Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The University of New England trailed by 14 midway through the fourth quarter but stormed back for a 23-20 overtime football victory against Bridgewater State University on Saturday afternoon (Sep. 11) at Swenson Field.
UNE (1-1) struck first in the extra session with a 39-yard field goal from Abe Ruelas Villasenor. The Bears (0-2) moved it closer on their possession with a first down, only to see the Nor'easter defense hold strong and force a 27-yard attempt to extend the game. A few players crashed through the line in an effort to challenge the try, and it was David Hutchison who deflected the ball straight up in the air to secure the walk-off win.
The Nor'easters were down 20-6 from the tail end of the second all the way into the final stanza, but got an opening when Nick Scarfo forced a fumble at the 50 and Trey Snowden returned it to the 28 as the clock turned under 10 minutes remaining. A 3rd & 20 completion from Matthew Harkins to Jakob Rivers kept the short-field drive alive, and three runs by Jaymeson Maheux eventually found the end zone to make it 20-12.
A pair of sacks backed Bridgewater State into a punting situation, and UNE regained possession at its own 29 with 4:13 to go. The Nor'easters made good progress moving the ball on the ground, with quarterback Connor Sirois accounting for 25 yards, Jack Mahoney for 10, and Cam Mann for eight. Sirois' fourth pass completion of the drive came on 4th & 2 from the nine, as Brett Miller fell forward to the one with 13 ticks remaining. Harkins finished off the 15-play march with a sneak over the left side, and Sirois hit Miller again on a slant for the two-point conversion to knot things up at 20-20.
The Bears took a 6-0 lead in the first period, and a 14-yard scamper by Mann tied the score early in the second. BSU quarterback James Cahoon connected for 40- and 18-yard touchdown passes down the stretch into halftime, and ran in a two-point try himself on the last one, to push the spread into double digits.
Sirois ended throwing 19-of-26 for 93 yards, and rushed for a team-high 58. Mahoney and Mann added 53 and 39, respectively, to support the ground attack, which added up to 195 for UNE. The visitors were 4-of-6 on 4th down and amassed over 38 minutes in possession of the football. Defensively, on top of the blocked kick, Hutchison tallied six tackles and forced BSU's other turnover earlier in the contest.
Cahoon tossed it 308 yards on 18-for-31 accuracy for Bridgewater State, with Kyle Torres racking up 184 of those yards on eight catches (one TD). Adam Couch registered a game-best 101 rushing yards and the opening score. Steven Silvia collected 17 tackles and Brendan Albert tacked on 13 more.
The Nor'easters will now make their first-ever visit to the state of New York next Saturday and take on Alfred State College.