GAME #10 PREVIEW -- Bears Host MIT in Season Finale
MIT (5-3, 3-3) at COAST GUARD (3-6, 3-3)
NOV. 16, 2013 -- 1:00 -- CADET MEMORIAL FIELD, NEW LONDON, CONN.
ON THE AIR: The game will be aired live on WXLM-980 AM. There also both an audio and video stream available and those links can be found at www.cgasports.com on the football schedule page.
THE SERIES: Coast Guard beat MIT 35-21 last year in the first-ever meeting between the two teams as Jake Wawrzyniak carried 35 times for 143 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
LAST WEEK: Junior linebacker Erik Klein returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter as Salve Regina, the top defense in the New England Football Conference (NEFC), forced five turnovers and held off an upset minded Coast Guard team 25-14 to remain unbeaten in NEFC play
Salve junior running back Dan Buonocore had a 32-yard touchdown run with 1:49 left to put the game away.
Coast Guard held the advantage in total yards as the Bears finished with 327 yards, 242 of those in the air while Salve Regina which was averaging 435 yards per game, finished with 315 yards, 129 passing and 186 on the ground.
Freshman quarterback Derek Victory was 25 of 49 for 164 yards with a touchdown, but threw four interceptions. Junior wide receiver Collis Brown led the Bears with eight receptions for 114 yards. Junior Jake Wawrzyniak led Coast Guard with 16 carries for 83 yards. Sophomore quarterback Drew Londo was 3 of 6 for 46 yards as he came on late in the fourth quarter.
MIT is coming off a 56-36 win over Maine Maritime as junior quarterback Peter Williams threw for 264 yards and a school record five touchdowns.
Maine Maritime rolled up 497 yards of total offense to 448 for MIT. Williams completed 15-of-18 for 264 yards and the five scores for the Engineers, with junior Brad Goldsberry leading the team with five catches for 87 yards and a pair of TDs. Williams also broke the single-season marks for passing yards (1,863) and passing TDs (13).
GEORGE BECOMES BEARS WINS LEADER: Coast Guard head coach Bill George now has a record 49 career wins as head coach at the Academy as he passed John Merriman for the most in program history in the win over Maine Maritime on Oct. 19th. Merriman was the coach from (1930-1945) and the Gymnasium is named is his honor. Last season, George passed NFL Hall of Famer and former Director of Athletics and head football coach Otto Graham, who had 43 wins in his two stints as head coach (1959-'65 and 1974-'75). Coach George led the Bears to a pair of NEFC Bogan Division championships in 2006 and 2007.
A LOOK BACK ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1963 TEAM: In 1963 NFL Hall of Famer Otto Graham led the Coast Guard Bears to the only undefeated and untied regular season in school history and the team earned a berth in the Tangerine Bowl.
Each week, we will look back at a game in the historical season. We have already highlighted the Bears eight wins as the team finished unbeaten and untied for the first time in school history. The 8-0 Bears were under consideration for either the Eastern Bowl in Allentown, Pa. on Dec. 14th or the Tangerine Bowl on Dec. 28th in Orlando and accepted the bid to the Tangerine Bowl to take on Western Kentucky.
At the 18th annual Tangerine Bowl, Western Kentucky scored a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter, led 14-0 at halftime and beat Coast Guard 27-0.
The first touchdown was setup by a bad snap on a punt while the second score came shortly after a Coast Guard fumble at its own 12-yard line.
The Hilltoppers scored quickly to start the second half to break the game open.
The loss broke a 12-game winning streak for Coast Guard dating back to the 1962 season.
Coast Guard was however the first team to hold Western Kentucky to under 200 yards rushing all season as they finished with 144 rushing yards in the win to go with 80 passing yards.
The Bears finished with 186 passing yards, but Western Kentucky took advantage of four interceptions.
SCOUTING COAST GUARD: The Bears look to close out the season with a win and finish above .500 in conference play for the second straight season.
The Coast Guard offense is scoring 23 points and averaging 306.7 yards per game. The Bears, 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the NEFC, are averaging 230.4 passing yards per game and a league-low 76.2 rushing yards per game.
The Bears are third in red zone offense in the NEFC as they are 26 of 33 inside the opponents 20-yard line with 17 touchdowns and nine field goals.
Freshman quarterback Derek Victory, who set a single-game school record with 36 completions in just his second career start on October 5th, is 162 of 278 for 1,477 yards with nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions on the season.
Junior Jake Wawrzyniak leads the Bears with 131 carries for 452 yards on the season while he also has 35 receptions for 141 yards.
Junior Collis Brown leads the NEFC with 59 catches and 901 yards with five touchdowns while senior Nick Fredericksen is second on the team with 43 catches for 365 yards and a touchdown.
Brown is just 37 yards shy of the Bears single-season record of 938 receiving yards in a season set by Christian Lee in 1996.
The Bears are second in the NEFC with just seven sacks allowed this season.
The Bears defense is allowing 26.7 points per game and 433.6 yards per game, 256.4 rushing and 177.1 passing.
Junior defensive end Aaron Black leads the team with with 86 tackles, 53 solo while sophomore strong safety Joe Rizzardi is second with 76 tackles, 56 solo and leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss.
Sophomore kicker Tyler Henning is second in the NEFC with 11 field goals, he is 11 for 14 on the season with a long of 44 yards. He is 24 for 25 on extra points this season. He is now just one field goal shy of the Bears single-season record of 12 set by David Lieberman in 2007 and Jaime Roth in 1988.
The Bears have turned the ball over a conference-high 26 times, but also have a NEFC-high 24 takeaways. Coast Guard has ten interceptions and a conference best 14 fumbles recovered on the season.
SCOUTING MIT: The Engineers look to close out the season with a win after a record-setting performance in a 56-36 win against Maine Maritime on Saturday.
Junior quarterback Peter Williams, the NEFC Offensive Player of the Week, threw for a school-record five touchdown passes on Saturday and also ran for another. He is 135 of 202 for 1,863 yards with 13 touchdowns and just four interceptions on the season.
Junior Brad Goldsberry leads the Engineers with 45 receptions for 477 yards with three touchdowns while sophomore Seve Esparrago has 35 receptions for a team-high 5-7 yards and three scores.
Junior running back Justin Wallace leads the team with 186 carries for 940 yards and 11 touchdowns.
MIT is averaging 30.8 points and 409.9 yards per game, 237.6 passing and 172.2 on the ground.
The Engineers had to top pass defense in the NEFC allowing a league-low 132.6 yards per game. MIT is allowing 22.9 points and 330 yards per game.
Senior linebacker Jake Laux leads the team with 93 tackles, 49 solo and two for loss.
