MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College football team held off visiting Fitchburg State University, 33-30 in non-conference action at Walter M. Katz Field on Friday night in Milton. The Colonels improve to 1-0 on the year while the Falcons fall to 0-1.
Curry got on the board first, putting together a 10-play, 74 yard drive that culminated in a D'Aundray Burcy (Hyde Park, Mass.) six yard touchdown run. Fitchburg State would answer right back in the first when they embarked on a two play, 32 yard drive that was capped off by a five yard touchdown run from Jevon Brown-Simpson (Lynn, Mass.). The score would remain knotted until the second frame at 7-7.
Fitchburg would grab their first lead of the ball game at the 11:53 mark in the second stanza, thanks to a 28 yard field goal by Geoffrey Richert (Northbridge, Mass.) to make the score 10-7. The field goal finished off a 13-play, 53 yard drive.
But the Colonels would respond, scoring on their next two possessions to build a 10 point lead into the second half. Nick Villanueva (Hanson, Mass.) corralled a touchdown pass from Alex Corvese (Cranston, R.I) which concluded an eight play, 72 yard drive.
Curry started the second half at their own 28 yard line but quickly found themselves on the opposing 32 yard line after a 40 yard run by Sean Amaru (Westwood, Mass.). Amaru, Burcy and Corvese were the ones to facilitate this drive, which would be finished off with an eight yard run by the senior captain Corvese.
The next seven possessions yielded no points for both teams, but the Fitchburg State comeback would commence at the start of the final quarter of action.
The Falcons ended the third quarter with a with a 21 yard pass from Nelson Velerio (Lawrence, Mass.) to Jesse Brown (Yonkers, N.Y.), which put them at the Curry seven yard line to start the final quarter of play.
Just six seconds into the final stanza, Valerio hooked up with Brown once again for a seven yard touchdown pass. Following a successful point after attempt, Fitchburg State trailed by just three at 20-17.
The Colonels had the answer on the ensuing drive to extend the lead to double digits once again. Curry moved the ball down the field via runs by Amaru and completions of 25 and 24 yards to Dylan Viera-Owens (Everett, Mass.) to move within the red zone at the 10 yard line. Following the 25 yard completion to Viera-Owens, Corvese connected with Philip Lebel (Wolcott, Conn.) from 10 yards out to make the score 27-17 with 11:35 left in regulation.
But once again, Fitchburg State wouldn't go away. The Falcons put together a nine-play, 61 yard drive, capped off by a Valerio rush from a yard out to make the score 27-24 Colonels with 7:07 remaining.
Curry began to chip away at the Falcon defense, thanks to a run of 39 yards by Amaru and then the junior would find the end zone from 10 yards to push the Fitchburg deficit to nine.
The Falcons would find the end zone once more after a six play, 65 yard drive that was capped off by Brown-Simpson two-yard touchdown run. The point after try was no good, so the deficit remained at three, 33-30. The Colonels were able to keep possession and kill off the clock for the final 4:54 to capture their first win of the 2017 campaign.
Curry's offense was led by Amaru, who went 14-for-28 for 139 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Amaru led the Colonels backfield with 163 yards and one touchdown on the ground. Viera Owens led all Curry receivers with four receptions for 55 yards. On the defensive side, the Colonels were led by Aidan Cawley (Abington, Mass.), Davante Thomas (Norwalk, Conn.) and Joe Surace (West Islip, N.Y.), who each collected eight tackles apiece.
For the Falcons, Valerio completed 17-of-23 attempts for 266 yards and one touchdown. Brown-Simpson led the charge on the ground, rushing 21 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Brown was the leading receiver, hauling in nine catches for 145 yards and one touchdown. Jovon White led all Fitchburg defenders with seven tackles.
Curry returns to action on Fri. Sept. 8 at 7:00 p.m. when they head to MIT. Fitchburg will next play on Sat. Sept. 9 when they travel to Castleton for a 6:00 p.m. kick off.
