The Maritime College football team's season came to a disappointing end on Saturday afternoon as they lost 17-14 to Springfield College in the New England Bowl.
 
The Privateers got off to a strong start in the game as senior quarterback Thomas Wright (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) found Antonio Clark (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Central Catholic) across the middle for a big 43-yard gain all the way down to the two early. The second drive of the game for Maritime's offense was then capped off by yet another touchdown pass from Wright to Brandonn Drumgole (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai), their 13^th of the season.
 
Although Maritime's offense struggled for the remainder of the half, the defense wouldn't give up any ground to Springfield and kept them off the board in the first quarter.

Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) breaks up the pass to force the turnover on downs!! @NYMaritimeFB takes over on offense with one minute remaining in the 1st quarter! @d3ECFC #NEBowl pic.twitter.com/jeMPdI7jM2

— Maritime Privateers (@MTimePrivateers) November 17, 2018

 
An untimely turnover from the Privateers in the second quarter gave the Pride the ball inside the red zone in the second quarter, but the Maritime defense stood strong and forced Springfield into a field goal as they held the lead at 7-3.
 
Despite out playing the Pride for the majority of the first half, momentum shifted at the end of the quarter as Springfield finally found the end zone with just 13 seconds remaining to take their first lead of the game heading into the locker room.
 
Strong defense from both side continued into the second half as both sides were held scoreless in the third quarter.
 
With time winding down in the final quarter of the season, the Pride were the first to strike as they marched down the field and made it a two possession game with under 7 minutes left. However, Wright turned to Drumgole on the ensuing drive and completed a 45-yard pass to get the ball moving. Once the ball was inside the 10-yard line, Wright found Drumgole for the second score of the game and the Privateers closed the gap to 17-14 with just under five minutes remaining.

TOUCHDOWN! Second TD pass of the day from Wright to Drumgole! Springfield holds a slim 17-14 lead over @NYMaritimeFB 4:25 left in the game @d3ECFC #NEBowl pic.twitter.com/pz9IezJV5e

— Maritime Privateers (@MTimePrivateers) November 17, 2018

 
Unfortunately, the powerful run offense of Springfield was able to run out the clock and they escaped with the New England Bowl title.
 
Wright finished with 127 yards and was the leading rusher with 60 yards on 10 carries. Drumgole finished with 7 catches for 80 yards. Defensively, Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) led the way once again as he recorded a game-high 17 tackles while Jabari Corsfield (Ozone Park, N.Y./Jamaica) and James Varga (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) also reached double digits with 11, and 10 tackles, respectively. Karl Riek (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek) picked up a a key second half interception in the game and Tayler Trapani (Waveland, Miss./St. Stanislaus) recovered a fumble as well.
 
Maritime finshed the 2018 season at 7-4 overall and reached the postseason for the third consecutive year.