Statistics

DUDLEY, Mass. – Mikey Brennan hauled in six catches for 138 yards and three scores to help the University of New England football team to a 31-12 victory over Nichols College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup at Venditti Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Nor'easters improve to 4-2 overall and are tied for second place at 2-1 in CCC play. Nichols falls to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in conference action.
 
UNE began its second drive of the day on the Nichols 41-yard line after a short punt by the Bison. The Nor'easters moved the ball down the field on the ground with rushes by Jarrett Henault and Eugene Jordan. Henault hit Shane LaPorte for a 17-yard pass down to the Bison five-yard line on third down. Two plays later, LaPorte took the direct snap and threw a touchdown pass to Jack Piller and after an extra point by Robert Inniss, UNE led 7-0.
 
Nichols answered quickly with three straight long plays to tie the score at 7-7 with 7:22 to play in the first quarter. Kyle Keckler hit Jack Morvan for a 40-yard pass put the Bison on the UNE 38-yard line. Zahir Booker ran it in from there with rushes of 21 and 17-yards to find the end zone and knot the game.
 
LaPorte broke off a 39-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to put UNE in Bison territory. He later caught a 24-yard pass to put the Nor'easters at the Nichols 17-yard line. Inniss booted home a 21-yard field goal to put UNE back in front at 10-0.
 
Trey Snowden picked off Keckler on the next Bison possession, but the Nor'easters were unable to get anything going and were forced to punt to start the second quarter. Both offenses stalled early in the second. The Nor'easters missed a 38-yard field goal midway through the quarter.
 
UNE took the ball over on its own 23-yard line with 5:49 to play in the half. Jack Mahoney had four rushes for 37 yards to start the drive and put the Nor'easters on the Bison side of the field. With 51 seconds left in the half, Henault hit Brennan for a 25-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17-7 at the break.
 
The Nor'easter defense held the Bison to a 32-yard field goal by Kyle Yannucci after a long 17-play drive to being the second half. Cam Mann got his hands on a punt by Colby Bernier late in the quarter to give UNE the ball on the Nichols 48-yard line to start its next drive. The score remained 17-10 in favor of the Nor'easters heading into the fourth.

Brennan hauled in his second touchdown of the afternoon from 22-yards out to extend the UNE lead to 24-10 to start the fourth quarter. Nichols went three-and-out on its next drive. Henault and Brennan connected for the third time on the day, this time from 53-yards out to put UNE ahead 31-10 with 11:25 to play in the game. The catch was Brennan's conference-leading seventh touchdown grab of the year.
 
The UNE defense held strong on its own three-yard line forcing a turnover on downs with 7:06 remaining. The Nor'easters took a safety to make the score 31-12 with just under seven minutes to play. Each team had a late turnover as the Nor'easters fumbled and Chris Winslow intercepted the next Bison pass to secure the victory.
 
Henault finished with 207 yards through the air and three scores on a 15-of-28 passing. Mahoney had 20 carries for 92 yards to lead the rushing attack. LaPorte caught three passes for 41 yards and also had 63 return yards.
 
UNE had a season-best five sacks led by Nick van der Merwe with two. Will Michaud and Antonio Giano each had a sack. Trey Snowden and Chase Lamontagne teamed up for a half sack each. Snowden led the team with five tackles, including 1.5 for a loss and a pick. Mike Lemay also had five tackles.
 
Keckler had 269 passing yards and two interceptions for the Bison. Booker had 63 yards and a score on the ground. Joshua Vitti hauled in a game-high eight catches for 123 yards. Defensively, Darnele Ryan had 10 tackles (eight solo) with two for a loss to lead Nichols.