Graham gives WNEC its fourth straight victory; Golden Bears down Seahawks, 17-14

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Freshman running back Mike Graham [Norwalk, Conn.] rushed only five times but gained 45 yards including second-half touchdown runs of 30 and four yards to lead Western New England College to a 17-14 victory over Salve Regina University in New England Football Conference action at Gaudet Field.

Salve Regina (4-5; 3-3 NEFC) had built a 14-0 advantage midway through the second quarter on a pair of Jeff St. Onge [Kingston, N.H.] touchdown passes. The Golden Bears appeared to be heading towards the game's first score when Seahawk junior linebacker Nick Jentz [Little Ferry, N.J.] forced a Graham fumble at the Salve Regina 10-yard line. On the very next play, St. Onge broke through the left side for a 65-yard gain. After two rushes and a defensive offsides moved the ball to the WNEC 15-yard line, St. Onge faked a screen and found senior tight end Matt Shubert [West Bridgewater, Mass.] in the right corner of the endzone.

After Western New England (5-4; 4-2 NEFC) turned the ball over on downs deep in Seahawk territory, it took Salve Regina just two plays to have the two TD advantage. St. Onge rushed for two yards and then tossed a short pass to Michael Dargan [Meriden, Conn.] who then ran up the left sideline to midfield before cutting across the gridiron to escape WNEC defenders and finish over the goal line with a 91-yard TD reception.

"We had some good parts, some bad parts," said fourth-year Seahawk head coach Chris Robertson. "We had the opportunity to put the game away on several occasions. We kept WNEC in the game all day long and you can't do that against a good team. We forced some turnovers early, got some scores early. You go up 14-0 and start to feel good, but it's usually not enough. We played inconsistent especially in the second half."

Freshman Brendan Thompson [Enfield, Conn.] returned a kickoff 15 yards to start the next Western New England drive at its own 44. After senior quarterback Justin Walz [Groton, Conn.] rushed for three yards, he completed a pair of first-down passes to get the ball to the Salve Regina 35. A pass interference penalty moved the ball to the Seahawk 18 before senior placekicker Jake Field [Bedminster, N.J.] put the Golden Bears on the scoreboard with a 35-yard field goal.

The Western New England defense shutout the Seahawks in the second half and limited Salve Regina to just one first down in the third quarter.

"They picked their spots, between only bringing three and dropping eight," said Robertson. "They were rallying up to everything, kinda bend don't break. We did not move the chains the way we need to. They mixed things up well-enough, I won't say to confuse us, but their gambles paid off."

Western New England scored on its first possession of the third quarter. Walz completed a 27-yard pass to junior tight end Dan Crane [Waterbury, Conn.] to move the ball into Salve Regina territory. On 4th-and-5 from the Seahawk 44, a fake punt turned into an eight-yard gain and a first down by junior linebacker Dylan Chandler [Durham, Maine]. Graham broke several tackles before finishing with a 30-yard TD run.

The visitors began their game-winning drive from their own 20 with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Walz, who was 4-for-5 passing in the drive, found junior wide receiver Matt O'Brien [So. Windsor, Conn.] for a quick 20-yard hook-up. After Seahawk senior defensive end Matt DeSisto [Barrington, R.I.] knocked down a Golden Bear pass, Walz connected with Crane for an 18-yard gain. Graham finished with rushes of three and four yards for the go-ahead score. After Field made the PAT kick, he was moved back to his own 15-yard line for the ensuing kickoff due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Matt Peterson [Bristol, Conn.] returned the kickoff 19 yards into Golden Bear territory, but Salve Regina misfired on its first three passes and only gained seven yards on a St. Onge to Dargan fourth-down play to turn the ball over on downs with 2:30 remaining. But the home team still had hope when it stopped WNEC one-yard shy of a first down while exhausting all three second-half timeouts.

A Jake Field punt put the ball on the Salve Regina 22 and the Seahawks had 1:20 left to move the ball for a potential game-tying field goal or game-winning TD. On 2nd down, St. Onge completed a 29-yard pass to Dargan over the middle. A quick pass to Shubert was nearly picked off by junior linebacker Justin Bailey [Northborough, Mass.]. Two completions to senior wide receiver Ben Hall [Conway, N.H.] along the sidelines brought the ball to the WNEC 10-yard line with 25 seconds left, forcing a Golden Bear timeout.

A botched snap made it 2nd-and-goal from the 25 before St. Onge illegally spiked the ball to stop the clock. Now facing 2nd-and-goal from the 30, senior Clayton Slawson [Madison, Conn.] came up short on his first-career field-goal attempt when it was blocked by freshman Phil Tsopanides [Fairfield, Conn.].

"Certainly a lot of excitement on the last possession," continued Robertson." I thought the completions to Ben Hall on the sidelines were fantastic; he did a great job of going up and getting it. Once we had the ball around the 10-yard line I felt good about it. But you talk about sense of urgency and playing always at a high level of consistency, and next play we went right back to where we were and then a penalty pushes us back another five yards. So instead of us kicking a 27-yarder, we're kicking a 47-yarder, and who knows we may still be out here if we had taken advantage of that opportunity."

Salve Regina finishes its 2009 schedule at home against Plymouth State University next Saturday (noon) while Western New England will look for its fifth straight win hosting Nichols College (1 p.m.).