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Football Week 8 Preview: Privateers Host Mount Ida Saturday At 1 p.m. On Military Appreciation Day

10/21/2011 4:30:00 PM

By: by Joe Guster and Raul Vargas

Live Audio Stream
 
        THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (Oct. 21, 2011) – The Maritime football team (5-1, 2-0 ECFC) will play host to the Mustangs of Mount Ida College (3-3, 2-1 ECFC) on Saturday in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference action. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Reinhart Field.
 
Live Audio Available From The Privateer Radio Network!
        Saturday's game will be streamed live on the Privateer Radio Network beginning at 12:45 p.m. with a pregame show. Play-by-play man Greg Rice will then call all the action on the field from the opening kickoff to the final whistle! The live audio stream of the game can be accessed by following this link!
 
Maritime To Celebrate Military Appreciation Day Saturday
        This Saturday the Maritime football team will be paying tribute to the U.S. Military by celebrating “Military Appreciation Day.” The first 500 fans will receive American flags, coaches of both teams will be wearing 10th Mountain Division CJTF-10/11 baseball caps on the sidelines and the U.S. Navy Long Island Recruiting Detachment will bring a Jet Fighter Flight Simulator for fans to experience.
 
        There will be two special guests for the coin toss: U.S. Army Infantryman, Captain Dale Campbell and Mr. Mark Hamilton. Campbell is a member of the Texas Army National Guard and has just returned from a one-year tour in Afghanistan. He was assigned with Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes in the 10th Mountain Division at Regional Command South Headquarters in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Mr. Hamilton recently completed a three-year tour as Deputy Director of Advance Briefs and Public Affairs to the Secretary of Defense, the Honorable Mr. Robert M. Gates. He and Coach Kendrick-Holmes spent roughly a month together in Kandahar, Afghanistan completing planning and logistics requirements for visits by the Secretary of Defense.
 
        10% of the Maritime football team participates in Army, Navy and Marine Corps ROTC at Maritime College.  Cadet 2/C Joe Brown (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington) (Huntington Station, N.Y./Huntington), who is the senior most team member, will carry the U.S. flag out when the Privateers take the field for the game.  There are two former Maritime team captains serving on active duty with the U.S. Navy:  LTjg Joe Becker '08 is currently assigned with Navy Component Central Command in Kuwait and LT Arlis Steel '07 is currently assigned as the Communications Officer onboard USS Michigan (SSGN-727) in Bangor, Washington.
 
        Currently assigned in Kandahar, Afghanistan at Regional Command South Headquarters as Chief of the Joint Visitors Bureau is 1987 Maritime graduate and Naval Reservist Commander Bruce Fuchs. CDR Fuchs was Coach Kendrick-Holmes supervisor during his time in Afghanistan and he will be listening to the webcast of the game.
 
Privateers Honored Eight Times With ECFC Player Of The Week Accolades
        The Maritime football team has had a Player of the Week by the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference a conference-high eight times so far in 2011. After the Week Two win over Western Connecticut, seniors Jamie Spanopoulos (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) and Madison Leary (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) earned Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week accolades, respectively. Sophomore Tyler Trodden (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) (Putnam Valley, N.Y./JFK Catholic) and junior Thomas Boney (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian (Fla.)) (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian) earned offensive and defensive awards, respectively, after the Week Three win over Kings Point. Leary was again named Special Teams Player of the Week twice more for Weeks Five and Six. After the Week Seven win over Anna Maria, junior Jeremy Garcia (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) was named Defensive Player of the Week and senior Sean Wiggers (Norwood, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan (N.J.)) (Norwood, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan) earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
 
Inside The Series
        The two teams have met once a year for the past five seasons and Mount Ida leads the series three games to two. After losing the first three meetings, Maritime has been victorious the last two seasons. In 2010, the Privateers went up to Newton, Mass. and stole a 37-35 victory in the final minutes of the game. Then-sophomore Joe Dickey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North (N.J.)) (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) hooked up with classmate Erik Heedles (Staten Island, N.Y./New Dorp) (Staten Island, N.Y./New Dorp) for a 45-yard touchdown, on a pass that was nearly intercepted. Mount Ida had scored to take their first lead of the game just 45 seconds earlier.
 
        Dickey ended the day 10-for-14 in pass attempts for 168 yard. Heedles caught three passes for 83 yards. Then-sophomore Fritz Jean (Palm Coast, Fla./Palm Coast (Fla.)) (Palm Coast, Fla./Palm Coast) led Maritime with 121 all-purpose yards (56 rushing and 65 kick returning). On defense for the Privateers, sophomore linebacker Keith Barnes (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) (Wesbury, N.Y./Westbury) recorded a game high 12 tackles (11 solo and one assisted), including two for combined losses of three yards, while forcing one fumble in the third quarter.
 
Team Comparison Of National Rankings
        The Maritime rushing offense ranks 12th in the nation (270.33 yards per game) thanks in large part to the triple option, while Mount Ida has been allowing 106.33 rushing yards per game, which ranks 36th in NCAA D-III. On the flip side, the Privateers' total defense ranks 18th in the nation allowing just 246.17 yards per game, while the Mustangs total offense is 65th with 391.33 yards per game.
 
        Maritime ranks in the top 10 in four categories: fourth in tackles for losses allowed with 3.17 per game, fourth in red zone defense allowing opponents to score on just half their red zone attempts, fifth in time of possession with 34:52 per game and seventh in kickoff returns with an average of 26.85 yards per return.
 
Mount Ida is in the top 10 in just two categories, eighth in fourth down conversion defense allowing opponents to get a first down on just 16.67 percent of their attempts and ninth in total defense with 233.33 yards allowed per game.
 
Maritime Privateer Breakdown
        The Privateers come into Saturday's contest with a 5-1 overall record, including a 3-0 mark in ECFC contests.
 
        Sophomore quarterback Tyler Trodden (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) leads the way on offense with 810 total yards (514 passing and 296 running) while passing for three touchdowns and running for one more. The team's leading rusher is senior fullback Jamie Spanopoulos (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey), who has garnished 501 yards, while scoring seven touchdowns. Sophomore Thomas Davis (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) is the team's leading receiver, catching three passes for a total of 128 yards with two touchdowns receiving TDs. Davis has also scored five rushing touchdowns on the season.
 
        On defense, junior linebacker Keith Barnes (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) leads the squad with 58 tackles (44 solo and 14 assisted), with a combined loss of 16 yards on five tackles, including a sack for a loss of 12 yards. Last year's ECFC Defensive Player of the Year has also contributed with an interception, returning it 11 yards, and two forced fumbles. Junior linebacker Pat Lasher (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) has a total of 31 tackles (18 solo and 13 assisted) including two for a combined loss of three yards and a forced fumble.
 
        Senior kicker Madison Leary (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) is in-charge of the place-kicking, scoring five of nine field goal attempts and averaging 52.1 yards per kickoff. Leary has 39 total points for the team, including 24 out of 27 extra points.
 
Scouting the Mount Ida Mustangs
        The Mustangs will arrive at Maritime with a 3-3 record, including a 2-1 mark in ECFC action which leaves them tied for third place. Coach Michael Landers led the team to the conference championship game in 2009, but Mount Ida was defeated by Norwich. In his time with the Mustang, Landers has amassed a 14-18 overall record while going 9-4 in ECFC play.
 
        Junior quarterback Scott Drosendahl has completed 75 passes for 1060 yards in the air with 10 touchdowns, while giving up 4 interceptions. Senior tailback/punter Johrone Bunch leads all running-backs with 1011 rushing yards and six touchdowns, while also picking up 44 receiving yards and one touchdown. The Mustangs main receiver is sophomore Jordan Hyman with 25 receptions for 381 yards and three touchdowns with an average of 15.2 yards-per-catch.
 
        On defense, Mount Ida relies on freshman linebacker Jah-son Johnson, who leads the way with 42 total tackles (32 solo and 10 assited), while having nine tackles for combined losses of 36 yards, including one sack for a loss of 11 yards. His defensive back classmate Tevin Moye has contributed with 30 total tackles, (24 solo and six assisted).
 
        Place-kicking duties have lied on the feet of junior Bobby Hemann, making 19 of the 21 extra-point attempts, while also converting one of three attempted field goals. Bunch has 16 punts with an average of 30.4 yards per punt with three inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
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