Box Score THROGGS NECK, NY – The SUNY Maritime football team came up a point short of Morrisville for the homecoming match-up on Reinhart field this afternoon. The 39-38 victory gave the Mustangs their first win of the season (1-4) while dropping Maritime to 2-3.
Ben Swedish (Rocky Point, NY/Rocky Point) led the Maritime rushing attack with 195 yards on 23 carries. Greg Campisi (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) (Lynbrook, NY/Lynbrook) followed suit with 117 yards on only 9 carries, including a touchdown. Quarterback Michael Smooke (Land O'Lakes, FL/East Lake (FL)) (land O'Lakes, FL/East Lake) ran for two scores and threw for another, finishing the afternoon off with 89 rushing yards and 16 passing yards. Robert Nichols (Ossining (NY)/Ossining) (Ossining, NY/Ossining) added two rushing touchdowns of his own, and was on the receiving end of Smooke's TD pass.
Morrisville opened the game with a 36 yard field goal by Derek Mulson from 36 yards out. On the following possession, the Privateers drove 72 yards on 7 plays, culminating in a Campisi touchdown run of 11 yards. The failed point after left the score at 6-3 in favor of the Privateers.
Only three plays later, Morrisville quarterback Billy Poling hit an open Eddie Hull who dodged tacklers and scored on a 60 yard completion, moving the score to 10-6. Maritime answered right back with a 50 yard bolt up the middle by Swedish that set up a 16 yard touchdown toss from Smooke to Nichols. The 1:38 drive put the Privateers back on top 13-10.
First quarter scoring didn't end there; the ensuing kickoff got returned by Brandon Tape 85 yards for a score. A turnover by the Maritime offense, and a punt by the Morrisville offense, rounded out the 30 point quarter.
The second quarter proved to be just as high scoring as the first, and opened up very similar. Morrisville's Derek Mulson connected on a 25 yard field goal, and Smooke took the Privateer's down the field for a score. After the point after was blocked, the Privateers were down 20-19. The next two possessions played out the same as in the first quarter, with Morrisville scoring and Maritime answering back with a score of their own. Down 27-25, Maritime went for the two point conversion, but failed.
With 1:12 remaining in the half, Morrisville added another score, and the half ended with the Mustangs ahead 34-25.
The Maritime defense came out strong in the second half, allowing only 3 points the rest of the game. Mulson's third field goal of the game was the only score in the third period. Nichols rushed for a 3 yard touchdown to open the fourth quarter, and the defense stood strong on their 1 yard line, forcing a turnover on downs. The Privateers were unable to advance the ball out of the shadows of their endzone, and took a safety on the attempted punt, moving the score to 39-32. Another strong defensive stand, gave the Privateers the ball with 8:08 remaining in the game.
Ten plays and 80 yards later, Robert Nichols (Ossining (NY)/Ossining) found the endzone from 23 yards out to bring Maritime to within 1 of a tie. Klestor Pellumbi (Astoria, NY/Christopher Columbus)'s (Astoria, NY/Christopher Columbus) point after bounced off the upright, and into the endzone, leaving the score at 39-38. The Maritime offense was given one more chance with just over a minute remaining, but couldn't put together another drive.
The Privateers are traveling to Montgomery Alabama to play Huntingdon College at 1:00 PM this Saturday. Their final home game is on October 20th against Newport News Apprentice.
