Football Can’t Hold On, Lose in Back-and-Forth Affair

PAXTON, MA: The Anna Maria College football team welcomed Alfred State College on Saturday afternoon in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) action at Caparso Field.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Saturday, October 1, 2022
• Score: Alfred State 30, Anna Maria 25
• Records: Alfred State Pioneers 3-2 (1-0 ECFC) | Anna Maria AMCATS 2-2 (0-1 ECFC)

HIGHLIGHTS

• In a game that featured big plays from both teams, the Pioneers were the last ones standing. Clinching victory with an interception in the end zone by Rylie Van Fleet.
• The AMCATS opened the scoring with an eight-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Alex Cohen (Plymouth, MA) to junior wideout Deandre Wallace (Waterbury, CT) to cap a nine-play 63-yard drive.
• A Pioneer field goal with six seconds left in the first quarter and a two-yard touchdown run by Josh Graham with 38 seconds left in the half sent the teams into the locker room with the score 10-6.
• As the third period ended the offenses for both teams began to heat up. The AMCATS returned to the lead with 1:25 left in the third as Wallace again capped a long drive with a touchdown catch from Cohen. This time it was a 16-yard catch to finish a 71-yard drive.
• The Pioneers came back with a seven-play 75-yard drive that was finished with another two-yard TD run, this one by Jake Palmer.
• Not one to let such a situation stand, senior wide receiver Justin McMillian (Middletown, CT) responded with a 99-yard kickoff return to make the score 19-17 with 13:27 to play.
• The AMCATS defense then stood strong and sent the Pioneers off with only a five-play drive. The final play of which saw the center throw the ball of the Pioneers' wildcat QB for a 17-yard loss and set the AMCATS up with a short field at the Pioneers' 27-yard line.
• The AMCATS made the most of the short field, needing four plays to set up a Kahlil Bowens (Randolph, MA) three-yard touchdown run.
• The Pioneers made the most of a 54-yard kickoff return by Rafael Class to set themselves up with a short field and ended up only needing three plays to go 28-yards, finishing the drive with another touchdown by Palmer, this one one-yard and cutting the AMCAT lead to two points. The AMCATS defense held up to the Pioneer's two-point try as QB Justin Horvath's throw to Ben Ba fell harmlessly out of reach.
• After an AMCATS drive fizzled at their opponent's 48, the Pioneers used a three-play 76-yard drive to set up the final score of 30-25. The big play was a 73-yard touchdown pass from Horvath to Roman Napoleon.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Passing Yards: ASC 195, AMC 277
• Rushing Yards: ASC 123, AMC 90
• Time of Possession: ASC 28:32, AMC 31:28

UP NEXT:

Anna Maria will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to Throggs Neck, NY a match-up with an Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) foe, the SUNY Maritime Privateers, at Reinhart Field. The teams will take the field for a 1 PM kickoff.

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