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Sunday, September 27, 2015

FOOTBALL: Mariners Fall to Engineers in NEFC Opener

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – Maine Maritime Academy football amassed 494 yards of total offense, led by 165 passing yards and 61 rushing yards from senior quarterback Michael Fahey (Union, Conn.) in a 51-26 New England Football Conference loss on Saturday afternoon.

The Mariners halted the Engineers on their opening possession, forcing a three-and-out, but could not capitalize on the strong start, fumbling in their first offensive possession on the MIT 15-yard line. MIT put together an 85-yard drive, capped off by a 58-yard touchdown pass from Danny Callahan to Karson Ota. Nate Henderson (Kittery, Maine) blocked the extra point, keeping the Engineer lead to just 6-0.

Maine Maritime got on the board early in the second quarter, putting together an eight-play 68-yard scoring drive, on a Joshua Doolan (Fairfield, Maine) nine-yard run to tie things at 6-6. Reigning NEFC Co-Special Teams Player of the Week Chad Martin's (Fairfield, Maine) extra point kick was good, giving the Mariners a 7-6 lead. On the next drive Justin Lovely (West Gardiner, Maine) picked off Callahan to give the Mariners excellent field position on the Engineers' eight-yard line, but the MIT defense came up with a big stop to ruin the opportunity.

The Engineers added two touchdowns late in the second quarter, to take a 20-7 lead into the intermission. The Mariners struck on the opening drive of the second half, as sophomore James Ferrar (Cumberland, Maine) ran for 31 yards on an 85-yard drive, including the last two into the end zone at the 11:04 mark that made it 20-14. MIT scored a field goal and four touchdowns on their first five possessions of the half, with Adis Ojeda closing the run with a 28-yard scoring run that made it 44-20 with 5:38 left.

Maine Maritime picked up a pair of touchdown passes from Fahey in the fourth quarter, one for 21 yards to sophomore Jordan Susi (South Portland, Maine) and one for 10 yards to freshman Derek Breunig (Westbrook, Maine) close the gap to 44-26. MIT's Ojeda added a 49-yard scoring run with 1:42 left to preserve the win for the Engineers.

Ferrar led the Mariners' rushing attack with 144 yards on 31 carries and a touchdown, while Joshua Doolan added 89 yards on nine carries and a touchdown, and 19 receiving yards.

Quarterback John King hit 13-of-17 passes for 166 yards and three scores for the Engineers, while Ota ended with 108 receiving yards, and Jared Hanson added 100 receiving yards on seven catches.

Regining NEFC Defensive Player of the Week Jeddy Doyon (Hampden, Maine) led the Mariner defense with seven tackles, including one for a loss, while both Lovely and Cody Gibbons (Naples, Maine) grabbed interceptions with 35 yard and 14 yard returns respectively, and Alex Gamester (Kittery, Maine) andMichael Burgess (North Yarmouth, Maine) added sacks.

Ben Boldt led MIT's defense with nine tackles, including five solo stops and a tackle for a loss, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

The Mariners (1-2) will host Coast Guard next Saturday, October 3rd at noon battle, while the Engineers (1-3) will take on Endicott, also at noon.

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