Privateers Dominate Homecoming with 35-7 Victory over Dean

Bronx, NY - The Maritime College football team celebrated homecoming in a big way Saturday afternoon as they took out Dean by a score of 35-7. The explosive Privateers offense dominated the pace of the game and totaled 412 yards of total offense, compared to just 128 yards from the Bulldogs. The Privateers won the coin toss and started their aggressive mentality early by choosing to receive the ball. The decision by head coach Vincent DiGaetano paid off as Maritime marched down the field and into the red zone within the first two minutes. On second and goal from the 12-yard line, senior quarterback Thomas Wright (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) turned to his favorite target, Brandonn Drumgole (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai). Drumgole made a spectacular one-handed catch in the end zone, and was able to drag his toes inbounds to complete his ninth touchdown reception of the season. Drumgole now firmly holds the recent program record for touchdown receptions with 16 in just two seasons. Dean took the field looking to answer, but the Maritime defense had other plans. On third-and-9, John O'Connor (Johns Creek, Ga./Mount Pisgah) came up with a monster sack for a nine-yard loss to force a Bulldogs punt. After Karl Riek (Sweetwater, N.J./Cedar Creek) ran for a first down conversion on fourth-and-2, the Privateers faced another fourth down, this time on the Dean 34-yard line. Maritime was unable to keep the offensive momentum rolling and gave the Bulldogs another chance at evening up the score. After giving up one first down, the Bulldogs dropped back to pass and threw up a deep ball down the sideline. Justin Snuffer(Maple Shade, N.J./Maple Shade) made a great read on the ball and timed his jump perfectly to intercept the pass. Looking for blockers, Snuffer began to maneuver his way down the field. Eventually, the junior defensive back saw daylight and took off towards the end zone and ended up with a 66-yard touchdown interception. The first defensive touchdown of the season for the Privateers firmly shifted the momentum in favor of Maritime behind a huge homecoming crowd. The interception also marked Snuffer's team-leading third pick of the season. "We were ready for that the whole week after a lot of practice," said Snuffer. "I just happened to be in the right spot and I was a little slow at first, I was looking for blockers, but once I saw the opening on the left I just took off and it was one of the greatest feelings ever." Despite the quick turnaround for the defense, they came up with another three-and-out stop to put the ball back in the hands of the offense with a chance to take a three-score lead. Unfortunately, an untimely holding penalty stalled the Privateers and they were forced to punt it away with little time remaining in the opening frame. Dean was threatening to score early in the second and made the decision to go for it on fourth-and-6 from the Privateers nine-yard line. However, Deion Johnson (Bronx, N.Y./DeWitt Clinton) broke through the line easily and stopped the option run for a 10-yard loss to force the turnover-on-downs. Maritime's offense started to click once again on the ensuing drive, and on first-and-10 from the Bulldogs 40-yard line, freshman running back Nicholas Morman (Covington, La./Northlake Christian) broke loose on a screen pass for a 40-yard touchdown reception. The Covington, LA native set-up behind his blockers perfectly on the play and made multiple defenders miss on a great play down the sideline to make it a 21-0 game. The Privateers defense finally folded on the following drive from the Bulldogs and they gave up the first touchdown of the game. With 1:49 remaining in the first half, Maritime's offense couldn't get the two-minute drill going and had to punt it away, however, a muffed punt from the Bulldogs gave the Privateers another chance at a last-minute score after Kevin Poissant (North Garfield, N.J./Paramus Catholic) recovered the fumble after a mad scramble for the ball. On second-and-goal from the 11-yard line, Maritime called a timeout with just 12 seconds remaining to attempt to draw up a scoring play before half. The Privateers did just that by calling Drumgole's number again. This time, they called on him to pass. Drumgole found a wide-open Wright in the end zone on a trick play to record his second passing touchdown in just two weeks as Maritime took a 28-7 lead into halftime. "It's what we've been working on in practice and it's nice to come out here and see it work just how we drew it up," said Drumgole. "I've been joking around Tommy that he's not the only one who can throw a touchdown pass, so it's definitely cool." The second half started out with another three-and-out forced by the Privateers defense, and the offense took the field looking to close out the game. They did just that on over a five-minute drive that was capped off by Wright's third touchdown pass of the day, this time to Curtis Smith (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Utrecht) for a five-yard score. With the game out of reach, the Privateers pounded the run game the rest of the way and barely gave the Bulldogs any time to work with on offense. Early in the fourth quarter, Snuffer put a final exclamation point on the game by intercepting his second pass of the day, this time right on the Privateers goal line. With a total possession time of 39:35, compared to just 20:25 from Dean, Maritime dominated the game and walked away with a 35-7 win to improve to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Wright finished 21-34 with 248 yards passing, three touchdown passes, and the one touchdown reception. Drumgole totaled seven catches and one receiving touchdown to compliment his second passing touchdown of the season. Kahlil Lewin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Erasmus Hall) led the diversified ground game with 10 carries and 40 yards. Liam Bailey (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) led the defensive charge with a team-high seven tackles. The Privateers are on the road the next two weeks as they take on Castleton Sat. Oct. 20 at 12 p.m., followed by a game at Anna Maria on Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.

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