THROGGS NECK, N.Y.—The Anna Maria College football team suffered a 44-7 loss to the Privateers of SUNY Maritime College on Saturday afternoon in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) opener for both teams.
Maritime improves to 2-1 with the win, while the AMCATS remain winless at 0-4.
MOVING ON UP
With 48 rushing yards, senior running back Christopher Bettano (Tewksbury, Mass.) moves into second on the AMCATS' all-time rushing leaderboard with 1,481 yards. He needed five yards entering today's game to top Santino Simone '13, who amassed 1,387 yards in his four-year career. The current career record of 3,643 yards is held by Robert Small '14.
ANNA MARIA NUMBERS
Bettano rushed for the team's only touchdown of the day, a four-yard run in the third quarter that brought the score to 24-7.
Bettano's 48 yards were third-best for the AMCATS on the day, as freshman Austin Paygai (West Warwick, R.I.) totaled 78 rushing yards on five carries with a long of 36 and St. Clair Ryan (South Easton, Mass.) finished with 53 yards on six carries. As a team, the AMCATS netted 187 rushing yards.
Quarterback Daniel Faison (Bowie, Md.) completed three passes in 10 attempts for 55 yards and two interceptions.
MARITIME NUMBERS
The hosts compiled 461 yards of total offense on the day, including 353 yards on the ground. Nick Fischetti ran for 88 yards on 14 carries and a game-high three touchdowns.
Brett McKinney totaled 64 rushing yards on 14 carries with a touchdown, while K. Cardinal-Charles and Thomas Wright ran for 33 and 32 yards, respectively, along with a touchdown each.
Quarterback Zack Chilcott completed six passes in 12 attempts for 108 yards and also ran for 40 yards in 13 carries.
PRIVATEERS BOOT
Maritime's kicker Diogo Dietrich helped his team with eight points on the day from one 18-yard field goal and five extra points. He was flawless on the day.
SCORING
Second Quarter: After a scoreless first quarter, The Privateers took a 17-0 lead into halftime. McKinney competed an eight-yard run for the team's first touchdown at the 14:18 mark. Seven minutes later, Fischetti made his first score of the day on an eight-yard run, and with one second left in the half, Dietrich completed his field goal.
Third Quarter: The Privateers took a 24-0 lead on a three yard run by Fischetti at the 8:20 mark before Bettano scored on his four-yard run at the 4:58 mark. Freshman kicker Francis Cole (Maspeth, N.Y.) was successful on his extra-point attempt. Maritime rounded out the third frame with a six-yard run by Fischetti to bring the score to 31-7.
Fourth Quarter: Maritime added touchdown runs by Cardinal-Charles and Write at the 14:25 and 1:26 marks to take the 44-7 win.
MARITIME DEFENSE
The Privateers held the AMCAT offense to just 11 first downs and 45 offensive plays and limited them to just 21 minutes of offensive possession. Kendal Parker and Andrew Auriemma finished with five tackles apeice, while Parker and Nick Conte both recorded interceptions on the day. Kameron Knight forced a fumble for the Privateer defense.
AMCAT DEFENSE
Spending nearly 39 minutes of action on the field, the AMCAT defense totaled 86 tackles on the day. Senior Mike Sinto (Long Beach, N.Y.) posted 16 tackles on the day, the 10th most ever recorded by an AMCAT in single game in program history.
Tyler Jacobs (New Bedford, Mass.) and Tyler Rocha (Cranston, R.I.) both finished with eight tackles each, while Victor Sambola (Worcester, Mass.), Nick Cruz (Wakefield, R.I.), and Trevor Brown (Gardner, Mass.) all had six tackles apiece.
PENALTY PROBLELMS
Penalties plagued Anna Maria again, as the team finished with 11 penalties for 120 yards in the game. Maritime's six penalties accounted for just 47 yards on the day.
WHAT'S NEXT
Anna Maria returns to AMCAT Field next weekend and hosts Husson University in a 2:00 p.m. ECFC contest.