Statistics
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The University of New England football team held a 35-34 lead and possessed the ball with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but a big special teams play from Coast Guard set the stage for the Bears to escape with a 49-35 victory in Saturday's season opener at Cadet Memorial Field.
After allowing 28 first-half points, the UNE defense surrendered just a pair of field goals – and was working on a fourth-quarter shutout – before Coast Guard blocked a punt to set up its offense on the Nor'easters' 1-yard line. The Bears cashed in that opportunity with a touchdown and a two-point conversion, came up with a takeaway on the ensuing possession, and used a 64-yard touchdown pass to seal the win.
UNE trailed 31-19 early in the second half, but eventually earned its first lead of the day in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter after
Ben Durkin's go-ahead 23-yard field goal, capping off a drive set up by
Aidan Blood's interception.
Chris Lang was the game's leading passer, going for 324 yards while finishing with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Damien Jones was good for 120 yards on 18 carries, including an 58-yard touchdown run, but was narrowly outdone in the rushing column by Coast Guard's James Wheeler IV, with 127 yards on 21 attempts.
Nathan Delgado and
Javin Willis were also key pieces of a UNE ground game that totaled 213 yards.
Freddy Barber's do-it-all performance for the Bears included 14 catches for 171 yards and a touchdown, along with a 24-yard touchdown pass with Coast Guard leaning into some trickery in its final possession before halftime.
The Nor'easters outgained the Bears, 537-489, but committed two turnovers to Coast Guard's one, in addition to a blocked extra point, two failed two-point tries, and the costly blocked punt.
UNE was unable to sack Coast Guard quarterback Sean Burns, while the Bears got to Lang four times.
Jeremy Franzini was the game's leading tackler with 13, and Aiden Avenia paced the Bears with nine.
The Nor'easters and the Bears have combined for 189 in their last two meetings, with the memorable 2025 Week 1 game going down as a 56-49 overtime victory for UNE.
UNE will look for its first win of the season next Saturday (Sept. 12) when it visits WPI for a noon kickoff. The Nor'easters defeated the Engineers 41-3 at Blue Storm Stadium a season ago.
