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KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Nov. 14, 2020) – All eyes in the Division III Football landscape were on Tomb Field at Brooks Stadium on Saturday, as the U.S. Merchant Marine Mariners hosted arch-rival Coast Guard in the 40th playing for the Secretaries' Cup – the final, and one of just a handful of D3 games on the schedule this fall. The contest was also the only game on the two Academies' schedule this year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and it was the Mariners who came out on top, 24-14, over the Bears on a brisk, but sunny fall day in Kings Point.
For highlights, student-athlete and coach interviews, watch the post-game show via our friends at In The (D3FB) Huddle at this link.
Junior quarterback Ian Blankenship (McRae, Ga.) led USMMA to the win in his first-career start under center. He rushed for a game-high 151 yards on 29 carries, and opened the scoring on a one-yard TD run to cap off the very first drive of the game. Blankenship was also 3-for-11 passing for 68 yards through the air.
After the Bears answered back on their first drive of the contest, the two defenses stepped up and the teams were held scoreless for a majority of the rest of the half. Junior kicker Jack Ruark (Urbanna, Va.) converted on his only field goal attempt of the day, from 25 yards, towards the end of the second quarter and the Mariners went into the halftime break with a 10-7 lead.
Freshman Ceaser Gonzalez (Norco, Calif.) also broke 100 yards rushing on the day, compiling 103 and finding the end zone in the third quarter to improve the Mariner lead at the time to 17-7. The Bears answered with a TD early in the fourth, but Merchant Marine got it right back shortly after when senior Matt Restifo (Hudson, Ohio) had the Mariners' final touchdown of the day on a four-yard run that ended with a highlight-reel leap over a Coast Guard defender.
Defensively, junior Eric Davidson (Savannah, Ga.) led USMMA with 10 tackles, while classmates Joshua King (Haymarket, Va.) and Ethan Brady (Palm Coast, Fla.) both recorded seven stops each. Brady assisted on one for a loss, and also forced a fumble. Sophomore safety Connor Caffrey (Veradale, Wash.) had a big momentum swing for the Mariners with the only turnover of the game, an interception in the third quarter that led to the drive in which Gonzalez scored his TD. Caffrey ended the day with five tackles.
Senior cornerbacks Dylan Brown (Milton, Wis.) and Noah Newburgh (Gilbert, Ariz.) combined for four huge pass break-ups, with Brown swatting away three, and Newburgh with one gut-wrenching one for the Bears in the third quarter, as Coast Guard senior Justin Moffatt seemed to have a catch along the sideline on a fourth-down play that would've extended the drive, but Newburgh came in hard and created enough body contact to force Moffatt to drop the ball without possession.
After Restifo's TD at 4:48, the Mariner defense forced a quick three-and-out, and Merchant Marine got the ball back with 3:56 to play. After three rushes brought up a 4th-and-1, Head Coach Mike Toop '77 and the offensive coaches called for the team's seventh attempt on fourth down on the afternoon, and Restifo moved the chains with a six-yard pickup.
Three plays later Blankenship sealed the victory by picking up another first down and the Mariners' entered victory formation for the final play to close out the game.
For the Bears, senior QB John Barbera was 18-for-34 passing for 181 yards and threw one TD pass to sophomore Jared Colletti. Colletti also ran in a touchdown in the first quarter, and finished with six catches for 88 receiving yards to go along with 24 rushing yards. Defensively, senior Eugene Bizer led all players in the game with 20 tackles, including two for losses. Junior Michael Palermo also added 12 stops.
The Mariners have sent off their senior Class of 2021 with a victory in the final game of their careers, in this, the only game of the season. The biggest one.
View a video recap of the game below.
