-28 win to improve their record to 7-2 (4-2 NEFC).
Western New England rallied behind 180 yards and three passing touchdowns by senior quarterback Tyler Ward (Wyckoff, N.J.) who threw two touchdowns to his favorite receiver Andrew Walz (Groton, Conn.) and another to Tucker Schumitz (Milford, Conn.). It was a fourth quarter touchdown by senior tailback Kevin Cook (Hamburg, N.J.), a 15-yard rush to the end zone with 9:42 on the clock, that proved to be the game-winning score. Cook finished the game with 133 yards on the ground at 4.8 yards per carry.
Cook's touchdown put Western New England ahead 33-21, but the Blue and Green came right back down the field on their next drive to pull within five as sophomore receiver Jake Pelletier (Trumbull, Conn.) hauled in his third touchdown of the season on an eight-yard catch.
Endicott's first bid to take the lead trailing 33-28 in the fourth quarter came after the offense got the ball back following an interception by senior safety Mike Romanelli (Lighthouse Point, Fla.). With the ball on their own 20 and 6:04 on the clock, Frenette moved Endicott into Golden Bear territory but on 3rd-and-10 on the Western New England 47-yard line, Frenette threw a pick to Ryan Nolte (Albany, N.Y.) to halt the drive.
Nolte returned the interception 19 yards to the Endicott 45 and turned to their running game to shave time off the clock. Western New England faced a 4th-and-1 on the Endicott 36-yard line and on a rush by Nick Connell (East Marion, N.Y.), Gulls defensive lineman Nick Almeida (Somerset, Mass.) and defensive back Connor McLaughlin (Canton, Mass.) combined to take down the runner behind the line of scrimmage and turn the ball over.
Endicott took over possession on their own 37 and 3:12 remaining in the game. The offense struggled in the early part of the drive with a five-yard illegal shift penalty and a 16-yard sack on Frenette to put the Gulls in a 3rd-and-31 situation. Frenette would connect with Lewis for 24 yards and then convert a 4th-and-7 to junior running back Spencer Walsh (Malden, Mass.) with an eight yard pass to get a first down. Endicott continued their drive into Western New England territory and found themselves on the Golden Bear 10-yard line after a 20-yard completion to Lewis. With 12 seconds remaining, Endicott's final play resulted in Lewis' 16th catch but the Blue and Green came up short.
On the ground, freshman Lavante Wiggins (Dalton, Mass.) led the team with 58 yards and a two-yard touchdown right before halftime. Walsh added 53 yards to go along with four catches for 33 yards. Besides Lewis, Frenette connected with junior tight end Dimitri Skinsacos (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) four times for 86 yards, sophomore Chris Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) for five catches and 67 yards and a touchdown, and Pelletier for five receptions, 51 yards, and a score.
Defensively, four players recorded double digit tackles including graduate student linebacker Andrew Holfinger (Sterling, Mass.) who had 10 tackles, three tackles for a loss, and two sacks. Holfinger set a new single-season program record for sacks, moving past former Endicott great Kevin Eagan '12. He now has 9.5 sacks on the year.
Sophomore defensive end Craig Anderson (Franklin, Mass.) led the team with 11 tackles and a half sack. Junior defensive back Bryan Mey (Marshfield, Mass.) and McLaughlin both added 10 tackles apiece. Sophomore linebacker John Elnagger (Rowley, Mass.) recorded nine tackles and continues to lead the team with 89 tackles.