THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College football team held the ball for more than 40 minutes and gained nearly 400 yards of total offense on Saturday afternoon.  That offensive output led to points on four of the Privateers' first five possessions, as Maritime (3-2, 1-1 NEWMAC) earned a 24-21 victory over Norwich (1-4, 0-2 NEWMAC) at Reinhart Field.  It was the Privateers' first-ever New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win.

Prior to the game, Maritime honored five-year-old Luke Perrin as part of the Coach to Cure MD initiative.  Luke suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal genetic disorder that disproportionately affects young boys.  Visit Maritime's team fundraising page to make a donation.

After forcing a punt on Norwich's first drive, the Privateers marched 88 yards in six plays on their opening possession.  Steven Stassi (East Islip, NY) connected with Luke Caliendo (North Babylon, NY) on a 60-yard pass that set up a 1^st-and-goal on the Norwich 10.  One play later, Stassi found Nate Casaburi (Sayville, NY) in the end zone to give Maritime the lead. Caliendo then extended the Privateers' advantage to 10-0 with a 24-yard field goal that capped a 14-play, 59-yard drive with 9:23 left in the second quarter.

Norwich responded with an eight-play, 92-yard march that ended in Ryan O'Keefe's 44-yard touchdown pass to Trevor Chase.  Maritime immediately countered, though, with an 11-play drive that consumed 76 yards and 5:04 of game time.  Caliendo caught Stassi's eight-yard pass for the touchdown, then kicked the extra point to make it a 17-7 game.  Despite getting the ball back with just 1:19 left in the half, the Cadets moved 67 yards in seven plays, and Jeremiah Claiborne rumbled into the end zone to cut the Privateers' lead to 17-14 at halftime.

Maritime received the second half kickoff and proceeded to keep the ball for half of the third quarter.  Stassi capped the drive with a 1-yard QB keeper that once again put the Privateers up by two scores, 24-14.

It was still 24-14 in the fourth quarter when Maritime had two drives stalled deep in Norwich territory.  After Stassi was intercepted by Ethan Amburn on 4^th-and-15 with 1:37 remaining, the Cadets drove 75 yards in 44 seconds to trim the Privateers' lead to 24-21 with less than a minute remaining.  Dylan Reilly (Lake Grove, NY) recovered the onside kick, allowing Maritime to kneel down twice and run out the clock.

Caliendo scored half of the Privateers' 24 points, kicking a field goal and three extra points to go along with his eight-yard touchdown catch.  He also had 12 receptions for 132 yards and finished with 196 all-purpose yards.  Stassi completed 24-of-40 passes for 292 yards and two scores.  He added a touchdown on the ground.  Devin Cline (Miller Place, NY), meanwhile, carried 29 times for 75 yards.  Defensively, Kevin Wu (Staten Island, NY) led the way with nine tackles, and Tim Gasparik (Seaford, NY) recorded an interception.

For the Cadets, O'Keefe was 16-for-29 passing for 239 yards and a touchdown.  Chase was credited with nine catches for 92 yards and a score, while two of Claiborne's 11 carries went for touchdowns.  The Norwick defense made 100 tackles, with Simon Taraska recording 12 stops.  In addition to his interception, Amburn broke up three passes.

Up next for the Privateers is a 2 p.m. matchup at WPI (3-2, 1-1 NEWMAC) on Oct. 7.  After playing three home games in September, Maritime won't return to Reinhart Field until Oct. 21.