Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Graduate Student Jacob Shoup (Boca Raton, Fla.) and junior Pat Viencek (Bernardston, Mass.) threw for a combined 344 yards in Nichols College's 34-27 loss to MIT in New England Football Conference (NEFC) action Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at Vendetti Field.

Shoup started the contest and finished 6-of-8 for 92 yards and a score while Viencek completed 20-of-27 attempts for 252 and one score for the Bison (1-8, 1-7 NEFC). Sophomore Jonathan Winbush (Boston, Mass.) rushed for a career-high 79 yards and one touchdown as Nichols raced out to a 10-0 lead, only to find themselves trailing 34-17 midway through the fourth quarter.

Following a one-yard touchdown run by sophomore Justin Wallace (Palatine, Ill.) with 8:35 remaining in the fourth, the Bison capped an 11-play, 63-yard drive with a 20-yard field goal by sophomore Casey Lombardi (West Haven, Conn.) to cut their deficit to 34-20. The defense forced the Engineers (5-3, 4-2 NEFC) three-and-out on their next possession, giving Nichols the ball at their own 20 with 4:48 remaining. Viencek found junior Joe Lambert (New Haven, Conn.) for 28 yards, junior Dylan Rimsky (Denville, N.J) for 18 yards, and Lambert again for a 33-yard touchdown to bring Nichols to within one score with 3:24 on the clock and no timeouts.

Lambert was accessed an unsportsmanlike penalty following the touchdown, forcing the Bison to kick off from their own 20. They were unable to recover a 'pooch' on-sides kick, yet regrouped and force the Engineers to punt with 60 seconds remaining. Viencek connected with junior Mark Parker (Natick, Mass.) for five yards, senior David Gonzalez (Springfield, Mass.) for 14 yards, and Rimsky for 16 yards, giving the Bison one final play from the MIT 37-yard line. Viencek heaved a pass to Parker in the endzone, but the ball was swatted away by junior Rhys Borchert (Pocatello, Idaho.).

“I thought our kids played hard,” said Nichols head coach Kevin Loney. “It was the self-inflicted wounds that cost us. MIT did some good things, especially changing the tempo. We did some really good things on both sides of the ball, but we made some maturity mistakes, all of which is fixable.”

Gonzales led all receivers in both receptions (nine) and yards (127) while Parker hauled in seven passes for 79 yards. On defense, senior Peter Curto (Braintree, Mass.) paced the Bison with 10 tackles (six solo) while classmate Tyler Nordbeck (Norton, Mass.) and sophomore Julon McCoy (Gardner, Mass.) each notched eight.  

The Engineers racked up 215 yards on the ground (5.1 ypc), led by Wallace's 139 yards on 23 carries. Sophomore signal caller Peter Williams (Portland, Ore.) collected 43 yards rushing while completing 14-of-22 pass attempts for 171 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Sophomore Brad Goldsberry (Elizabeth, Colo.) gave the Bison fits out of the backfield all afternoon, catching seven passes for 93 yards and one touchdown.

Nichols opened the scoring with an 11-play, 98-yard drive that Parker capped with a 23-yard touchdown reception from Shoup. A 41-yard field goal by Lombardi early in the second quarter gave the Bison a 10-0 lead before a one-yard touchdown run by Goldsberry cut the MIT deficit to 10-7. Less than three minutes later, Williams closed out a three-play drive with a 15-yard touchdown scamper that gave the Engineers a 13-7 lead (missed PAT).

The Bison reeled off an 11-play, 58-yard drive that Winbush capped with a one-yard touchdown to put his team ahead 17-13 with 2:00 left in the half. MIT took the ensuing kick and went 55 yards in six plays, the last of which was an eight-yard pass from Williams to freshman Karson Ota (Katy, Texas) which gave MIT the lead at halftime.

Goldsberry's second touchdown of the afternoon – a 15-yard reception from Williams – was the only scoring in the third as MIT took a 34-17 lead into the fourth before the Bison scored the final 10 points of the contest.

Defensively for MIT, junior Jake Laux (Dousman, Wis.) tallied a game-high 14 tackles (10 solo) while sophomore Cameron Wagar (West Richland, Wash.) posted nine solo takedowns.  

The Bison close the 2012 regular season with a noon contest at Salve Regina next Saturday while the Engineers head to Endicott for a 5 p.m. contest.