Ferreira's Historic Performance, Seven Team Rushing Touchdowns Carry Football Past Nichols, 56-3

DUDLEY, Mass. — The Endicott football team used its high-powered run game and lockdown defense to pick up a 56-3 road win against Conference of New England (CNE) foe Nichols this afternoon at Vendetti Field.

The Blue and Green put up two touchdowns in the first, three in the second, and three in the third to knock off the Bison by a 56-3 score.

Bryan Ferreira (Woburn, Mass.) exploded for his second consecutive 200+ yard performance from the field. On 13 rush attempts, the star freshman broke loose for 247 yards and four touchdowns. He also caught an 18-yard pass from Shea Lynch (Peabody, Mass.) to total 265 total yards of offense on the day.

Markys Bridgewater (Lawrence, Mass.) joined Ferreira with another big day from the Endicott backfield. He rushed for 44 ground yards and punched in two rushing touchdowns, and also ran back a 90-yard kick return for six on the first play of the second half.

Michael O'Brien (Guilford, Conn.) ran for 63 yards on his five attempts (1 TD), while Grant Crosby (Portland, Maine), Garron Brown (Merrimack, N.H.), and Sam Hubbard (Natick, Mass.) each logged multiple rush attempts and combined for a total of 32 ground yards.

In the passing game, Lynch went 12-for-18 (143 yards, 66.7%) on the afternoon. Jayson Little (Natick, Mass.) led all receivers with 54 yards on three receptions, while Mike Greene (Wolcott, Conn.) and Joe Carrara (Bourne, Mass.) also hauled down three receptions each (33 yards and 27 yards, respectively).

On the defensive side of the ball, Jack Ventura (Farmingdale, N.Y.) led the Gulls with a career-high six tackles. Danny Fleming (Tewksbury, Mass.), Joe Tirrell (Franklin, Mass.), Nick Ferguson (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Chase Duncan (Queens, N.Y.) all made five tackles on the day, while Caleb Luz (Hudson, Mass.) made a sack and forced a first-half fumble. Riley Boles (Londonderry, N.H.) and Owen Barrett (Topsfield, Mass.) each combined for a sack in the books.

Late in the second quarter, Mason Bachry (Haverhill, Mass.) picked off his second career interception (first this season) and ran out a 40-yard return for the Gulls. He and the rest of the Endicott secondary limited Nichols receivers to 152 passing yards (13-27), while the front line held the run game to just 59 yards.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls improve to 20-2 all-time against the Bison.
• Ferreira's 247 rush yards set a new program single-game record.
• His four rushing touchdowns tied a program record (Mike Lane '12, 10/15/11).
• He also set a program single-game best with his 19.0 rush yards per carry (minimum 10 attempts).
• The freshman grinded out his third consecutive 100+ rush yard effort. 
• His 265 all-purpose yards were third-most in program history; set a single-game record for freshmen (he surpassed his own mark from last week's 259 all-purpose yard performance).
• Bridgewater's 90-yard kick return was the fourth-longest kick return in program history.
• Boles recorded his first career half sack.
• Nichols' offense entered today's matchup averaging 35.7 points per game, good for 46th best across Division III.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (6-1, 4-0 CNE) welcomes Maine Maritime to Hempstead Stadium on Saturday, November 1 for a 12 PM CNE contest. Nichols (2-5, 2-2 CNE) heads to UNE next Saturday for a 1 PM CNE matchup. 

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(Photo Credit - Tammy McManaway)