Endicott drops Fitchburg State 56-14 in all-around effort

Boxscore

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Endicott football team handed Fitchburg State their third consecutive loss following a 56-14 thrashing in New England Football Conference non-divisional action. Holding a 28 point lead at the end of the third quarter, the Gulls exploded for 28 more points in the fourth quarter in posting their second victory of the season.

Endicott, now 2-1, saw their entire team firing on all cylinders as the offense, defense, and special teams all got involved in the scoring on Saturday afternoon.

The Blue and Green opened up the game in the first quarter with a 14-0 lead following touchdowns for the offense and the defense. Freshman \#Davas Wright\# (Fall River, Mass.) capped off a seven play, 65-yard drive with 12 yard touchdown run, his first of the season. Later in the quarter, junior \#Nick Scozzaro\# (Wellington, Fla.) scooped up the ball and ran it back for a seven yard score following a \#Kevin Eagan\#’s (West Hartford, Conn.) forced fumble.

In the second quarter, the Gulls opened up their lead to 21-0 just 39 seconds into the stanza as junior \#Taylor Allen\# (Westboro, Mass.) hauled in a seven yard pass from quarterback \#Phil Konopka\# (Shelton, Conn.) to end an eight play, 39-yard drive. Fitchburg State responded four minutes later with a passing touchdown by Falcons quarterback Jeremy Kimber (Fitchburg, Mass.) who connected with sophomore Jepthe Pierre (Middletown, N.Y.) for a 19-yard score. 

The third period was relatively quiet with Endicott scoring the lone touchdown following an interception from \#Mike Kearns\# (Newton, Conn.). Kearns intercepted Kimber’s pass at the Endicott 35 yard line and on the ensuing play, the Gulls reached the end zone once again on a \#Neil Powers\# (Westford, Mass.) touchdown reception to push the visitor’s lead to 28-7 going into halftime.

Fitchburg’s Chris Bachand (Newington, Conn.) ran for a 21-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but Endicott dominated the frame with four scores to stretch their lead even further.

Sophomore running back \#Jared DiBiase\# (Cranston, R.I.) rushed 11 yards just six seconds into fourth quarter for his first touchdown of the season. At 5:18, senior wide out \#Mike Drinkwater\# (Hamilton, Mass.) brought down a 30 yard touchdown pass from \#Matt DeOliveira\# (Malden, Mass.). \#CJ Elser\# (Southbury, Conn.) intercepted a Falcons pass and returned the ball 47 yards to the end zone for the third touchdown of the quarter. Finally, with just a minute remaining in the game \#Izzy Abraham\# (Canton, Mass.) had a 32 yard punt return to cap off the scoring for the Gulls.

Konopka carried the offense with a 13-of-26 for 224 yards and two touchdowns performance. DiBiase led all rushers with 63 yards on 17 attempts and a score while Powers eclipsed the 100 yard receiving plateau, catching five balls for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Elser led all tacklers with five solo stops, two assists and one interception return for a touchdown. Eagan added two sacks and three tackles for a loss. The Gulls had six total sacks as a team.

Endicott will visit Salve Regina next Saturday, September 25 for a 2:00 pm game while Fitchburg State hosts Maine Maritime Academy at 12:00 pm.