KINGS POINT, N.Y. | Sophomore defensive back Thomas Joyce (Taunton, Mass.) capped off the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy football team's late-game goal-line stand with a fourth-down stop on the one-yard line with 62 seconds remaining on Saturday afternoon, as the homestanding Mariners moved their record to 4-0 for the first time since 1997 with a 31-28 triumph in their NEWMAC opener against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (1-4).

The game featured four second-half lead changes, with USMMA taking the lead for good with 8:54 remaining on a four-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Alec Kiernan (Centereach, N.Y.).

From there, the visiting Engineers took the ball on a touchback following the ensuing kickoff, and proceeded to rip off 16 plays over the next 7:52 of game time. The final three plays of the drive were from within two yards of the Mariners' end zone, including tackles by seniors Joshua King (Haymarket, Va.) and Tyler Sloman (Poulsbo, Wash.) inches shy of the goal line on third-and-goal with 68 seconds remaining. Following a USMMA time out, WPI's Christian Luizzi ran off right guard on the ensuing fourth-down play, where Joyce and a host of Mariners stacked up their defense shy of paydirt to complete the goal-line stand.

The teams traded one touchdown apiece in each of the first two quarters, sending both sides into the locker room at halftime knotted at 14-all. WPI opened the scoring 2:45 in on a two-yard jaunt by Hunter Carey, before Merchant Marine countered with 4:55 left in the frame on a three-yard rush by senior Matt Strong (Pacific, Mo.) -- his first of two scores on the afternoon.

WPI countered 2:54 into the second stanza when quarterback Brendan Olexa found Ethan Farrah on a 12-yard passing play, before Mariners senior quarterback Ian Blankenship (McRae, Ga.) capped a nine-play, 89-yard drive with a one-yard run to level the score at the break.

Once the third quarter started, the teams changed hands a total of four times. The hosts opened the period with a 27-yard field goal from freshman Jackson Tinkis (Bossier City, La.) 3:54 in, before Olexa found Joe Coutcher 53 seconds later on a 56-yard pass to send the Engineers in front by a 21-17 count. After the teams traded possessions, Strong ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run down the left side following a WPI punt to send the hosts back in front with 6:01 on the clock. The Engineers countered with a one-yard scoring run by Brandon Winn on their next drive with 16 seconds to go in the third, setting the stage for USMMA's eventual game-winning touchdown on its next drive by Kiernan.

Blankenship (21 car.) and Strong (7 car.) ran for 198 and 143 yards, respectively, as Merchant Marine grinded out 488 yards on the ground en route to a 536-446 edge in total offense on the afternoon. Sloman had 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks to go with one quarterback hurry for the home defense, while senior linebacker Eric Davidson (Savannah, Ga.) led the Mariners with 14 tackles on the day.

Olexa was 16-for-22 passing for 345 yards and two touchdowns for WPI, with 176 of those yards coming on seven receptions by Isaac Frederique. Ethan Catania (15 tackles, forced fumble) and Nica Hesel (sack, forced fumble, two QB hurries) led the Engineers on defense.

Head coach Mike Toop '77 will now lead his Merchant Marine side on the road next Saturday (Oct. 9), when it travels to Northfield, Vt., for a 1 p.m. kickoff at NEWMAC foe Norwich University. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on the USMMA Football Schedule Page.
 
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