Football Falls to Mass. Maritime in Cranberry Bowl

Courtesy of Mass. Maritime Sports Information Director, Jim Seavey

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. --  Junior Matt White (Westwood, Mass.) rushed for a career-high 151 yards on 25 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns as Massachusetts Maritime captured the 32nd Annual Cranberry Bowl Presented By Ocean Spray for the first time in 14 years with a 23-7 victory over Bridgewater State in the New England Football Conference Bogan Division finale for both squads Saturday afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium.

The win was the first for the host Buccaneers (5-5, 4-3 NEFC Bogan) over the visiting Bears (5-5, 3-4 NEFC Bogan) since a 9-7 triumph in the 1996 match-up for "The Scoop" spanning 13 games and gave Massachusetts Maritime its highest single-season victory total since a similar five-win campaign in 2000.

White capped an opening nine-play, 63-yard drive with a one-yard plunge just 3:47 into the contest to stake the Buccaneers to an early 6-0 advantage, and after a missed Bridgewater State field goal early in the second stanza, freshman quarterback Mike Stanton (Quincy, Mass.) hooked up with sophomore Jonathan Emond (Green Harbor, Mass.) on a 29-yard scoring strike with 9:35 to play in the half that increased Massachusetts Maritime's edge to 13-7 at the break. 

After gaining just 83 total yards in the opening 30 minutes of action, the Bears took the second half kickoff and drove 60 yards on just five plays to close back to within six on freshman Chris Constantine's (Hingham, Mass.) 20-yard touchdown run, and Bridgewater State was driving once again midway through the third stanza before junior Charles Sykes (Dartmouth, Mass.) returned his third interception of the season to the visitors' 25-yard line that set up senior Jarad Horey's (Ledyard, Conn.) 28-yard field goal with 6:18 remaining in the third quarter to give the hosts a nine-point cushion at 16-7. 

After both teams exchanged a pair of punts, the Bears drove to their 41-yard line with just over five minutes remaining in the contest but turned the ball over on downs when freshman quarterback Mike McCarthy (Edgartown, Mass.) was stopped for a two-yard loss by Buccaneer freshman Sheldon Roper (Sharpsbury, Ga.), and White, who was named as the Lee Harrington Most Valuable Player of the Game, iced Massachusetts Maritime's triumph with a 30-yard touchdown run with 4:19 remaining to close out the scoring.

White added three receptions for 34 yards to finish with 185 all-purpose yards in the victory for the Buccaneers, who also received 95 rushing yards from junior Nathan Sherr (Lynnfield, Mass.) in gaining 255 of their 368 yards of total offense on the ground.  Stanton completed 10-of-19 attempts for 113 yards to go with his touchdown for the winners, who also received four receptions from freshman Keith Caruso (Hingham, Mass.).  Massachusetts Maritime converted 10-of-19 attempts on third down as compared to 2-for-13 for Bridgewater State on the afternoon, as the Buccaneers held the ball for over 35 minutes and recorded 21 first downs.

Constantine rushed for 91 yards on 20 carries to go with his touchdown in the setback for the Bears, as McCarthy completed 5-of-15 attempts for 51 yards with a pair of interceptions by Sykes and sophomore Evan Sheridan (Chelmsford, Mass.).  Bridgewater State committed three turnovers on the afternoon in a game that saw the teams combine for 13 penalties for 132 yards.

Roper paced the Buccaneers defensively with a career-high nine solo and 10 overall tackles in just his second collegiate start as he registered one of three Massachusetts Maritime sacks of McCarthy.  Senior Peter Avitabile (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) closed out his career with seven solo stops and eight overall tackles for the Buccaneers, who also received six tackles from sophomore Sean Carver (Summerfield, Fla.) as well as three solo stops and a sack from fellow sophomore Nick Mazurkiewicz (Attleboro, Mass.) in limiting the Bears to 190 yards of total offense on the day.

Juniors Chris Chamberlin (South Easton, Mass.) and Jacob Curren (North Attleboro, Mass.), along with freshman Kevin Donahue (Norfolk, Mass.), each registered seven solo and nine total tackles in the setback for Bridgewater State, which also received seven solo and eight total stops from junior Kevin Laudano (Wallingford, Conn.) as well as six solo tackles and a sack by sophomore Justin Cruz (Dartmouth, Mass.).