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FOOTBALL FAMILY DROPS CONFERENCE BID AT NORWICH
The Mount Ida College football team dropped their first Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) loss this Saturday to hosting Norwich University in a 28-6 defeat falling for the third time this season. The Mustangs have yet to beat the Cadets since their first meeting on October 14th, 2000 when Norwich captured a 41-0 shutout victory. Mount Ida drops to 1-3 overall, 1-1 in the ECFC while the Cadets capture their first win of the season improving to 1-3, 1-0 in conference play.
Sophomore running back Johrone Bunch (Meriden, CT/F.T. Maloney), who rushed for 150 yards on 24 carries, led the Mustangs. He did the bulk of his damage in the first half, as he gained just 26 yards after halftime. Freshman quarterback Scott Drosendahl (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) hit on 6-of-9 passes for 85 yards and the one touchdown.
Although they gave up 28 points, the Mustangs defense was solid all day with freshman linebacker Michael Brockenberry (New Haven, CT/New Haven) and senior cornerback Michael Epps (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) notching seven solo tackles a piece. Brockenberry also added two tackles for a loss of eight yards.
Freshman running back Danny Triplett ran for 116 yards and a touchdown, and sophomore running back Andrew Fulford rushed for 114 yards and a score for the Cadets. Freshman quarterback Kris Sabourin added 78 yards on the ground for the hosts who gained 336 rushing yards on the day. The Norwich defense came up big, holding the Mustangs to just 92 rushing yards and 251 yards of total offense.
Sophomore linebacker Joseph Gumberwicz made some huge plays for the defense, intercepting two passes, recovering a fumble and producing 1.5 quarterback sacks. Senior defensive end Reza Afsarmanesh had another solid game defensively for NU, producing team bests in tackles (eight), quarterback sacks (2.0) and tackles-for-loss (4.0).
Gumberwicz's fumble recovery late in the second quarter set up Norwich at the Mount Ida 24-yard line, and directly led to the Cadets' first touchdown. A pair or runs by freshman RB Orwin Etkins gave NU a first-and-goal at the Mustangs' seven-yard line and the Cadets scored two plays later when Sabourin found freshman tight end Dennis Pritchard with an eight-yard TD pass. Ryan Kelly's extra point attempt sailed wide and Norwich had to settle for a 6-0 lead with 58 seconds remaining in the half.
Mount Ida's next offensive play from scrimmage was a pass that Gumberwicz intercepted and returned 23 yards to the Mustangs' 18-yard line. Triplett scored on the next play, taking a hand off and bouncing outside for an 18-yard touchdown scamper. Sabourin connected with junior TE Daniel Pellegrini on the two-point conversion to give the Cadets a 14-0 halftime lead.
After a scoreless third quarter, Norwich put the game away early in the fourth with two touchdowns in a span of 39 seconds. Etkins put the Cadets on top 20-0 at the 11:48 mark when he scored on a one-yard TD run. A 28-yard pass from Sabourin to freshman WR Chris Denton, which gave NU a first-and-goal at the Mount Ida one-yard line, set up the score.
A quick three-and-out by Mount Ida gave Norwich the ball at its own 35-yard line, and Fulford wasted little time extending the Cadets lead as the second-year back took a handoff and exploded 65 yards up the middle for a touchdown. Sabourin hit senior WR Kevin Ober on the two-point conversion to give Norwich a commanding 28-0 advantage with 11:09 to play in the contest.
Mount Ida broke up the shutout midway through the fourth quarter when Drosendahl found junior fullback Paul Shaughnessy (Malden, MA/Northeast Regional) for a 20-yard touchdown pass.
The Mustangs will host ECFC first year program Castleton State College this Saturday for Mount Ida's homecoming weekend with kick-off starting at 1:00 p.m.
