Box Score
Senior Day Photo Gallery
WATCH: Senior Day Ceremony
WATCH: Postgame Interviews (McGovern, Brady & Coach Toop) - our apologies for the pixilation
 
KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 23, 2021) – The USMMA football team has matched its best start in program history, as the Mariners picked up a huge 44-34 home victory over Catholic in a battle of conference undefeateds on Saturday afternoon at Tomb Field. Merchant Marine improves to 7-0 (4-0 NEWMAC) with the win, while the Cardinals drop to 5-3 (3-1 NEWMAC) in defeat.
 
Prior to opening kickoff, the Mariners paid tribute to their 18 graduating seniors with a very special Senior Day Ceremony at midfield. To watch the entire ceremony, click here. A photo gallery from the ceremony can be viewed at this link.
 
On the field, the Mariners got great contributions from seniors Ian Blankenship (McRae, Ga.) and Brian McGovern (Cranford, N.J.) as well as freshman receiver Talsen Smith (Roseville, Calif.) on offense. Blankenship ran for a game-high 121 yards and two touchdowns, and he also completed 6-of-9 passes for 99 yards with two TDs in the air. McGovern picked up 115 yards on the ground with one score and a two-point conversion, while Smith hauled in two catches for 99 yards, both going for TDs.
 
After Catholic scored a touchdown on each of their first three possessions of the game to go up 20-12 at 5:11 of the second quarter, it was a blocked PAT after their third score by USMMA junior Owen Voll (Cotopaxi, Colo.) that appeared to spark some momentum for the Mariners.
 
USMMA responded with a TD on their next drive, with McGovern running in the two-point conversion to tie it up at 20-20 at 3:12, and then junior Connor Caffrey (Spokane Valley, Wash.) picked off the Cardinals' first play from scrimmage on their ensuing drive with just 3:05 to play. The Mariners marched six plays and 45 yards down the field to score a touchdown on a 10-yard rush by junior Matthew Savard (Orlando, Fla.). Freshman Jackson Tinkis' (Bossier City, La.) PAT put the Mariners up 27-20, which it remained into the halftime break.
 
Both teams scored on their first possessions of the second half, Catholic on a 52-yard pass from sophomore QB Madden Lowe to junior Owen Shields, and the Mariners on a four-yard run by Blankenship that put Merchant Marine ahead, 34-27.
 
Then both teams went three-and-out, however the snap on USMMA's punt was over senior Jack Ruark's (Urbanna, Va.) head, and the Cardinals wound up taking over at the Mariners' 12-yard line.
 
Arguably the turning point of the game came on Catholic's ensuing drive, as Lowe made a dart for the end zone when the middle opened up, but on his dive attempt to score, the Mariner defense forced the ball out at the one-yard line and Merchant Marine jumped on the fumble into the end zone and took over possession on a touchback. Caffrey had the stop that caused the fumble and Voll recovered it.
 
The Mariners took over at 8:54 of the third and went on a 14-play, 52-yard drive in nearly eight minutes that resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Tinkis that made it 37-27.
 
In the fourth quarter, USMMA had an early interception by senior Ethan Brady (Palm Coast, Fla.), and then kept the ball on the ground, running the clock down to just five minutes before finding the end zone on a five-yard run by McGovern. Tinkis' PAT made it 44-27 with exactly five minutes to play.
 
The Cardinals responded with an eight-play 69-yard drive that took just 2:10 off the clock resulting in a TD that made it 44-34. The Mariners then ran out the rest of the time on the clock on their ensuing drive.
 
The USMMA defense was led by junior Xavier Coleman (San Ramon, Calif.), who made 11 tackles and broke up one pass. Four other Mariners had five tackles each – senior Joshua King (Haymarket, Va.), Caffrey, junior Clayton Williams (Poulsbo, Wash.) and Voll. Merchant Marine had two sacks on the day, the first by junior Kyle Goolsby (Sugar Land, Texas) in the first quarter and the second by senior Eric Davidson (Savannah, Ga.) in the fourth.
 
To watch postgame interviews with seniors McGovern and Brady as well as head coach Mike Toop '77, click here. (Our apologies for the pixilation on the videos.)
 
For Catholic, Lowe finished the game completing 35-of-46 passes for 384 yards and five touchdowns. Shields had seven receptions for 127 yards and one TD, while senior Mark Cheffers also had seven catches for 77 yards and one score
 
Up next will be another battle of undefeated teams in NEWMAC action, as the Mariners will travel up to Springfield College (4-3, 3-0 NEWMAC) next Saturday, Oct. 30. Kickoff against the Pride is scheduled for 1 p.m. at SC's Stagg Field. 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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