THROGGS NECK, NY – On a rainy Saturday afternoon at Reinhart Field, the Maritime College football team hosted rival Merchant Marine for the first time in three years.  The Privateers (2-2, 0-1 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference) took a 20-10 lead early in the third quarter, but the Mariners (3-0, 1-0 NEWMAC) put together two long touchdown drives in the second half to notch a 23-20 victory.

Ian Derda (Guilford, CT) returned the second half kickoff 55 yards to the Merchant Marine 20.  Two plays later, Devin Cline (Miller Place, NY) plowed his way into the end zone from 16 yards out for his second touchdown of the game and a 10-point Privateers advantage.  After each team punted, the Mariners moved 80 yards in 12 plays to pull within 20-17 on Will Surdez's 2-yard TD run.

Merchant Marine forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Maritime possession, then put together a six-play, 65-yard drive.  Gervy Alota connected with Talsen Smith from 21 yards out for the go-ahead touchdown.  However, the Privateers blocked the extra point, keeping it a three-point game, 23-20.

The Mariners still led 23-20 when Zatyk Holub intercepted a Steven Stassi (East Islip, NY) pass at the Maritime 42 with 4:00 remaining.  Surdez carried six consecutive times, gaining two first downs and forcing the Privateers to take all three of their timeouts.  On 3^rd-and-3 from the Maritime 14 with under a minute left, Alota picked up eight yards for the first down, sealing the win for Merchant Marine.

With Maritime trailing 3-0 midway through the first quarter, a Zander Timothy (Woodland Park, NJ) interception set up the Privateers' first scoring drive.  Luke Caliendo (North Babylon, NY) capped the march with an 8-yard TD catch.  Merchant Marine then went back in front when Alota scored from one yard out at the 8:20 mark of the second quarter.

Maritime's next possession ended with a stop on 4^th-and-2 from their own 47, but the Privateers immediately got it back when Vinny Fundaro (Levittown, NY) forced and recovered a fumble on the next play.  The Privateers converted the turnover into a 44-yard scoring drive, with Cline finding the end zone on 4^th-and-goal from the 1.  The extra point gave Maritime a 13-10 halftime advantage.

As a team, Merchant Marine tallied 469 yards of total offense and ran 89 total plays to the Privateers' 56.  Aloina finished 11-for-19 passing for 197 yards, all of which went to Smith, who had the Mariners' only receiving touchdown.  Surdez, meanwhile, carried 36 times for 143 yards and a score.  Defensively, Jonathan Hardy paced Merchant Marine with eight tackles.

For the Privateers, Stassi was 16-for-28 for 116 yards.  He threw one touchdown and one interception.  Caliendo had six receptions for 42 yards and a score, and Cline carried 17 times for 70 yards and two TDs.  He got into the end zone twice.  Derda, meanwhile, recorded 97 return yards to go along with 27 receiving yards on four catches.

Three Privateers posted double-digit tackles, led by Kevin Wu's (Staten Island, NY) career-high 17.  Dennis Matich (Floral Park, NY) made 12 tackles and Aidan Griffin (Queens, NY) was credited with 11 stops.  Ryan Costales (Brewster, NY) added a fumble recovery for Maritime.

After playing back-to-back home games, the Privateers hit the road for their next contest.  Maritime visits Norwich (0-4, 0-1 NEWMAC) next Saturday at 1 p.m.