PLYMOUTH, N.H. – A 139-yard, three touchdown outburst by Endicott senior running back Jared DiBiase (Cranston, R.I.) spearheaded a 27-10 road victory for the Gulls over Plymouth State on Saturday. DiBiase doubled his touchdown output on the season in one game as the Blue and Green, after trailing 10-3 early in the second quarter, scored 24 unanswered points to improve to 5-2 (3-1 NEFC Boyd) on the season.
Plymouth State dropped to 2-5 (1-3 NEFC Boyd), their second straight divisional loss.
The Gulls scored first after a 10-play, 60-yard effort on Endicott's first drive of the game resulted in a 28-yard field goal by junior placekicker Dylan Rushe (Palos Verdes, Calif.). Plymouth State would tie the game at 3-3 on a 40-yard field goal by Panthers senior Nick Cavallo (Salem, N.H.) on the very next drive.
An Endicott fumble gave Plymouth State a short field starting at the Gulls 48-yard line and after seven plays, the Panthers saw senior tailback Andrew Foglia (Montauk, N.Y.) find the end zone from seven yards out to put the home team on top 10-3. The touchdown came on the first place of the second quarter at 14:55.
With 3:04 remaining in the opening half, Endicott started a drive on their own 23-yard line. A 19-yard run by DiBiase followed up receptions of 10 and 27 yards by senior wide out Mike Murphy (Chelmsford, Mass.) put the Gulls on the Plymouth State 21. On 2nd-and-7, Gulls receiver Cameron Lett (Waltham, Mass.) drew a pass interference call to put Endicott on the three-yard line. DiBiase finished off the drive with his fourth touchdown of the season, and his first of the day, to tie the game at 10-10 going into halftime.
Endicott started with the ball in the second half and Gulls quarterback Drew Frenette (New Bedford, Mass.) connected with Murphy on 3rd-and-10 on the Panthers 30-yard line for 18 yards to get a critical first down. DiBiase found the end zone for the second time after a 12-yard rush put the Gulls back on top 17-10.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Rushe put the Gulls ahead by 10 points with his second 28-yard field goal of the game to make it 20-10. Five minutes later, DiBiase officially put the game away with just 2:01 remaining in the game with a 21-yard dash into the end zone to push the score up to 27-10.
Offensively, Murphy eclipsed 100 yards receiving in the game after hauling in seven Frenette passes for 103 yards. Lett added five receptions for 28 yards and Jimmy Nguyen (Methuen, Mass.) added 30 yards on two catches.
Endicott's 198 yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns were due in large part to hard work on the offensive line from graduate student Pat McMenimen (Exeter, N.H.), senior Ian Suter (Southbury, Conn.), juniors Tom O'Donnell (Wantagh, N.Y.), Casey McDonnell (Plaistow, N.H.), and Alec Gatzogiannis (Wells, Maine), sophomores Mike Marini (Trumbull, conn.) and Andrew Edwards (Falmouth, Maine), and freshman Ryan Mrozek (Shelton, Conn.).
Defensively, junior linebacker Andrew Holfinger (Sterling, Mass.) had a high-impact game with 2.5 sacks and five total tackles while Endicott's leading tacklers were senior captains Craig Lussier (Dracut, Mass.) and Oscar Moore (Cambridge, Mass.) with seven and six tackles, respectively. Senior defensive lineman Kevin Pressey (Fairfield, Maine) also had six takedowns in the win.
Endicott stays on the road next Saturday as the Gulls visit UMass Dartmouth with a 12:00 PM kickoff. The Corsairs are coming off a 26-16 loss to Nichols.