Endicott falls to Western New England in matchup of Boyd Division unbeatens
October 29, 2011
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott football suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday, a 40-37 defeat at the hands of NEFC Boyd Division rival Western New England, a game that decided the Boyd Division’s front runner for the conference championship.
The Gulls (8-1, 5-1 NEFC Boyd) saw quarterback Phil Konopka (Shelton, Conn.) throw for a program record 407 yards with three touchdowns. Konopka’s two interceptions, however, came inside the red zone. The senior connected with senior Mike Fimiani (Melrose, Mass.) on 12 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Carino (Stratford, Conn.) caught two touchdown passes and Mike Murphy (Chelmsford, Mass.) added 131 yards receiving.
On the ground, Mike Lane (Medfield, Mass.) rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown while making five catches out of the backfield for 17 yards.
Endicott’s defense was tested all game but defensive end Kevin Eagan (West Hartford, Conn.) led with 15 tackles, 11 of which were solo. Five tackles went for a loss including one sack. Oscar Moore (Cambridge, Mass.) added eight tackles while Andrew Lawson (Framingham, Mass.), PJ Bandini (Waltham, Mass.) and Peter Kallas (Beverly, Mass.) adding six tackles each. Bandini also recorded a sack.
The Gulls move on to face MIT next Saturday at 1:00 pm in Cambridge.
Western New England (8-1, 6-0 NEFC Boyd) saw quarterback Bryce Brown (Guilford, Conn.) throw for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Brown also ran for 45 yards and running backs Kevin Cook (Hamburg, N.J.) and JJ Jachym (Milford, Conn.) combined for 100 yards on the ground with one touchdown each.
On Western New England’s opening drive, the Gulls forced a three and out which brought on the Golden Bears punt team. On the 4th and 6 punt from their own 31-yard line, the long snap sailed over the head of punter John Krafick (New Milford, Conn.), was recovered by the Golden Bears but Endicott made a tackle in the end zone for the safety, putting the Gulls 2-0.
On the next Golden Bears drive, Krafick punted again to Gulls returner Cameron Lett (Waltham, Mass.) but the ball was fumbled and recovered by Western New England at the Endicott 39-yard line. Three plays later, Western New England quarterback Bryce Brown connected with sophomore tight end Dan LaNoir (Queensbury, N.Y.) on a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 6-2 Golden Bears after a failed extra-point attempt.
Endicott looked to get their first touchdown of the game in a first quarter drive that put the Gulls down on the Western New England four-yard line. A holding penalty on Endicott set the visitors back 10 yards and one 2nd and goal from the 14, senior quarterback Phil Konopka was picked off in the end zone by Alex Miller (Seekonk, Mass.) for a touchback.
With the ball now on their own 20-yard line, Western New England would move the ball across midfield. Brown passed to freshman Kevin Cook out the backfield but Cook fumbled and Gulls defensive end Kevin Eagan recovered on the Endicott 47-yard line. Endicott’s ensuing drive, however, would end on a missed 27-yard field goal attempt by Dylan Rushe (Palos Verdes, Calif.).
Endicott got the ball back after a Krafic punt went out-of-bounds at the Golden Bears 41-yard line. On the Gulls first play of the drive starting at the 11:03 mark of the second quarter, Konopka went deep to junior wide out Mike Murphy (Chelmsford, Mass.) for 40 yards down to the one. Konopka finished off the drive with a quarterback sneak to score Endicott’s first touchdown of the day. The extra-point made it 9-6 in favor of the Gulls.
Later in the second quarter, Western New England went on top 12-9 on a nine-yard JJ Jachym touchdown run with 2:42 remaining in the half. Endicott responded with a 49 second drive that resulted in a nine-yard touchdown pass by Konopka to senior Mike Fimiani to make it 16-12 Gulls after the Rushe extra-point.
On the kickoff following the Gulls touchdown, Western New England struck back with an 85-yard return with to the end zone by Mike Graham (Norwalk, Conn.) with 34 seconds left in the half to give the Golden Bears a 19-16 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Endicott looked to regain the lead as they drive down the field to the Western New England 15-yard line after a pass interference call on the Golden Bears. On the next play, Konopka’s pass was intercepted the line of scrimmage by Brandon Ormsby (Windsor, Conn.) and returned 55 yards to the Endicott 30 before being brought down by Carino. The Golden Bears scored two plays later on a 30-yard run by Cook to go up 26-16.
With four seconds remaining in the third quarter, the Gulls cut the Western New England lead down to 26-23 on a Mike Lane (Medfield, Mass.) seven-yard run. With the lead down to three points, the Golden Bears responded on the ensuing kickoff for the second time in the game as Graham ran the ball back 83 yards for another special teams touchdown. Western New England went up 33-23 going into the fourth quarter.
Endicott’s next drive resulted in a punt, but on the return by Western New England junior Phil Tsopanides (Fairfield, Conn.), Gulls senior DJ Kirsch (Madison, Conn.) forced a fumble and Izzy Abraham (Canton, Mass.) recovered to give Endicott back the ball.
Konopka, from the Golden Bears 46, then connected on passing pass of 12, 14 and 20 yards to Murphy, Jimmy Nguyen (Methuen, Mass.), and Carino to reach the end zone. Konopka’s 20-yard completion to Carino was good for a touchdown to make it 33-29.
Later in the fourth quarter, the Endicott defense once again forced a punt by Western New England but on Lett’s return, Golden Bears freshman Adam Dunn (Holyoke, Mass.) forced a fumble and Joe Cicarella (Guilford, Conn.) recovered for Western New England. Western New England went on to score on a 39-yard touchdown catch by Andrew Walz (Groton, Conn.) from Brown to make it 40-29.
Endicott marched down the field starting at the 11:33 mark of the fourth quarter and conducted an 18-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by 19-yard touchdown catch by Carino. Taylor Allen (Westboro, Mass.) caught the two-point conversion to make it 40-37 in favor of the Golden Bears.
The Gulls got the ball back after a Golden Bears fumble that was recovered by Eagan at the Endicott 41-yard line. Endicott’s final offensive drive came down to a 4th and 6 play from the Western New England 36 yard line. Konopka threw to Fimiani but the senior came up short as the Gulls turned the ball over on downs with 4:41 left in the game.
Western New England started their drive from their own 34-yard line and held the ball for the rest of the game.