BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Husson University held off a late University of New England rally to claim a 30-27 Commonwealth Coast Conference football victory in the 3rd Annual Lobster Trap Game in front of a crowd of 1,376 Saturday afternoon (Nov. 4) at Blue Storm Stadium.
Both teams now stand at 6-3 overall and tied for third place at 2-2 in conference play heading into the final weekend of the regular season. Husson is unbeaten (3-0) in the history of the Lobster Trap Game.
Trailing 30-14 after three quarters, the Nor'easters scored a pair of touchdowns in the final frame, including one with 0:44 remaining to pull within three. The Eagles recovered the ensuing onside kick and took a knee on the next play to run out the clock.
Elijah Garnett led the Husson offense with 156 rushing yards and two scores. Quarterback Nic Visser completed 16 of 23 attempts and threw a pair of touchdowns to Ja'Quan Myles.
For the Nor'easters,
Jarrett Henault was 38-for-55 through the air, including four touchdowns.
Shane LaPorte was on the receiving end of 11 of those completions and found his way into the end zone twice.
Damien Jones posted a team-best 94 all-purpose yards with 32 on the ground and 62 receiving.
The visitors got on the scoreboard first when Garnett busted up the middle to score from 53 yards out.
Anthony Cristoforo would block the extra point to keep the score at 6-0.
UNE grabbed the lead on the next possession. Henault found
AJ DeFilio in the left flat, and DeFilio scampered in from 11 yards out (
WATCH).
Husson reclaimed the lead on the opening possession of the second quarter, stringing together an eight-play, 71-yard drive. Visser found Myles down the middle for a 26-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles were successful on a two-point conversion to make the score 14-7.
The pendulum once again swung back in the Nor'easters' direction, as the hosts cobbled together a monster drive (16 plays, 77 yards) that culminated in Henault finding
Jakob Rivers in a crowd for a 13-yard score (
WATCH).
The Eagles would establish a lead once again just before the conclusion of the half when Visser hit Myles deep down the middle for a 35-yard touchdown to make the score 21-14.
After Husson recovered a fumble of a punt on the UNE 15 yard line, place kicker Cason Markevich was successful from 22 yards to prevent the Eagles from coming up empty and pushing the lead to 24-14. The lead increased to 30-14 as Garnett rushed up the middle to find the end zone from seven yards out. Markevich's extra-point attempt was blocked.
The Nor'easters' comeback bid in the fourth featured pair of short touchdown passes from Henault to LaPorte. The first was a six-yarder (
WATCH), and the late score covered three yards (
WATCH).
UNE held a slight advantage in several categories on the stat sheet, including total yards (394 to 376) and time of possession (32:26 to 27:34). The Nor'easters would also convert 8 of 14 third-down opportunities.
Defensively, Alex Brown and CJ Nicely each had a game-high seven tackles to pace Husson on that side of the ball. Parker LaFrance added six solo tackles and a pair of pass breakups. Adam Bertrand contributed five solo stops to go with a sack and fumble recovery.
UNE's defense was led by
Nate Reid, who had a team-best six tackles (five solo).
Spencer Sherck was credited with five solo tackles, while
Kese Higgins added four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
The regular season concludes next Saturday (Nov. 11) with a road contest for each squad. Husson is at Nichols College for a 1:00 p.m. start, while the Nor'easters will face CCC-leading Endicott College at noon.
