MVP Cahoon Leads Football to 48-6 Cranberry Bowl Win

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team concluded the regular season with a dominant performance in the 44th annual Cranberry Bowl.

With six different players scoring touchdowns, the Bears handed the Massachusetts Maritime Academy a 48-6 loss on Saturday afternoon at Clean Harbors Stadium.

The Bears ended in a three-way tie for first place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference at 7-1 with Western Connecticut State University and the defending champion University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Bridgewater State (7-3 overall) owns a 33-10-1 record against the Buccaneers (2-8, 2-6 in the conference) in the Cranberry Bowl, which began in 1979.

The Bears, who had nearly 500 yards of total offense, will await word this weekend on whether it will be playing a postseason game.

Against Mass. Maritime, BSU scored the first four times it had the ball in the opening half to take a 27-0 lead at the break. The lone time it did not score was in the closing seconds after taking a knee to run the clock out.

The Bears added three touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half for a 48-0 advantage and did not punt until there were just over three minutes remaining in the game.

For the second time in his career, BSU senior quarterback James Cahoon (Buzzards Bay, Mass.) was selected the winner of the Lee Harrington Most Valuable Player award.

Cahoon, playing just a short distance from his home, completed 14 of 17 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns while rushing six times for 36 yards and a score. He also won the MVP award in 2021 as a sophomore after throwing for three scores.

With the two TD passes, Cahoon increased his career total to 56, just one shy of Dan Maurer's all-time program mark. Maurer had 57 touchdowns from 1996 to 1999.

A three-year starter, Cahoon holds the BSU career marks with 7,065 passing yards and 576 completions. He became the first quarterback in program history to eclipse the 7,000-yard passing barrier.

Graduate student Adam Couch (Winchendon, Mass.) scored a pair of touchdowns and gained 97 yards on 19 carries. He moved into fourth place on the BSU all-time career rushing list with 2,811 yards, going ahead of Mike McCarthy and trailing Seto Berry, Brenden Kavey and Alex McLaughlin.

Junior Trevor Nunes (East Falmouth, Mass.) rushed for a career-high 82 yards on 16 carries and scored a TD.

Graduate student Michael Nocera (Cumberland, R.I.) led the BSU's receivers with five catches for 85 yards while senior tight end Ryan Buchard (Holliston, Mass.) and junior Jack McCarthy (Braintree, Mass.) caught TD passes from Cahoon.

BSU held a 13-0 lead after the first quarter with Cahoon throwing a 4-yard TD pass to Buchard just 5:02 into the game and Couch scoring on a 9-yard run with 2:49 left in the quarter.

The Bears went 75 yards in 12 plays for their first TD, needing six plays to get into Buccaneers' territory following the opening kickoff. A 14-yard run by Mack Driver (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) brought the ball to the 10 to set up the score with the point after attempt failing.

The next time it had the ball, BSU drove 63 yards in six plays, needing just over two minutes for a 13-0 lead.

Key plays were a third-and-12 conversion when Cahoon threw a 23-yard pass to Dan Akinsheye (Pawtucket, R.I.) and a 24-yard reception by Nocera that set up Couch's TD run. Joey Naso (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) added his first of six point-after conversions.

BSU extended the lead to 20-0 with 12:29 left in the half on a 6-yard run by Nunes, finishing a nine-play, 70-yard drive. Couch picked up a first down on fourth-and-1 in the drive, which featured four straight runs by Nunes.

The lead was 27-0 after a 14-yard TD catch by McCarthy from Cahoon with 2:17 remaining in the half as BSU went 72 yards in 14 plays.

Cahoon was 4 of 5 passing on the drive and had a pair of 12-yard runs.

The second half opened with BSU senior linebacker Brendan Albert (Canton, Mass.) intercepting a pass on the first play near midfield.

The Bears went 49 yards with Cahoon scoring on a 4-yard run with 11:52 left in the third quarter. Seven of the eight plays were on the ground and BSU picked up three first downs.

On Mass. Maritime's next possession, a blocked punt by senior linebacker Kodi Saotome (Warren, R.I.) set the Bears up at the Buccaneer 20.

Cahoon converted on fourth down with a 5-yard run to the 1 where Couch scored with 8:16 left in the third quarter for a 41-0 lead.

BSU ended its scoring with 14:21 remaining in the game on a 5-yard run by sophomore Andrew Cloutman (Hanson, Mass.) as the Bears marched 82 yards in 13 plays.

Mass. Maritime got on the scoreboard with 7:13 left with a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with graduate quarterback Marc Murphy (Norwood, Mass.) throwing a 10-yard TD pass to senior Andrew Brightman (Wareham, Mass.), but the kick failed.

BSU had 474 yards of total offense, including 302 rushing yards. The Bears limited the Buccaneers to 181 yards of offense and had a 32-13 edge in first downs.

The BSU defense was led by Albert, who had seven tackles with 1 1/2 for a loss to go with the interception while freshman defensive back Dkari Rodrigues (Boston, Mass.) added six tackles.

Brightman led the Buccaneers with nine catches for 50 yards and their lone TD.