NEWPORT, R.I. —
In a monumental game for the NEWMAC standings in which the wind gave both squads fits all day, the Bears came out victorious in a thrilling 36-31 game in Newport.
The loss drops Salve to 4-4(1-4 NEWMAC). They will travel to Norwich next Saturday for a noon battle with the Cadets.
The action started with back to back three and outs, Salve's coming after Will Wolf(Front Royal, VA) plowed through the offensive line to force the Seahawks backwards on third down. After the Bears second punt in as many drives, Salve struck first with a field goal after an impressive goal line stand from CGA's defense.
To close out the quarter, Coast Guard again bent but didn't break, allowing another field goal to go to the second down 6-0.
Early in the 2nd, the tides turned for the Bears. After the third Bear punt in as many possessions, the Seahawks fumbled the return and gave CGA their first red zone opportunity. They capitalized on the very next play with a Sean Burns(Absecon, NJ) TD pass to Matt LaBouliere(Pipersville, PA).
The Bears were put in prime possession again as the result of a turnover after Lucas White(Juneau, AK) forced and Ethan Cumming(Massapequa Park, NY) recovered a fumble for Coast Guard. From there, Harrison Hensley(Riverview, FL) marched the offense down to the one yard line where Burns and the Bears offensive line executed the "tush push" to perfection to take a 14-6 lead.
The Bears defense would yet again show their prowess late in the quarter with their second fourth down stop of the day after Will Wolf again broke through the line to hit the QB. The special teams came to play in the second as well, with a Lucas Hubert(Canton, GA) punt getting downed at the one yard line. The perfect punt play set up Wolf to add to his already dominant game with a tackle for loss in the endzone for a safety, their first of the season. That 16-3 lead would hold into half.
Out of the half, Salve got themselves right back into the game with an opening drive TD to cut the Bear lead to 16-10. On the following kickoff, a CGA fumble gave the ball in the red zone again. Three plays later they would capitalize on the Bear error, with a lead-taking rushing touchdown. That score would ignite a back and forth trend with a Broock Desta(San Diego, CA) touchdown grab from Sean Burns giving the Bears a 23-17 lead before Salve answered with a score of their own to go up 24-23 into the fourth quarter.
A Coast Guard interception early in the fourth led to another Salve score to take an eight point lead, forcing Coast Guard to both score and get a two point conversion to tie back up. They would get the touchdown on a fourth down heave to Harrison Hensley in the back of the endzone, but would not convert the two point conversion, sending the game under six minutes with the Bears trailing 31-29.
Needing a stop down two, the Bears defense came up clutch. After Michael Shank(Chesterfield, VA) stuffed the Seahawk running back for a two yard loss to force third down, Noah Rohrer(Mount Joy Township, PA) punched the ball out onto the turf where Ramon Cruz(Valparaiso, FL) was there to jump on it for a Bear recovery. Harrison Hensley handled the rest with a 16 yard touchdown to give Coast Guard a 36-31 lead with 3:45 remaining.
Needing a score, Salve marched all the way down to the seven yard line. There, a slew of Bear defenders pounced on the Salve rusher to force a fumble inside the five yard line. After forcing the last fumble, Noah Rohrer was there to recover this one for arguably the biggest play of the season thus far. A Hensley first down, and one Burns knee sent the Bears home victorious and allowed the crowd to breathe a sigh of relief after an incredible road win.
The win improves Coast Guard to 7-1(5-0 NEWMAC). The 7-1 start is the Bears best start to a season since 2007. They will go on the road yet again next week vs Springfield College at noon. The Bears and Pride are the last two remaining undefeated teams in the conference and the winner next week will clinch the NEWMAC Championship.
