By: by Joe Guster, Sports Information Director
THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (Sept. 2, 2011) – The SUNY Maritime football team will open the 2011 season tonight on the road at Division II opponent, Bentley University. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Falcons' University Stadium in Waltham, Mass.
Live Audio And Video Available By Bentley Athletics
The game will be broadcasted live by Bentley University by following this link. There is a $7.00 charge to watch the game. There will also be live stats offered by Bentley that is free of charge and can be accessed by clicking here.
Privateers Picked To Finish First In ECFC In Preseason Coaches Poll
The Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) released its 2011 Preseason Coaches Poll last week and SUNY Maritime was selected as the preseason favorite to win the conference, sharing the honor with Norwich University, as the two schools each recorded 55 points in the poll. The Privateers did lead the conference with five first place votes, as they will look to repeat as ECFC Champions after running the table with a 7-0 conference mark in 2010.
2011 ECFC Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank Team Points 2009 Record
T-1 SUNY Maritime (5) 55 7-0
T-1 Norwich (1) 55 5-2
3 Mount Ida (2) 51 5-2
4 Castleton 36 5-2
5 Gallaudet 33 3-4
6 Husson 32 1-6
7 Becker 14 2-5
8 Anna Maria 12 0-7
(#) indicates number of first place votes.
D3Football.com Predicts Maritime To Win Second Straight ECFC Championship
The number one source for Division III football information, D3Football.com, has also predicted the Privateers to win the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference in its exclusive “kickoff” piece: http://kickoff.d3football.com. After the 2010 season, the site had named head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes as the East Region Coach of the Year and was the first outlet to cover the story of his impending deployment to Afghanistan last September.
Spanopoulos, Gorgy And Carberry Named 2011 Captains
The SUNY Maritime football team reported to camp in mid-August and at the first formal team meeting on the first night, seventh-year head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes announced the team captains for the upcoming 2011 campaign. As voted on by the entire team, seniors Rob Gorgy (Hillsborough, N.J./Immaculata (N.J.)) (Hillsborough, N.J./Immaculata), Jonathan Carberry (New York, N.Y./New Utrecht) (New York, N.Y./New Utrecht) and Jamie Spanopoulos (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) will lead the Privateers as captains this season.
“I am very impressed with the number of young men on our team that are quality leaders and want to help our team do the right things on and off the field,” said Kendrick-Holmes. “Rob, John and Jamie stand out in that crowd, which is a real credit to them, their families, and our players who voted them as captains.”
2011 Maritime Season Preview
Maritime comes into the 2011 season as the reigning ECFC Champions after compiling a perfect 10-0 regular season record in 2010 and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
During the 2010 season, the Privateers received national media coverage both for their perfect record and the news of head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes' impending military deployment to Afghanistan upon the season's end. After serving eight months with the U.S. Naval Reserves, the 2010 ECFC Coach of the Year has returned and will be back on the Maritime sideline for the 2011 season.
The Privateer defense will look virtually the same as last season, returning 10 of the 11 starters. In 2010, Maritime ranked 24th in the country in total defense, 31st against the pass and 37th against the run, while its turnover margin was good for 23rd in the nation. Returning to lead the defense is the 2010 ECFC Defensive Player of the Year, junior linebacker Keith Barnes (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury). He will be joined by fellow All-ECFC Defenders Rob Gorgy (Hillsborough, N.J./Immaculata (N.J.)), Ricky McClain (Wantagh, N.Y./Saint Anthony's) (Wantagh, N.Y./Saint Anthony's), Pat Lasher (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), Steve Roman (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph's by the Sea) (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph's by the Sea) and Sean Wiggers (Norwood, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan (N.J.)) (Norwood, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan), as well honorable mention Thomas Boney (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian (Fla.)) (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian).
The Maritime offense ranked 9th in the NCAA in rushing last season and 1st in sacks allowed and will be returning eight starters. Returning for his senior campaign is the Privateers' all-time leading scorer and two-time All-ECFC First Team member, fullback Jamie Spanopoulos (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey). He will be joined by fellow All-ECFC player Erik Heedles (Staten Island, N.Y./New Dorp) (Staten Island, N.Y./New Dorp) and honorable mentions Joey Dickey (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North), Andrew Cohen (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip/Central Connecticut State) (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip) and Larry Cohen (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip/Central Connecticut State) (Islip Terrace, N.Y./East Islip).
On special teams, the Privateers ranked 12th in the nation on punt returns last year and, in 2011, will once again be with the services of sophomore Thomas Davis (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury), who had his promising freshman season ended early due to an injury. ECFC honorable mention Madison Leary (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) (Tavares, Fla./Tavares) will be in charge of the kicking duties for Maritime.
The Privateers will kick off the season with a trip up to Waltham, Mass., to take on Division II opponent Bentley University. That will be followed by a showdown with Western Connecticut State in week two and the third annual "Seafaring Scuffle" against Kings Point in week three. After a bye week, Maritime will begin its conference slate, in pursuit of its second-straight ECFC Championship and appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Scouting The Bentley Falcons
Bentley finished the 2010 season with a 5-4 overall record under head coach Thom Boerman, including a 5-2 mark in the Northeast-10 Conference. Then-junior running back Bobby Tarr led the rushing for the Falcons with 590 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Bryant Johnson is back for his final year after passing for 2,161 yards and 18 touchdowns last season, but will be with his top receiver Wade Critides, who hauled in 517 yards and a team-high six receiving TDs in 2010.
On the defensive side, Bentley will be without its top tackler from last year, Greg O'Brien (80 tackles), but senior brother Steve and Don Hopkins will look to captain the team after great efforts 2010. Steve had 68 total tackles (35 solo and 33 assisted) with two interceptions, while Don led the squad with six interceptions and was third on the team with 61 tackles (34 solo and 27 assisted).
Punter Mike Brownett is back for the Falcons this year after amassing 727 punting yards on 22 kicks, with six inside the 20-yard line and one touchback. Junior Will Lockwood will take over the place kicking for Bentley, hoping carry over the success that the graduated Paul Branco had.
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If you would like to receive the most up-to-date news and information about the Maritime football team, including all press releases, please send an e-mail to Joe Guster at jguster@sunymaritime.edu
with the subject “Football E-mails.”
Follow Maritime Athletics On Facebook, Twitter And YouTube!
Alumni, fans, family and friends now have new ways to keep up with the latest Maritime sports news – Twitter, Facebook and YouTube! Privateer supporters can logon to the Internet and receive the latest updates on every Maritime sports team, either online or via their mobile phone with Twitter. Just visit the sites www.twitter.com/MtimePrivateers, http://www.facebook.com/MaritimePrivateers and http://www.youtube.com/user/MaritimeAthletics to start following today!