MILTON, Mass. —
The United States Coast Guard Academy fell to Curry College on Saturday, 35-41, in a shootout battle that saw the Colonels force overtime and walk the game off in the extra period. Both teams move to a 1-1 record on the season. Curry will host SUNY Maritime (1-1) for their next game on September 19th.
Curry started the game with the ball after Coast Guard deferred on the toss. The opening drive would be cut short after junior linebacker
Riley Miller (Westhampton, N.Y.) intercepted a pass off of junior cornerback
Ty Tamborino's (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Deflection. The Bears rode the energy to open the scoring at 11:05, with sophomore
Griffin Cheslock's (Early, Tex.) rushing it in from 28 yards out.
A 21-14 second quarter for the Colonels tied the game going into halftime. The two sides traded pairs of touchdowns to start, with junior quarterback
Sean Burns (Absecon, N.J.) scoring Coast Guard's first on a four-yard rush and the second coming via a 26-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback
Elias Duncan (El Paso, Tex.) to sophomore wide receiver
Freddy Barber (Goochland, Va.). Curry was able to equalize with just eight seconds to go, scoring a 28-yard touchdown pass of their own, to cap a seven-play drive.
Curry got the first score of the second half, but the Bears tied it at 28 after Burns completed a short pass left to Barber to a six-yard score. The Bears later retook the lead to start the fourth quarter after a Burns completion to junior wide out
Dylan Truxon (King George, Va.) for a 17-yard touchdown. Curry was able to knot it up again with 3:47 to go following a nine-play, 66-yard drive that ran five minutes and twelve seconds off the clock. The Bears started the ensuing drive at their own 35 and marched down t the Curry 34, but would end it early on an interception at the one-yard line.
Despite the poor field position, Curry gained big yardage on 3rd down thanks to a 36-yard bomb, placing them at their own 42. Sophomore linebacker Aidan Avenia (New Hartford, Conn.) responded by getting to the Colonels' quarterback for a nine-yard sack. The hosts were unable to overcome the loss of yards and eventually punted the ball, but Coast Guard was unable to reach field goal position in the remaining 14 seconds of regulation.
Coast Guard started overtime with first possession, and they powered their way to the verge of the Curry endzone. On 4th and 2, the Bears lined up in a rushing formation to push the ball across the goal line, but the Colonels would force a fumble at the one and return it for a walk-off touchdown, sealing an unbelievable win for the hosts.
It was a career day for Cheslock, who rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries (5.9 avg). Barber followed up his impressive Week 1 showing by going for 132 receiving yards alongside his two scores on nine receptions. Burns went 14-for-27 in the passing game and totaled 141 yards.
Tamborino finished the day with two pass break-ups, and senior linebacker
Noah Rohrer (Mount Joy, Pa.) caused a fumble while leading the Bears with ten tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. Sophomore kicker
Caleb McClure (Canton, Ga.) was a perfect 5-for-5 on PAT attempts, while Barber returned three kick-offs for 98 yards (32.7 avg).
Bears football will look to bounce back next Saturday when they visit Nichols College (0-2) for a noontime kick-off. Coast Guard won a 92-60 shootout in last season's Homecoming Game match-up at Cadet Memorial Field, the sum being the most points scored in NCAA Division III football history.
