Gulls Take Flight Versus WNEC

Sept. 25, 2004

The Gulls exploded for 44 points today defeating the visiting Golden Bears of Western New England College, 44-21, in front of a crowd of 1112. This was the first game of the season for both teams in the Boyd Division of the New England Football Conference (NEFC). With the win the Gulls are now 2-2 overall and undefeated in the NEFC.

Endicott dominated both offensively and defensively in the first quarter, shutting out WNEC in scoring and allowing only 1 first down. The Gulls offense tallied 20 points, while being forced to punt only once.

The Gulls got the offense up and running right away as sophomore Jeff Trinque (Clinton, MA/Clinton) took a handoff from freshman quarterback Alex Smith (Winthrop, MA/Winthrop) for 13 yards for the first Endicott touchdown at 11:47. Then at 7:21 sophomore running back Gerard Festa (Revere, MA/ St. Mary's) received a pass from Smith for 25 yards, and found a whole in the defense to make it 13-0. Highlighting the first quarter was Orlando Johnson's (Newport, RI/ Rogers) 76 yard punt return for a touchdown at 3:57.

The momentum continued into the second quarter. Endicott's reverse handoff to Matt Thompson (Clinton, MA/ Clinton) at 10:17 resulted in a 10 yard touchdown to put Endicott up 26-0. Western New England got on the board at 6:44 when Jon Tallerico's (Port Chester, NY) pass to Kevin Miculcy (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) was complete in the end zone for the Golden Bears first touchdown.

The Gulls had a good scoring opportunity in the final minute of the first half but the WNEC defense held off EC. Sophomore kicker Adam Maher's (Athol, MA/ Athol) 37 yard field goal attempt sailed just wide of the goal post. Maher finished the first half 3 for 4 on extra point attempts. The Gulls finished the first half up 27-7

WNEC came out stronger in the second half and the score remained 27-7 until junior tight end Kevin Samaha (Concord, NH/ Concord) took a 60 yard pass from Smith at 6:26 to increase the lead to 33-7. Western New England answered Samaha's touchdown at 4:02 when Tallerico found Bobby Carney (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) in the end zone to narrow the lead to 34-13. Less than two minutes later Smith would again connect with Thompson for a 58 yard pass to give Endicott another touchdown and end the 3rd quarter up 41-14.

With an already comfortable lead in the 4th quarter, Maher nailed a 27 yard field goal for the Gulls final points of the game. Maher finished the day with a total of 8 points. The last of the WNEC offense came at 4:48 when Tallerico's 27 yard pass to Mark Kyer (Stratford, CT/ Stratford) was complete in the end zone.

The Endicott defense had a total of six sacks in the game led by junior Gary Palmieri (Peabody, MA/Peabody) with 2. Sophomore Jay Munroe (Beverly, MA/Beverly) tallied 6 tackles.

The Golden Bears (1-2) will face Salve Regina University next Saturday at 6PM in Newport, RI. The Gulls (2-2, 2-0 NEFC) will face UMass Dartmouth at home next Saturday at 2:30 PM.