Bridgewater State Football Stunned By Salve Regina, 21-6

Box Score

Bridgewater, MA --– Sophomore quarterback Jeff St. Onge (Kingston, NH) threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns to lead the visiting Salve Regina University Seahawks to a stunning 21-6 victory over Bridgewater State College in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) crossover game this afternoon at Swenson Field.

Salve (1-1) forced 5 turnovers in the game and limited Bridgewater State (1-1) to just 102 yards of total offense in the second half. The win was the Seahawks first victory over the Bears since September 19, 1998 as they snapped a 7-game losing streak against BSC.

Bridgewater out-gained Salve 238 yards to 109 in the opening half, but turned the ball over three times including a big fumble at the goal line on their first possession of the second half. BSC also had a field goal blocked midway through the first quarter.

Salve opened the scoring with 7:06 remaining in the second quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass from St. Onge to freshman fullback Rob LaRiviere-Tougas (Easthampton, MA). The touchdown capped off a 7-play, 30-yard drive which began after senior linebacker John DeMartino (North Haven, CT) intercepted a Greg Borsari (Sr., Kingston, MA) pass and returned it to the BSC 30-yard line.

After the teams exchanged punts, Bridgewater took over at the Salve 40-yard line with 1:28 remaining in the half thanks to a 22-yard punt return by junior John Bascon (Bridgewater, MA). Seven plays later, Borsari connected with senior wide receiver Chris Joyce (Bridgewater, MA) on a 13-yard TD pass with 28 seconds left on the clock. The PAT attempt however was blocked and Bridgewater trailed 7-6 going into the half.

Salve’s best scoring chance in the third quarter came as a result of BSC’s fourth turnover of the game, a fumble which was recovered by junior linebacker Tim Quagliarello (North Haven, CT) at the Bears’ 33. The Seahawks drive stalled at the BSC 5-yard line, and a 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked by junior defensive tackle Chris Dijak (Lunenburg, MA).

The Seahawks increased their lead to 14-6 with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by senior running back Louy Marroquin (Hewlett, NY). The scoring run capped off an 8-play, 83-yard drive with the big play being a 50-yard pass from St. Onge to junior wideout Jason Giordano (Wolcott, CT) on third down and six from the Seahawk 34.

Bridgewater State took over on their own 26-yard line with 7:57 remaining in the game. After four running plays gave BSC a first down on their own 44, Borsari was intercepted by DeMartino for the second time in the game and the Seahawks senor linebacker returned the interception down to the BSC 29.

After picking up one first down on their ensuing drive, Salve was faced with fourth and nine from the BSC 18. St. Onge put the finishing touches on the game as he hit sophomore wide receiver Ben Hall (Conway, NH) with an 18-yard touchdown pass to cap off the scoring.

Marroquin carried the ball 27 times for 83 yards and a score to lead the Seahawks ground attack. Defensively for Salve, sophomore linebacker Brian Bernarducci (Pleasantville, NY) recorded a game-high 19 tackles on the day including 14 solo. DeMartino registered 4 solo tackles to go along with his 2 interceptions.

For the Bears, junior running back Bruce Burley (Mansfield, MA) rushed for 113 yards on 22 carries, while Joyce caught 6 passes for 65 yards and a score. Borsari completed 9 of 23 passes on the day for 100 yards and a touchdown, but was also intercepted twice. He also ran for 64 yards on 13 carries as Bridgewater finished with 217 yards rushing.

Defensively for the Bears, Dijak recorded 7 tackles on the day, including a sacks and 4 ½ tackles for loss. Fellow junior defensive tackles Mohammed Kanu (Randolph, MA) led the team with 9 tackles, while senior linebacker Anthony Vizakis (Bellingham, MA) recorded 8 tackles including 3 for loss. Bascon picked up his 11th career interception and also forced a fumble.

The Bears will try to regroup next Saturday as they host NEFC Bogan Division rival Maine Maritime Academy at noon. Salve will host Endicott College next Saturday at 6:30 in their “Homecoming Game”.