PAXTON, Mass. - Coast Guard football's record improved to 2-0 after pulling off a comeback against hosting Anna Maria College on Saturday afternoon. The Bears have started their season without lack of suspense, having won picked up their second overtime win is as many games with the 52-45 victory.

The Amcats fall to 1-1. They'll play the role of visitor to SUNY Maritime College for their next match-up on Saturday, Sept. 21st. The Privateers are also off to a 1-1 start after Union College defeated them, 18-15, on Saturday afternoon.

Coast Guard opened up the scoring with a 9-play, 64-yard drive that ended in an 8-yard touchdown pass by senior Joey Armentrout (Oceanside, Calif.) to sophomore tight end Toby Wroe (Oldsmar, Fla.) with 10:19 left in the quarter. Anna Maria evened the score with 5:57 left on the clock by running the ball in from the Bears' goal line. The Amcats would take a 10-7 lead into the 2nd quarter after a successful 24-yard field goal attempt with 2:44 remaining.

Coast Guard reclaimed the lead just five seconds into the second quarter after a 6-yard touchdown run by Armentrout to cap an 8-play, 79 yard drive, but Anna Maria would take a 17-14 lead with 11:16 remaining after an 18-yard touchdown pass. The Bears then scored again to take a 21-17 lead on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Armentrout to junior wide receiver Broock Desta (San Diego, Calif.) with 10:25 left. Armentrout connected with Desta again at 5:23 for a 41-yard touchdown pass to put Coast Guard up 28-17, a lead they brought into halftime. The Bears outscored their hosts 21-7 in the second quarter.

Coast Guard started the second half with a bang after receiving the kick-off, needing only one play to go up 35-17 after reigning sophomore and reigning NEWMAC Football Offensive Athlete of the Week James Wheeler IV (Oneida, N.Y.) broke off a 76-yard touchdown run. Anna Maria would then mount a comeback, shutting out the Bears for the rest of the quarter while taking it to the endzone three times. The Amcats had a 26-yard touchdown pass with 13:56 remaining; a 22-yard touchdown run with 8:29 remaining; and a 54-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 remaining.

Anna Maria widened the deficit to start the fourth quarter, as a 61-yard touchdown pass left 12:42 on the clock and Coast Guard down 45-35. The Bears utilized their patented no-huddle offense on their next drive, rattling off 14 plays over 64 yards and ending it with a 3-yard touchdown run by sophomore Van Buhrman (Center Harbor, N.H). After making a couple massive stops, the Bears utilized the no-huddle again covering 48 yards in 11 plays to get themselves in field goal position. Despite the icing attempt by the Amcats, sophomore Brennan Holt (Benton, Ky.) drilled the attempt to send the game into overtime locked at 45.

Coast Guard won the ball to start overtime and wasted no time getting it to the endzone, with a 2-yard run by Armentrout capping a 6-play drive. The Anna Maria offense took the field for their chance, getting a first down on their first play after a 10-yard run. The next play went very differently for the Amcats, however, as senior linebacker Ethan Lasher (Debary, Fla.) picked off a pass attempt at the 3-yard line to clinch the game for the Bears.

Armentrout threw for 423 yards and 3 touchdowns with a 73% completion rate on 37 attempts, also adding 61 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns on 14 attempts to his statline. Wheeler led all rushers with 183 yards on 17 attempts. The Bears' offense also benefited from a pair of 100-yard receiving performances, with Desta going for 128 yards and sophomore wide receiver Matthew LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.) going for 123 yards. On the other side of the ball, lineman Solomon Ashby III (Portsmouth, Va.) had a game-leading 11 total tackles with 6 solo and one being for a loss of 5 yards, while defensive back Jael Cuellar (New London, Conn.) made 10 tackles with 8 solo.

Football has another away day for their next match-up on Saturday, Sept. 21st. The Bears will head to Dudley, Mass. to face Nichols College, who are off to a 1-1 start after demolishing Maine Maritime Academy, 63-12, on Saturday afternoon.