WASHINGTON, DC -- Catholic scored 21 unanswered points to rally for a 24-21 victory over the WPI football team in NEWMAC action at Catholic on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers dip to 2-4 on the season, falling to 0-2 in conference play, while the Cardinals improve to 3-3, 2-0 in the NEWMAC.
WPI had a big first half, scoring three touchdowns en route to a 21-3 advantage at the break. The Cardinals answered with two third-quarter touchdowns and then another in the fourth quarter, holding the Engineers off the board for the final 30 minutes of play in the win.
Catholic QB Nico Casares (Miami, FL) was 23-for-36 for 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns in just his second career start. Preston Jeffrey (Smithfield, VA) caught six passes for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Anthony Giordano (Doylestown, PA) and Jared Colletti (Quakertown, PA) each had three receptions for 55 and 52 yards, respectively. Sam Cornacchione (Mooresville, NC) also caught three passes for 33 yards and a score. Colletti added 80 yards rushing on 18 carries and a touchdown.
Defensively for Catholic, Joe Nazzaro (Brookeville, MD) led the Cardinals with 13 tackles, while Carson Henry (Otisville, NY) added nine. As a unit, the Catholic defense held WPI to 88 yards of second-half offense in the comeback win.
For WPI, Dante Coccagnia (E. Syracuse, NY) was 15-for-20 with 97 yards and two scores. Isaac Frederique (Methuen, MA) had six catches for 23 yards and a score, while Tommy Emrick (Windham, NH) also hauled in a touchdown pass with three catches for 23 yards. Hunter Carey (South Hadley, MA) carried the ball 26 times for 114 yards and a touchdown, his third 100-yard game of the season.
On defense, Evan Wertz (Franklin, MA) and Gavin Chieff (Bernardsville, NJ) led WPI with nine tackles each. Zach Newberg (Barrington, RI) had 1.5 tackles for loss, teaming up with Cam Smith (Abington, MA) on one of them.
The Engineers' first drive of the game took up over eight minutes, covering 75 yards in 15 plays. Emrick caught an eight-yard pass from Coccagnia to cap the drive, giving the Engineers a 7-0 advantage to open the game.
After the ensuing Catholic possession stalled at the WPI 43, the Engineers took over, using another extended drive to go up 14-0. This effort was a 90-yard, 16-play drive which spanned the end of the first quarter and halfway into the second, culminating in a 6-yard Carey touchdown.
Starting at their own 25, Catholic drove 72 yards down the field and had first and goal at the two, but WPI's defense held. After three failed attempts at the end zone, the hosts got on the board with a 20-yard field goal from Fabrizio Reilly (Chevy Chase, MD) to make it 14-3.
Following the field goal, WPI got the ball back with just over three minutes to play, marching down the field in six plays, including a 22-yard pass from Coccagnia to Carey. Carey got the ball on first and goal from the Catholic six and powered it in for the score, pushing WPI's advantage to 21-3.
Catholic scored on its first possession of the second half, as a nine-yard pass from Casares to Presto capped a 10-play 75-yard drive to cut the score to 21-10.
The Cardinals' Mason Stillwell (Annapolis, MD) forced a fumble on WPI's ensuing drive, and Catholic took over at the WPI 40. It took just six plays before Colletti took it in for a one-yard score to make it a four-point game at 21-17 with 5:29 to play in the third.
Neither team was able to move the ball on their next possessions, and the game headed into the fourth quarter with WPI up 21-17.
On their first drive of the fourth quarter, Catholic took the ball 84-yards for a score, taking the lead for the first time in the game. Seven run plays gained the majority of the yardage for the Cardinals, but it was an eight-yard pass from Casares to Cornachionne that picked up the touchdown to make it 24-17 Catholic.
WPI's offense was stymied on the ensuing possession, held to -11 yards after six plays, giving Catholic the ball back at their own 49-yard line with 3:47 to play. The Cardinals got a pair of first downs, running out the clock to seal the victory.
WPI has a bye week before returning to the field on Saturday, October 22 to play at Springfield in NEWMAC action beginning at 3:30pm. Catholic has a conference match-up at Coast Guard next Saturday at 1:30pm.