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| Chris Klass blocked a kick
and had two interceptions to help the Privateers take down the
Buccaneers on Thursday. SUNY-Maritime athletics photo |
Sept. 11, 2001. Everyone remembers where they were. What they were doing. And what they felt.
Clayton Kendrick-Holmes was a young coach at the Citadel. He was giving a presentation on blitz packages when it happened.
He wasn't sure what he had seen. He thought it was a pilot in trouble. A horrible accident. Then the second plane hit the tower and suddenly we all knew it was something more. Then, the events came together. But they didn't make sense. They still don't.
Fast forward to Sept. 11, 2014. Kendrick-Holmes is the head coach of the SUNY-Maritime Privateers. Billy Silke, one of his freshman defensive linemen, had an uncle killed in the attack on Sept. 11. He and his teammates are playing a game, not all that many miles from where the attack happened. They are hosting Mass. Maritime in the seventh Chowder Bowl on a Thursday night.
Kendrick-Holmes himself served in Afghanistan only a couple of years ago.
The Chowder Bowl was special. But despite the Privateers' 31-30 victory that has six lead changes, including five in the second half, this was a game dwarfed by the deeper meaning, the remembering and the emotions.
Donald Denning, father of SUNY-Maritime women's lacrosse coach, was on hand for the coin toss. He worked for Moran Towing on Sept. 11 when he participated in the largest sea evacuation in history in which 500,000 people were transported from Manhattan to Hoboken, N.J. in under nine hours.
But there was a game to play.
"The whole thing was memorable from start to finish," Kendrick-Holmes said. "It was an awesome night, great crowd and great pomp and circumstance."
The Privateers wore special one-time jerseys to commemorate the event.
But clothes do not make the man, as the saying goes. It certainly did not in the first half. The Privateers found themselves trailing the Bucs 14-3 at the break.
"At halftime we led every statistical category including bonehead errors," Kendrick-Holmes said.
He and his staff gathered the players and sent the message. He told them, "It's going to be a defining point for the rest of the season."
The players responded.
"The kids did it. I thought they would," Kendrick-Holmes said.
Zack Chilcott had himself a night. He ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 161 yards and another score.
Hugh O'Brien led the defensive effort.
"We move him all over, inside and out," Kendrick-Holmes said. "He is a defensive end but sometimes we move him into the interior line. He is just such an athlete."
Diogo Dietrich, who nailed a 49-yard field goal in the loss the week before, made good on his only attempt, this one from 24 yards. Who knew that would be the difference?
It was a whale of football game. But football was not the thing that stayed with those in the big crowd.
Coast Guard gets the cup
The atmosphere was special at SUNY-Maritime just as it is every year when Coast Guard and Merchant Marine get together to contest the Secretaries Cup.
Coast Guard coach Bill George likely filled his Bears in on the recent history of the game. They went out and claimed the Cup for the first time since 2010.
Aaron Black had 14 tackles for Coast Guard in its 42-31 victory. Derek Victory threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns.
Run over by a Mack truck
Western Connecticut steamrolled Nichols 58-0 as Tory Mack piled up 252 yards on 17 carries with four touchdowns.
"He is a good back with a lot of ability," Western Conn. coach Joe Loth said.
He also has a great attitude.
"We were splitting time between him and Octavias (McKoy) last year the first two games and Tory unselfishly chose to go to corner so that we could feature one guy," Loth said.
All McKoy did as the featured back was break the collegiate single-game rushing record and end up in the final four for the Gagliardi Trophy.
Bouncing back
Plymouth State and Norwich rebounded from disappointing opening-day losses.
Plymouth defeated Mount Ida 30-24 as Mark Hennessy ran for 89 yards and two scores. Rob Giles, who made 10 of his 12 field goal attempts last year, made his one try in this game.
Norwich edged St. Lawrence 10-7 when quarterback Keyen Foley scored in the fourth quarter.
Worcester State won its rival game against WPI 30-7. Worcester's Kevin Bumpus was picked off three times but he also ran for two touchdowns.
Bridgewater State got a big win after opening with a loss. The Bears defeated William Paterson as Danny Higgins completed 13 of 20 passes for 218 yards and a score.
His main target was Matthew Green, a receiver that will probably give MASCAC defenses problems all year. Green caught 10 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.
Like old times at MMA
That once bruising ground game out of the triple option at Maine Maritime Academy has been rather quiet the last couple of years. It was a lot more like the vintage Mariners as the numbers took on a familiar look. They amassed 510 yards of offense in a 42-12 win over Anna Maria. Michael Fahey had 241 yards rushing and four different backs had 67 yards or more.
They threw a grand total of three passes. Yes, that's Mariner football.
Presidential win for WNE
Fresh off its win over neighborhood rival Springfield, Western New England went to 2-0 by beating another nearby rival in Westfield State, claiming the President's Cup. Kevin Cook rushed for 90 yards and went over 3,000 for his career.
MIT also went to 2-0 with its 38-14 win over Becker. Peter Williams passed for two scores and Justin Wallace rushed for 136 yards.
Break up the Falcons
Fitchburg State won its first two games for the first time since 2005.
Quarterback Garrett Dellechiaie was on target again. He completed 23 of his 32 passes for 291 yards and a score. Ty Spencer caught eight of those passes for 129 yards.
It's not that coach Pat Haverty is completely happy. "There is a lot to fix," he said.
When linebacker Talib Barksdale could not play in the second half, Malcolm Brown-Simpson filled the void. He finished with four tackles, a sack and four pass break-ups.
"Malcolm did a good job of rallying the other linebackers," Haverty said. "The defense played well as a unit."
The Big Games
What are they waiting for Halloween? That's what we like to say around the office about the NESCAC. They have been watching and reading about football for weeks and now they get to play it.
Middlebury has had a great run with Don McKillop and then McCallum Foote. Has the well run dry or can the Panthers find another golden arm. There has been a three-way battle in camp and right now it appears that Matt Milano will be the guy against Wesleyan in the opener.
Bates visits Amherst, Bowdoin is at Williams, Trinity hosts Colby and Hamilton goes to Tufts in the other openers.
Friday night we will learn whether Fitchburg is simply a program on the rise or if they have arrived. They play preseason MASCAC favorite Framingham State.
Maine Maritimes visits Mass. Maritime in the 42nd annual Admiral's Cup.
Bridgewater's visit to Worcester State should be another telling game in the MASCAC.
SUNY-Maritime visits Merchant Marine, the school just across the water.
"Our SID has named the game the Seafarer's Scuffle. He's pretty proud of that," Kendrick-Holmes said.
Gallaudet is the defending champion of the ECFC and its trip to Rochester should allow us to better gauge where the Bison are at before league play begins.
