DUDLEY, Mass. – Visiting Curry notched its second-straight win, cruising past Nichols College 33-13 in New England Football Conference (NEFC) action Saturday afternoon at Vendetti Field. Colonels' Head Coach Skip Bandini moved into a first-place tie with Steve Nelson on the school's all-time wins list with 64.
Curry sophomore Mike O'Hearn (Billerica, Mass.) finished his afternoon 12-of-19 for 92 yards and two touchdowns in relief of freshman starter Spencer Tyler (Yarmouth Port, Mass.), who threw for 124 yards and one score. On the ground, senior Trae Weathers (Revere, Mass.) tallied 81 yards and one score.
Freshman Brett McEvoy (Wrentham, Mass.) recorded a team-high 10 tackles and recovered a pair of fumbles for the Bison (1-8, 0-6 NEFC). Freshmen Brian Camacho (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Samuel Salcido (Chino Hills, Calif.) each picked off a pass as the defense forced four turnovers.
Offensively, junior Andre Rickerson (Boston, Mass.) rushed for a team-high 49 yards on 10 carries (4.9 ypc) while freshman signal-caller Michael McCourt (New Fairfield, Conn.) completed 8-of-11 pass attempts for 71 yards and a pair of scores – one to freshman Mike Abbruzzese (Natick, Mass.) and another to classmate Kyle Whitney (Cranston, R.I.).
Weathers gave the Colonels (2-7, 2-4 NEFC) a 12-0 lead with a five-yard TD run at 10:57 of the first quarter. Eight minutes later, Tyler found sophomore Jake Cawlina (Danvers, Mass.) for a 27-yard scoring pass to double the visitors lead (both Curry PAT attempts failed).
Nichols forced four-straight turnovers in the second quarter, but only turned them into seven points. Salsido and Camacho intercepted consecutive attempts by Tyler before the fumbles recoveries from McEvoy – one of which was caused by freshman Patrick Isaacson (Canyon Country, Calif.). The Bison finally punched it in from four-yards out when McCourt scrambled and found Abbruzzese in the end zone with 3:01 to go in the half.
The Colonels took control of the game in the third, scoring a pair of touchdowns on long drives to move in front 26-7. Freshman Rocco Laugelle (Cohasset, Mass.) capped a seven-play, 62-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown reception before classmate Lucas Poteau (Middleboro, Mass.) hauled in a 17-yard TD pass to close a 10-play, 71-yard drive.
Junior Michael Morrison (Quincy, Mass.) returned an interception 35 yards for a score to push the Curry lead to 33-7 with 13:45 to go in the fourth. Nichols closed the game with an 11-play, 80-yard drive that Abbruzzese polished off with a four-yard touchdown reception.
Sophomore Grant Klimek (Toms River, N.J.) led the Bison with 55 yards on four receptions while Weathers racked up 49 yards on four receptions. Senior Parrish Rogers-Reed (Westfield, Mass.) led all student-athletes with 11 tackles (five solo) while senior Jose Rodriguez (Taunton, Mass.) notched 10 (four solo).
Nichols closes its season next Saturday at Western New England at 1 p.m. Curry hosts Maine Maritime next Saturday at 1 p.m. on Senior Day. (Recap courtesy of Nichols Sports Information)