Endicott stifles MIT in 27-15 victory

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College held MIT to just 107 yards of total offense as the Gulls took down the Engineers, 27-15, in a New England Football Conference Boyd Division game on Saturday evening in Beverly, Mass. The Gulls, who celebrated their annual Senior Night tradition on Saturday, close out the season at 5-5 overall (3-4 Boyd), while MIT ends its campaign at 1-8 (1-6 Boyd).

MIT’s DeRon Brown (Galax, Va.), who entered the game as nation’s leading rusher with 1,360 yards, was knocked out of the game in the Engineers’ fourth series and never returned. He finished the night with nine carries for just three yards.

After a scoreless first quarter Endicott got on the board early on in the second as senior \#Tyler Felix\# (Foxboro, Mass.) took a one-yard plunge on the goal line to put the Gulls ahead, 6-0. \#Carlos O’Donnell\#’s (Salem, Mass.) PAT was good to give the Blue and Green a 7-0 lead.

The Endicott defense struck just 2:07 later as senior defensive lineman \#Tom Sieminski\# (Plymouth, Mass.) stripped MIT quarterback Kyle Johnson (Fairview, N.C.) five-yards deep into the Engineers’ backfield. Sophomore end \#Kevin Eagan\# (West Hartford, Conn.) scooped-up the loose football and rumbled 44 yards to the end zone to give the Gulls a 14-0 advantage heading into halftime.

Endicott opened the second half with an 11 play, 77 yard drive captained by senior quarterback \#Dan Leary\# (Stratham, N.H.). Leary called his own number on back-to-back plays, the first an 11-yard rush to set-up first and goal and the second an eight yard touchdown keeper. O’Donnell’s PAT was blocked by MIT’s Aaron Fittery (Orange, Calif.) to make it 20-0 Gulls.

The score would remain that way until Leary once again led the Gulls to another scoring drive. The senior connected with classmate \#Tim Viall\# (Sandwich, Mass.) on a six-yard TD strike, capping off just a two play drive after the Gulls’ defense forced a turnover, putting the Blue and Green ahead 27-0.

On the ensuing kick-off MIT finally got on the board as Brian Doyle (Hopkinton, Mass.) was the beneficiary of a fake-reverse, allowing the junior an open lane in which he streaked 85 yards to paydirt. Corey Garvey (Garden City, N.Y.) tacked on the extra point to make it 27-7.

The Engineers rounded out the scoring with a nine play, 55 yard drive late in the fourth quarter. Kyle Johnson found Cameron Brown (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) with a short check down completion; however Brown turned it into a big play by slipping down the sideline for a 14-yard Engineer touchdown. A botched snap on the PAT was improvised by Doyle who tossed to a wide-open Stephen Yablonski (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) for a successful two-point conversion.

Endicott was led offensively by sophomore running back \#Mike Lane\# (Medfield, Mass.) and his 133 yards rushing on 22 carries. \#Dan Leary\# went 6-of-9 for 33 yards with a touchdown pass. Leary also added 31 yards rushing with a score on the ground for the Gulls. \#Tim Viall\# had four catches for 34 yards with a TD while \#Colby Hawkins\# (Scituate, Mass.) came just four rushing yards shy of 100.

MIT’s Stephen Yablonski, who shouldered the load after DeRon Brown went down, finished the night with 15 carries for 66 yards.

Endicott’s defense was paced by \#Nick Scozzaro\#’s (Wellington, Fla.) eight total tackles - three for a loss – to go along with a forced fumble. \#Jeff Scola\# (Holden, Mass.) also had eight tackles while \#Kevin Eagan\# finished with six tackles, an assisted sack and a defensive touchdown. \#Mike Dillon\# (Cheshire, Conn.) had 2.5 sacks for a loss of 19 yards in the win.

MIT’s Kristopher Weaver (Sheldon, Iowa) and Peter Gilliland (Grand Ledge, Mich.) each had 16 tackles apiece for the Engineers. Marcel Sanchez (Oneonta, N.Y.) finished with nine tackles in the loss.

Endicott closes out its season at 5-5 overall, an improvement from last season’s 3-7 mark. MIT, who finished at 5-5 a year ago, ends its 2009 campaign at 1-8.