HENNIKER, N.H. - The New England College football team secured their first win of the season on Saturday against Maine Maritime Academy, 14-10, with the victory marking the program's first win after a 51-year hiatus. The win was the Pilgrims' first home win in Henniker in program history and the first league win in Conference of New England (CNE) action.
Maine Maritime won the toss and elected to receive the opening kick, and the Mariners marched down the field inside the Pilgrims' own 5-yard line. But the NEC defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs as sophomore Anthony French (Salem, N.H.) broke up the fourth down pass.
Starting their first drive of the game at their own 7-yard line, the Pilgrims put together a 10-play, 93-yard drive to go up, 7-0. Junior Icean Taylor (Manchester, N.H.), who lined up behind center, ran for 74 yards on the drive and capped it off with a 31-yard rushing touchdown.
The Mariners responded with another lengthy drive that worked its way deep into NEC territory and resulted in a 20-yard field goal to pull the visitors closer, 7-3. The ensuing kickoff was returned 50 yards by freshman Spencer Brien (Plaistow, N.H.) to the Maine Maritime 30-yard line, but the Pilgrims were unable to turn it into points with a turnover-on-downs at the MMA 2-yard line.
On their first play of the next drive, Auston Harris ran for a 98-yard score to put the Mariners up, 10-7. Both teams would turn the ball over on downs before halftime as Maine Maritime took a three-point lead into the break.
Midway through the third quarter, NEC appeared to have scored the go-ahead touchdown on another Taylor rush, but it was nullified by a penalty, and the Pilgrims turned it over on downs just a few plays later.
With 10:12 left in the game, the Pilgrims received a punt and started their drive on their own 34-yard line with sophomore Lukas Köttstorfer (Bruckmühl, Germany) under center. He went 5-7 passing on the drive for 29 yards to lead them down inside the 10-yard line. From there, junior Aidan McDonald (Salem, N.H.) did the rest with an 8-yard go-ahead touchdown to put the 'Grims up, 14-10 with 3:15 left on the clock.
The Mariners, in search of regaining the lead, completed a screen pass on their first play of the drive, but it was blown up by sophomore Erik Menger (Stratham, N.H.) for a 9-yard loss. Three plays later, on 4th and 6, the Pilgrims would force an incompletion to force another MMA turnover on downs.
Taking over with 1:53 left in the fourth, the Pilgrims were searching for one first down to end the game. And on 3rd and 6, McDonald burst through the line for a game-clinching 15-yard run.
The Pilgrims excelled on the ground as Taylor totaled 123 rushing yards on 20 carries, and McDonald added 79 more yards on 17 rush attempts. The team's 243 rushing yards are a season high. Through the air, Taylor and Köttstorfer combined for 88 yards on 11 of 13 passing, while sophomore Austin Normandin (Gilford, N.H.) led the team with 42 receiving yards on two catches.
The NEC defense held the Mariners to just 10 points, the fewest points that NEC has given up in over 70 years. Sophomore Ethan Cenesca (Manchester, N.H.) led the efforts with 10 tackles and three tackles for loss. Fellow sophomore Dylan Roy (Windham, N.H.) accrued eight tackles while Menger added six stops and one sack.
The historic win comes in NEC's first official year back after a 51-year hiatus and is the first recorded win since 1950 when the Pilgrims defeated Leicester Academy who, in 1977, became Becker College. Now, after recording their first CNE win, the Pilgrims continue conference play next Saturday with a road game at Western New England at 1:00 PM.
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