MILTON, Mass. - The Curry College football team held off the Coast Guard Academy for its first win of the season by a final score of 21-18 Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at Walter M. Katz Field.
With the victory, Curry improves to 1-1 on the season, while Coast Guard suffers its first loss and drops to 1-1.
Coast Guard got on the board first midway through the first quarter when they capped an eight-play drive with a Finnegan Hall (Martinsburg, W.Va.) field goal. The score accounted for the only three points of the opening 15 minutes.
Curry broke through to take the lead 4:47 into the second quarter, as freshman Edison Thompson (El Dorado, Ark.) punched one in from a yard out for a touchdown, capping a lengthy 17-play, 85-yard drive to put the hosts up 7-3.
Just under three and a half minutes later, the Bears hopped back in front on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Tafari Wall (Richmond, Va.) to Damaso Jaime (Lake Como, N.J.), pushing the score to 10-7 Bears. The 10-7 lead would hold until the teams went to their respective locker rooms for halftime.
Curry jumped into the lead for good with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter. On the ninth play of a drive that started at the Coast Guard 44-yard line, Colonel quarterback Justin Mullaney (Danvers, Mass.) found Gabe DeSouza (Everett, Mass.) in the corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. After a Billy Lynch (Mansfield, Mass.) extra point, the Colonels grabbed a 14-10 lead heading to the fourth.
The Bears mounted a handful of drives in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get the break-through score to take the lead. With 9:16 remaining and Coast Guard backed up deep in its own territory, freshman Cameron Cruz (Bristol, Conn.) jumped in front of a pass from Wall and scampered 20 yards back into the end zone for a pick-six, putting Curry up 21-10.
Coast Guard refused to go down quietly however, as they got within three on a Jared Colletti (Kintersville, Pa.) touchdown and Jaime two-point conversion with 1:30 to play. The Bears forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with 59 seconds to play, but a Wall deep ball was picked off by Kevin Peete (Boston, Mass.) to seal the victory for the Colonels.
Mullaney had a strong game at quarterback for the Colonels, completing 25 of 39 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. His favorite target of the afternoon was junior Maxx Bell (Auburn, Maine), who caught 11 passes for 103 yards in the victory.
On the ground, Curry was paced by freshman Nathan Simmonds (Cambria Heights, N.Y.), who carried the ball 12 times for 52 yards. Cruz was the star of the day defensively, leading Curry with nine tackles (seven solo) and two interceptions, including the pick-six. Junior Tahg Coakley (Danvers, Mass.) had an interception of his own, and freshman Rocco MacNeil (Northbridge, Mass.) had three pass breakups, all on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter.
Curry will return to action next weekend to host Hartwick for a 4 p.m. kickoff from Katz Field.
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