Box Score
Throgs Neck, NY – The SUNY Maritime Privateers defended their 2007 Chowder Bowl victory successfully this evening, defeating the Buccaneers of Mass. Maritime 24-14 in front of a home crowd numbering more than 3500. The Privateers are now 1-0 for the second straight season, and will begin preparation for Salve Regina next weekend.
John Gagliano (Islip Terrace, N.Y./St. Anthony's) (Islip Terrace, NY/St. Anthony's) got things rolling for the Privateers on the opening kickoff, returning the ball 25 yards to set up the opening drive on the 50 yard line. Following the return, the Privateers marched 36 yards on 10 plays, highlighted by a 10 yard pass from Michael Smooke (Land O'Lakes, FL/East Lake (FL)) (Land O'Lakes, FL/East Lake) to Sean Wiggers (Norwood, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan (N.J.)) (Norwood, NJ/Northern Valley Old Tappan) on a third and 9. Two plays later, senior captain Greg Campisi (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) broke open a 12 yard rush to set the Privateers up in prime position. A defensive stop by the Buccaneers forced Maritime to attempt a field goal, which was made from 32 yards out by David Kittinger (Fort Myers, Fla./South Fort Myers (Fla.)) (Fort Myers, FL/South Fort Myers).
The Buccaneers were plagued by two false start penalties in the ensuing drive, and they ended up moving the ball a net of only 6 yards on 5 plays before having to punt to SUNY Maritime. A three minute drive for the Privateers stalled after 7 plays and only 16 yards, and the Privateers were forced to punt the ball. With 3:26 remaining in the opening stanza, the Bucs began their drive from their own 41 and completed a 26 yard pass as time ran out, setting themselves up on the 2 yard line in the second quarter. It took 2 plays for the Bucs to punch it in, giving them the early 7-3 lead.
The teams traded possessions over the next 14:13 and went into the locker room with the same 7-3 score showing. The ball belonged to the Bucs after the half, but they could get nothing moving on their first drive. Forced to punt, the Privateers started with the ball near midfield once again and took advantage. James Spanopolous (Franklin Square, NY/H. Frank Carey) took the first three carries for the Privateers, rushing for 12 yards and setting up a sweep play for Robert Nichols (Ossining (NY)/Ossining) (Ossining, NY/Ossining) that went for 8 yards. The following play looked to be a loss for SUNY Maritime, as Smooke was dropped behind the line of scrimmage, but a 15 yard personal foul set the Privateers up on the 13 yard line. The very next play, Spanopolous ran it in for 6, and after a failed extra point, the Privateers regained the lead at 9-7.
The Bucs had an answer though on the very next possession, handing the ball to Douglas Dyke 7 times over the next 13 plays, for a total of 20 yards. With a second and 15 staring them in the face, the Bucs answered with Brandon Payne, who took the ball and ran for 12 yards to the Privateer 13, and the very next play 13 yards for the score. The Buccaneers regained their lead at 14-9.
Hoping to trick the Privateers, the Bucs attempted an onside kick that they almost recovered. However, not recovering the ball left Maritime to start once again at midfield. The Privateers needed only 6 plays to get into the end zone, which was capped off by a Nichols 21 yard dash on the same sweep play as earlier. With the score 15-14, the Privateers attempted and converted on a 2-pt. conversion, giving them a 3 point lead at 17-14.
Bringing that lead into the final quarter, the Privateers killed nearly 7 minutes on their first drive to open the quarter, but were stopped on the Bucs 2 yard line and turned the ball over on downs. Having to travel the entire length of the field, the Bucs looked like they were up for the challenge after Douglas Dyke took the first hand off and went for 26 yards to give his team some breathing room. The Privateer defense cracked down and forced the Bucs to punt three plays later, leaving only 5:42 on the clock.
Starting from their own 33, the Privateers marched 67 yards in 8 plays and 3 minutes to score their final touchdown of the night. With a fourth down and 5 to go on the Buccaneer 17, the Privateers elected to go for it, and it proved to be the perfect play call. Smooke faked an inside handoff, spun to his right, and just as he was about to get hit pitched the ball to Greg Campisi (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) who made a tackler miss and walked into the end zone. Pat Mangum (Pasadena, MD/Archbishop Spalding) sealed the deal for the Privateers, intercepting Joe Defrank's 4th down pass on the 44 yard line. The offense ran a play before taking a knee and watching the clock run down to 00:00. The interception was the only turnover of the game for either team.
The Privateers ran 71 plays for 329 total yards and dominated the time of possession by nearly 10 minutes. Spanopolous led the team with 142 yards on the ground, for an average of 4.4 a carry and one score. Robert Nichols (Ossining (NY)/Ossining) turned in a 100 yard rushing night on 10 carries including the one score and a long of 29. Michael Smooke (Land O'Lakes, FL/East Lake (FL)) attempted 7 passes and completed 2 of them, with a long of 10 and a net of 6. Defensively, John Rivera (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury) (Monroe, NY/Monroe Woodbury) led the team with 5.5 tackles and broke up one pass. Captain Michael Oehl (Nesconset, NY/Smithtown West) (Nesconset, NY/Smithtown West) recorded 5 tackles along with Stephen Kircher (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan) (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan).
For the Bucs, Douglas Dyke gained 110 yards on 23 carries to lead the rushing attack. Brandon Payne found the end zone twice on the ground, recording the only scores for the Bucs. Through the air, Joe DeFrank was 6-22 for 84 yards. Nick Stralka led the team with 13.5 tackles, 9 of which were solo.
Up next for the Privateers will be Salve Regina in Newport, RI. Last season, the Privateers beat Salve at home 40-26 to open their season 2-0. Maritime will look to duplicate their performance before coming home to face Randolph Macon on the 20th at noon.
