FOOTBALL: Mount Ida outlasts Anna Maria

The Basics:

-Score: Mount Ida College 58, Anna Maria College 41

-Records: Mount Ida 4-5, 3-3 ECFC; Anna Maria 1-8, 1-5 ECFC

- The Lead: The Anna Maria College football team dropped a shootout against the Mustangs of Mount Ida College in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) action, 58-41, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.

How It Happened:

-Senior wide receiver Trai Weaver (Waterbury, Conn.) continued his outstanding season for the AMCATS, catching two more touchdown passes. Weaver has caught at least one TD pass in eight straight games and has hauled in two TD passes in the last three contests. He leads the ECFC in receiving yards (881) and touchdowns (12) and ranks second in receptions (49).

-Anna Maria was the first on the scoreboard early in the first quarter when freshman Christian Montero (Medford, N.Y.) scampered into the endzone from a yard out. The Mustangs evened the score when senior Chris Medeiros (Pelham, N.Y.) returned an interception for his first touchdown of the season.

-The teams traded touchdowns later in the quarter as junior quarterback Emmanuel Leake (Providence, R.I.) scored on a one-yard run for Anna Maria and Mount Ida answered with a TD pass from Michael Pina (Brockton, Mass.) to Travis O'Brien (Portsmouth, R.I.).

-The second quarter would begin with a bang for the Mustangs as DeSean Hart (Mays Landing, N.J.) returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown. Riley Ford's (Guilderland, N.Y.) extra point gave the Mustangs the 21-13 lead. Leake connected with Weaver on a 32-yard TD pass midway through the quarter, and the AMCATS completed a two-point conversion to tie the score at 21-all.

-With just over a minute and half remaining in the half, Hart intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned the ball all the way to the opposing end zone to give Mount Ida a 34-21 lead at the break.

-Mount Ida opened the second-half scoring with a 30-yard field goal by Riley Ford (Guilderland, N.Y.), the first of his career. Weaver caught a TD pass from quarterback Jayson Wallace (Rochester, N.Y.) to cut the margin to 10 points (37-27), but the Mustangs responded with two touchdowns in the next two minutes, a 32-yard reception by Oscar Lopez (Revere, Mass.) from Pina in the final minute of the third quarter and a 60-yard punt return by Michael Whitsett (Springfield, Mass.) in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

-Anna Maria tried to make a fourth-quarter comeback with a pair of scores, a 28-yard touchdown reception from Wallace to Marquis Roderique (Dorchester, Mass.) and a rushing TD by Wallace, but the Mustangs would put the finishing touches on the game with a 51-yard touchdown reception by Hewitt, giving the Mustangs the 58-41 victory. 

Inside the Numbers

-The teams combined for just under 1,000 yards of total offense (490 for Anna Maria, 473 for Mount Ida) and 46 first-downs (24 for Anna Maria, 22 for Mount Ida).

-Pina finished the afternoon 19-29 for 305 yards and three touchdowns, adding 55 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Hart led the Mustangs defensively with ten tackles, adding a fumble and interception, both of which were returned for touchdowns. Josh David (Sandown, N.H.) chipped in with nine tackles, two of which went for big losses. 

-Leake was 12-of-20 for 211 yards and one TD for Anna Maria, while Wallace finished 10-of-23 for 144 yards and two TDs. Roderique caught a career-high 11 passes for 179 yards and one score.

- Freshman Aiden Foster (Wappinger Falls, N.Y.) led the AMCATS with nine tackles (five solo) and classmate Dan Mastromatteo (Peabody, Mass.) added eight stops (six solo).

Up Next:

Mount Ida improves to 4-5 (3-3ECFC ) on the season, while the AMCATs fall to 1-8 (1-5ECFC ). The Mustangs will hit the road for their final game of the season when they travel to Husson next Saturday for a 12:00pm kickoff. Anna Maria will play host to Dean on Saturday on Senior Day at AMCAT Field with a noon start time. 

* * *