Box Score BEVERLY, Mass. – Junior
Bryan Hummel (Dedham, Mass.) accounted for a pair of touchdowns (one rush, one pass) and freshman
Bradford Wry (Norton, Mass.) rushed for 87 yards in Nichols College's 26-16 loss at Endicott Saturday afternoon in New England Football Conference (NEFC) action at Endicott Stadium.
Hummel also rushed for 41 yards in his first collegiate start and helped the Bison put a scare into the defending conference champion Gulls, who improved to 3-0 in the conference (4-2 overall). Senior
Brett Franciosi (Leominster, Mass.) hauled in a 10-yard touchdown reception – his second of the season – and finished with a team-high 45 receiving yards.
The Bison forced three turnovers as senior
Paul Craig (New London, Conn.) intercepted Endicott senior signal caller Drew Frenette (New Bedford, Mass.) at the goal line while senior
Malcolm Gladden (Springfield, Mass.) and junior
Connor Richard (Londonderry, N.H.) each recovered a fumble. Craig and sophomore
Brian Camacho (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each registered three pass breakups, and Craig also intercepted a two-point conversion attempt and returned it 98 yards for two Nichols points.
The fourth TD pass Frenette – a 30-yard completion to senior wide out Brett Egizi (Walpole, Mass.) – provided some much needed separation from a surging Nichols squad that had pulled within six points with 6:18 remaining in the game.
Trailing 20-0 at the half, the Bison leaned on their running game to crawl back into contention as Hummel ran for a six-yard score to make it 20-7 midway through the third quarter. Later in a fourth-quarter drive, Hummel handed the ball off to
Jarvis Harris (Houston, Texas) with regularity, and the freshman responded with 36 yards on the ground to set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hummel to Franciosi. Nichols trailed Endicott 20-14 with just 6:18 remaining.
On the ensuing drive, Frenette relied on freshman running back Lavante Wiggins (Dalton, Mass.) and sophomore receiver Conor Crotty (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.). Both had crucial third-down conversions through the air. Frenette also hooked up with junior tight end Dimitri Skinsacos (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) for a 16-yard completion to extend Endicott's final scoring drive. On 2nd-and-10 on the Nichols 30, Frenette found a wide-open Egizi in the end zone with 2:16 remaining to make it a 26-14 Gulls lead.
The Gulls opted to go for two following the touchdown, and a curious play call resulted in Endicott senior receiver Nate Lewis' (Acushnet, Mass.) pass attempt getting picked off and returned 98 yards by Craig to the end zone for two points.
Nichols gained a first down on its final drive, but the Gulls defense held firm on 4th-and-8 by forcing a pass incompletion to take over on downs. The win pushed Endicott's all-time record against the Bison to 10-2.
Frenette finished the game 19-of-36 for 330 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. The majority of his yardage went to Lewis, who hauled in seven catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns – including a 70-yard score on the game's first offensive play.
Defensively, Endicott registered 13 takedowns behind the line of scrimmage - two shy of the program record. Defensive ends Andrew Holfinger (Sterling, Mass.) and Craig Anderson (Franklin, Mass.) both had 2.5 tackles for loss with middle linebackers John Elnagger (Rowley, Mass.) and Erik Goguen (Sauderstown, R.I.) adding two apiece. The defense also recorded five sacks.
Nichols freshman linebacker
Brett McEvoy (Wrentham, Mass.) led all players with 14 tackles (five solo) and one sack. Senior linebacker
Orlando Vega (Homestead, Fla.) was also in double figures for tackles with 12. Gulls sophomore lineman Matthew Dow (Nottingham, N.H.) led Endicott with 11 tackles followed by 10 from both Dwinell and Anderson.
Nichols (1-5, 0-3 NEFC) hosts MIT next Saturday at 12 p.m. while Endicott travels to Coast Guard for a 1:30 p.m. contest.
Contributions from Endicott sports information
