Dave Leombruno’s Late Field Goal Lifts Bridgewater State to Victory

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team had gone 13 straight games without attempting a field goal.

“We don’t do a whole lot of field goals at Bridgewater,’’ said coach Chuck Denune. “I could go back and probably count them on my hand how many times we’ve attempted a field goal. We just see it as four-down territory.’’

On Saturday afternoon, though, the Bears found themselves lining up for a game-winning field goal with very little time remaining.

Junior Dave Leombruno of Lakeville made it look routine, connecting on a 37-yarder with just six seconds left to give the Bears a thrilling 10-7 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

Playing at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High due to construction delays at Swenson Field, BSU turned to Leombruno for the team’s first attempt since Oct. 25, 2008 against Westfield State. On fourth-and-1 from the UMass-Dartmouth 20, the Apponequet Regional High graduate made the Bears’ first field goal since he split the uprights on Oct. 18, 2008 against Coast Guard.

“The snap was perfect, the hold was there and it was just like practice,’’ said Leombruno, who set a school record by making 53 straight extra-point kicks as a freshman and sophomore. “I was a little bit nervous. If you’re not nervous, you must not be alive. There’s a little nervousness. You’ve just got to fight through it and just kick it like you know how.’’

Seconds earlier, it didn’t look like BSU was going to need Leombruno to try a field goal as quarterback Mike McCarthy threw a third-down pass to Matt Monahan in the back of the end zone that was initially ruled a touchdown with 11 seconds remaining.

After the officials conferred, however, the play was ruled an incompletion because Monahan was not in bounds, shifting the spotlight to Leombruno.

“All you can do is line up and go to the next play,’’ said Denune of the TD being waved off. “The refs don’t have an easy job. You let them ref it and we’ve got to play and coach. You are upset for two seconds, and then move on to the next play.

“(Leombruno) has been kicking the ball well in practice. It was one of those things. The situation was there to kick. We put the game on the kid’s shoulders and he did a great job.’’

BSU (2-0) had been frustrated offensively for the first three quarters by the Corsairs (1-1) and did not get on the scoreboard until 10:33 remained in the game.

Justin Fuller of Berkley (25 carries, 124 yards) finished a 16-play, 58-yard drive with a 2-yard TD run and Leombruno’s kick made it 7-7. Fuller, who moved into 11th place on the school’s all-time rushing list with 1,616 yards in just 12 games, carried the ball nine times for 40 yards on the drive.

BSU went 71 yards in 13 plays on its final possession to set up Leombruno’s field goal, chewing up 4:09. The Bears were aided by a roughing-the-passer call that put the ball at the UMass-Dartmouth 29.

Other than those two drives, BSU had problems against the Corsairs’ defense, which limited McCarthy to 2-for-14 passing for 22 yards. McCarthy gained 96 yards on the ground in his second start.

“They ran a great scheme against us,’’ said Denune of UMass-Dartmouth’s defense. “They took away a lot of things we wanted to do. They scouted us well.

“We talked to (the offense) about when you get yourself in a fight and get hit in the face, what are you going to do? Are you going to back down or punch and get back in there with them?

“We’re young, and it’s obvious by all the penalties and the mistakes that we had today. But they’re fighters. I’ll give them that. They’re not going to back down.’’

The BSU defense was a key to the win, surrendering only 185 yards of total offense with no UMass-Dartmouth runner gaining more than 32 yards. The Bears stopped the Corsairs on fourth-and-1 at the BSU 34 with 8:08 remaining.

Kevin Donahue led the way with seven tackles, followed by Jacob Curren (five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble) and Tate Doehler of Lakeville (two tackles for a loss), Erich Sundberg of Plymouth (one tackle for a loss) and John Farroba (one tackle for a loss), who all made four tackles.

“It was like that on Thursday with our defense,’’ said Denune, whose team hosts Plymouth State next Saturday. “The defense just killed the offense in practice. They were just flying around. We were really kind of counting on a defensive performance like that.’’