MILTON, MA – The Maritime College football team fell behind 35-19 late in the first half of its matchup at Curry on Saturday. The Privateers (2-1) came all the way back, taking the lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from
Jaden Rotella (Mt. Sinai, NY) to
Kenny Jozwicki (Connetquot, NY) with less than two minutes remaining before getting an interception from
Luca Siebert (Warwick, NY) to clinch a 51-48 victory over the Colonels (1-2) at Walter M. Katz Field.
When the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) and Conference of New England (CNE) came together to create the Fusion Bowl in 2024, a part of the agreement was that teams from each league would play a non-conference game against the other every season. Maritime and Curry hosted the first two Fusion Bowls, and the first-ever matchup between the programs lived up to the hype.
After the Colonels took a 7-0 lead on Kareem Chaplin II's 27-yard TD reception midway through the first quarter, the Privateers responded with an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive.
Gianni Spinelli's (Holtsville, NY) five-yard touchdown run capped the march and leveled the game at 7-7. Curry capped a long drive with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, then Jaylen Walker made it 21-7 when he returned an interception 25 yards to paydirt. An
Eddie Crishom (Jamaica, NY) TD run brought Maritime back within 21-13, but Chaplin returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a score that increased the Colonels' advantage to 28-13.
Rotella found
Enrique Hernandez (Northport, NY) for a 54-yard touchdown with 6:36 left in the first half. The two-point attempt was no good, though. Curry then increased its advantage to 16 points when Jordan Depina found the end zone from 13 yards out to make it 35-19 at the 2:35 mark of the second quarter. The Privateers responded with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Rotella's 14-yard scoring strike to Hernandez that closed the margin to 35-26 at halftime.
Maritime also got the ball to start the second half and took advantage of the back-to-back possessions. Spinelli's second touchdown of the game, a one-yard rush, capped a 65-yard march that brought the Privateers within 35-32 midway through the third quarter. The Colonels immediately responded, however, with Depina's two-yard TD run increasing Curry's advantage to 42-32 with 4:34 remaining in the third quarter.
Spinelli's third rushing touchdown of the day brought Maritime back within four, but the Privateers were unable to convert the two-point conversion, keeping it a 42-38 game. After forcing a punt, Maritime took the lead on its next possession, only for the Colonels to immediately counter.
Wyatt Vreeland (Warwick, NY) blocked the extra point after Curry's score, though, maintaining the three-point margin, 48-45.
On the ensuing drive, the Privateers moved 75 yards in 11 plays. The first 10 plays of the drive were all rushes before Rotella hit Jozwicki for a 15-yard touchdown on 3
rd-and-3. Maritime missed the extra point, however, giving the Colonels the ball back with 1:48 on the clock needing just a field goal to tie. After a three-yard run and two incompletions, Curry had to go for it on fourth down, and Siebert intercepted Borges' pass on 4
th-and-7. The Colonels used all three of their timeouts before the Privateers punted and pinned them deep. Curry got to its own 48 before running out of time, as Maritime clinched the come-from-behind 51-48 victory.
As a team, the Privateers collected 540 yards of total offense. Rotella was 18-for-27 passing for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a TD on the ground. Spinelli, meanwhile, carried 36 times for 171 yards and three scores. Hernandez led Maritime with 182 receiving yards on 10 catches, two of which went for touchdowns. Jozwicki's game-winning touchdown catch, meanwhile, was one of his three receptions.
Defensively,
Danny Latimer (Montgomery, NY) paced the Privateers with eight tackles. Vreeland made seven tackles to go along with his blocked kick, while
Simon Wareham (Oceanside, NY) made six stops. Siebert's game-sealing interception was the first of his career.
For the Colonels, Depina ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Colin Ridley was Curry's leading receiver, pulling in five passes for 75 yards and a score. Borges finished 8-for-14 passing for 132 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception and was sacked twice. In addition to making two catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, Chaplin returned seven kickoffs for 147 yards, 80 of which came on a TD.
Gabe Santos made a game-high 12 tackles for the Colonels, 10 of which were solo stops. Michael Monbleau added nine tackles, while Walker had a pass breakup to go along with his pick-six. Overall, Curry was credited with six breakups.
This was the final non-conference game on Maritime's schedule. The Privateers (0-0 NEWMAC) begin NEWMAC play next Saturday, when they return home for a 1 p.m. contest with Salve Regina (3-0, 0-0 NEWMAC).
