NEW LONDON, CONN. – Saturday afternoon, the Coast Guard men's football team played their final home game of the regular season. Visiting Salve Regina took the win by a final score of 47-28.
The Bears' record dropped to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the NEWMAC, as the Seahawks improved to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the NEWMAC.
This contest started with each side going 3-and-out in their first drives. The Seahawks managed to pick up 2 first downs on their second drive, however they turned the ball over after failing to convert on 4th down. The Bears could not take advantage as they went 3-and-out again. With just over 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter, Salve Regina marched down the field quickly that ended with a 47 yard touchdown to put them on the scoreboard first.
The Seahawks' defense forced another 3-and-out for the Bears following the touchdown, and they took advantage again, as they scored their second passing touchdown of the game to give them a 13-0 lead with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
Coast Guard's offense started to gel in the second quarter, as they completed a couple large passes that ended with a 15 yard pass from
Sean Burns (Absecon, N.J.) to find
Freddy Barber (Goochland, Va.) in the end zone to make it 13-6.
Salve Regina took control the rest of the half scoring three more touchdowns as well as recovering an onside kick to make the score extremely lopsided at the half; 34-6 Seahawks.
The Bears came out of the locker room with a long drive to start the second half that resulted in a 25 yard touchdown. Burns connected with Barber for 25 yards to cut the lead to 34-13. The Seahawks answered emphatically again, as they scored another 2 touchdowns in the third quarter.
Elias Duncan (El Paso, Tex.) entered the contest as quarterback for the Bears before the end of the third quarter and he led the Bears offense the rest of the game. Duncan assisted Coast Guard in scoring 2 touchdowns in the final quarter, including 2 40+ yard throws to the endzone. Salve Regina continued their ability to respond in the fourth quarter as they put one last touchdown on the scoreboard with under 5 minutes to play. 47-28 was the final score of this match.
The Coast Guard football team will end their regular season in our Nation's Capital, Washington D.C., at Audi field as they will play in the Secretaries Cup against Merchant Marine next Saturday at 1pm EST!
