By: by Sean Engel, Assistant Sports Information Director
Box Score
WAYNE, N.J. (September 28, 2013) – The Maritime football team dropped its final non-conference game of the regular season to the William Paterson Pioneers by the score of 49-23 on Saturday afternoon at Wightman Stadium.
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The Privateers received the ball first, and picked up eight yards on its first offensive play afterÂ
Kyle Gardner (Amityville N.Y./St. Anthony's )Â rushed to make it second and two, however Maritime was unable to pick up the first down and was forced to punt.
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It didn't take long for the Pioneers to put points up on the board after a pair of Maritime penalties helped out the home team, who scored a touchdown on a seven-yard rush. The extra point was good and William Paterson led by a 7-0 score.
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William Paterson received the ball with less than two minutes left in the quarter, and the Privateer defense stood tall and held the Pioneers to a three-and-out, which included aÂ
Michael Brunk (Hidden Valley Lake, Calif./Glenwood Springs (Colo.))Â seven-yard sack.
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The Privateers started the second quarter on the William Paterson 45-yard line trying to get back into the game. SophomoreÂ
Dwayne Lacroix (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Malverne )Â was the highlight of the drive, picking up 28 yards on the ground to set up aÂ
Diogo Dietrich (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/DePaul Catholic)Â 33-yard field goal to get Maritime on the board.
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William Paterson got the ball back and marched their way down the field by way of the rush and eventually punched the ball into the end zone on 4th-and-one to go up by a 14-3 score.
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Maritime began its next drive with 7:38 to go in the half with 80-yards to go to get their deficit to within one possession. The ground-and-pound game was the plan on the Privateer drive as freshman quarterbackÂ
Isaiah Covington (Brooklyn, N.Y./FDR), and Gardner took the majority of the carries. The biggest run of the drive came by way of senior running backÂ
Frank Laino (Rockaway, N.Y./Fort Hamilton), who had a 28-yard dash. Laino also had the second longest rush of the drive with a 10-yard scoring play as Maritime headed into the halftime break down 14-10.
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After the intermission, both teams went 3-and-out on their first possessions followed by William Paterson putting up their third touchdown of the game to take a 21-10 lead.
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Maritime answered shortly thereafter, while going 82 yards for its next touchdown which came as Covington broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run. Also on the drive, juniorÂ
Greg Caneparo (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet)Â picked up a good amount of yardage with a 25-yard run to put the ball into Pioneer territory on the fourth play of the series. The extra point was no-good, as the Privateers had put up 16 points on the scoreboard.
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The touchdowns kept coming, as William Paterson increased its lead on its next two offensive series with a pair of touchdowns to take a 35-16 lead. On Maritime's next possession, the Privateers were backed up to the 15-yard line and fumbled the first play that was recovered and returns by William Paterson to put up yet another touchdown with 13:46 to go in regulation.
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The Privateers picked up three first downs on their next possession, as Gardner picked up a pair of first downs and 44 yards on the series. Freshman quarterbackÂ
Ryan Heizman (Commack, N.Y./Commack)Â picked up the score as he ran it into the end zone on a 4-yard sprint to trim the lead to 42-23.
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On the ensuing kickoff, William Paterson returned the ball for 83 yards, and scored two plays later to cap off the scoring on the game.
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The offense for Maritime scored three touchdowns, all by way of the rush as Covington, Laino and Heizman each picked up a score. Four players picked up 48 or more yards including Laino, Covington, Gardner, and freshman fullbackÂ
Brett McKinney (Westernville, N.Y./Rome Free Academy)Â picked up 59 yards.
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On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebackerÂ
Nick Coffiey (Wilmington, Del./Delaware Military Academy)Â led the team with six tackles, followed by senior
 Chris Klass (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet ) with five. Brunk picked up the lone sack for seven yards while junior defensive endÂ
Jimmy Daly (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside)Â also had a tackle for a loss in yardage.
Special teams saw Dietrich hit the only field goal of the game in the second quarter, while freshman punterÂ
John Arny (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen)Â handled the punting duties and sent the ball away four times, pinning the Pioneers inside the 20-yard line once.
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Maritime (0-3) will enter ECFC play at home next weekend when the Amcats of Anna Maria makes its way to Reinhart Field for a 2 p.m. kickoff as part of Military Appreciation Day. William Paterson (2-2) will host Morrisville next week for a 12 p.m. kickoff against the Mustangs.