THROGGS NECK, NY - The Maritime College football team celebrated its senior day in a big way as they defeated a tough Mount Saint Joseph opponent 11-9. The Lions are averaging over 36 points per game and scored 77 a week ago, but the Privateers defense held strong and even came up with the game-winning safety with six minutes left to play.

Maritime got off to a shaky start on defense, but ultimately held strong in the red zone on Mount Saint Joseph's opening drive. The Lions drove to the 15-yard line, where they faced a fourth-and-one conversion attempt. Wayne Betencourt (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) blew up the offensive line on the play and tackled the Lions running back in the backfield for a one-yard loss and a turnover on downs.

The Privateers immediately took advantage of the defensive stand as Jack Lynn (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Chaminade) found Andrew Geni (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) over the middle for a 28-yard gain on the first play. Maritime then continued the drive after two third-down conversion attempts and one fourth-down conversion attempt on carries by Christian Schiavone (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains). Schiavone then capped off the 15-play, 84-yard drive with a six yard score. Unfortunately, the Lions blocked the extra point attempt and returned it to the end zone for two points.

On the following drive, Mount Saint Joseph held onto their momentum from the blocked kick and took their first lead of the game after scoring a touchdown to make it 9-6. Maritime took the ball to start the second quarter and once again drove down the field both through the air and the ground to get inside the 10-yard line. Unfortunately, the Privateers were unable to find the end zone for the second time and settled for a field goal from Joseph Gagliardi (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North).

Despite the strong offensive drives to open the game, both teams stalled down the stretch of the first half and the two teams entered their final game of the regular season tied at 9-9.

The Privateers came out of the half and earned a quick three-and-out on the defensive end to put the ball back in the offenses hands. Maritime put up another strong drive as they took nine minutes off the clock, but weren't able to break the tie as they stalled at the 23-yard line. On the ensuing drive, Jabari Corsfield (Ozone Park, N.Y./Jamaica) made a fantastic play in the secondary as he interecepted a pass at the Maritime 35-yard line.

The offense wasn't able to take advantage of the turnover, but after the punt Corsfield came up with another huge third down play as he stopped a toss play on third-and-one for a five-yard loss. Maritime turned around and drove to midfield after the punt, but were forced to punt the ball from there. Gagliardi, a four-time ECFC Special Teams Player of the Week winner, came up clutch again as he pinned the Lions inside the 10-yard line for the second time in the game.

The punt came up big as Wayne Betencourt (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) sacked the quarterback on third-and-10 for a safety. Betencourt's safety broke the tie and the Privateers got the ball and the lead with 6:30 left to play. Schiavone and the offensive line took over from there as they ran the ball nine straight times for three first downs as they iced the game and ran out the clock.

Schiavone ran the ball 38 times for 122 yards and a score, while Lynn completed 20-35 passes for 159 yards. Geni led all receivers with five catches for 62 yards. Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) led the defense with eight tackles, while Betencourt chipped in three tackles for loss for a total of 21 yards. Offensively, the Privateers held the ball for over 40 minutes of possession time and limited the stout Lions offense to just 166 yards.