PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Maritime football season came to a close on Sunday evening, when the team fell to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers by the score of 38-6 in the Scotty Whitelaw Bowl on Franklin Field.
"It was a great experience for our team, as well as our fans," commented head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes. "With a very young team overall, this was a great stepping stone for our program moving forward."
Maritime's defensive effort was led by freshman Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), who led the way with 15 tackles on the game; while senior Eric Wallace (West Point, N.Y./James O'Neill) was close behind with 13 stops on the night. Senior Brian Price (New York, N.Y./Wadleigh) capped off his career with a seven-tackle effort and blocked a first quarter punt, which led to Maritime's lone touchdown of the game scored by sophomore Karl Riek (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek), who later went on to block a punt of his own.
Sophomore Payton Campbell (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) forced a fumble, while senior Corey Palladino (Merrick, N.Y./St. Anthony's) recovered the loose ball. Juniors Wesley Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) and Craig Hinrichs (Islip, N.Y./Islip) each had six stops, while junior Nick Conte (Franklin Square, N.Y./Carey) and Campbell each had five tackles. Conte also had one pass breakup on the game.
Senior John Arny (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) capped off his career with a seven-punt effort and totaled 263 yards for an average of 37.6 yards per punt, including a game-long 60-yard punt. Junior Matthew Murphy (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) registered a pair of kickoffs for 125 yards, with one touchback. Riek had one punt return for 34 yards, while senior Krystian Cardinal-Charles (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys and Girls) had four kickoff returns for 42 yards.
The offense saw sophomore Joseph Butterworth (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa) split time with junior Thomas Wright (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) under center, with Butterworth completing four of his seven pass attempts. Wright completed 10 passes for 90 yards. The top target on the game was sophomore Christian Castle (Felton, Pa./Red Lion), who hauled in five passes for 43 yards. Senior Andrew Short (Covington, La./St. Paul's) had four receptions for 17 yards, while senior Joe Modica (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) picked up a pair of receptions for 13 yards.
On the ground, Cardinal-Charles led the way with 40 yards on nine rushing attempts, while Modica added 16 yards on his six attempts. Wright carried the ball 11 times, while Butterworth had one rushing attempt on the game.
Maritime won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, and held the Engineers to a punt on its opening drive after RPI picked up a pair of first downs. The Privateers took over on offense and lost the handle on the ball on their first play to give RPI possession again on the Maritime 12 yard line.
The defense stood tall for the Privateers as Bailey, Price and Conte came up with big stops on the drive to hold the Engineers to a field goal to make the score 3-0 in favor of RPI.
With the Privateers back on defense, the unit once again forced RPI to punt the ball. On the Engineer punt attempt, Price broke through the line and blocked the ball. After a few hops, Riek scooped up the rock and returned it to the end zone to put the Privateers on top and energize the group. Murphy's extra point hit the upright, as Maritime had a 6-3 advantage.
After the defense forced another punt, Maritime's offense tried to take advantage of its starting field position but was unable to convert and turned the ball over on downs. RPI took over and used a few long plays to reach the endzone and regain the lead at 10-6.
Both teams exchanged punts, with RPI taking over with 9:44 to go in the half. The drive went 62 yards as the Engineers took a 17-6 advantage. RPI added another touchdown in the closing minutes to take a 24-6 lead into the halftime break.
The Privateers started with the ball in the second half and were forced to punt after the first three plays. RPI regained possession and added another score. The Engineers added one more score in the opening stages of the fourth quarter to cap off the scoring at 38-6.
Maritime finishes the season with a 6-5 overall record, and will build towards the 2017 season.
Football Season Concludes in Scotty Whitelaw Bowl at Franklin Field
/seasons/2016/boxscores/20161120_6621.xml
2016
RPI
38
SUNY-Maritime
6
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPI (6-5) | 10 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| SUNY-Maritime (6-5) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Nov 20, 2016