Recap
Senior Michael Pina threw for a career-high 329 yards and three scores as the Nichols College football team rallied from multiple deficits to upend the University of New England 51-48 in four overtimes Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Blue Storm Stadium in Biddeford, Maine.
 
Pina connected with senior Tony Martignoli on a 34-yard score, sophomore Daniel Parker from 24 yards out, and senior Jake Wood for a 10-yard score as the Bison moved to 5-2 for the first time since 2001, when they finished the season 6-4. Junior back Joshua Pierre-Charles rushed for 82 yards and three scores – all from two yards out – and now stands in a tie for No. 6 all-time at Nichols with 13 rushing scores.
 
Sophomore Hunter Ferreira led all NC student-athletes with 148 yards on 12 catches while both Martignoli and Wood finished with five receptions. Defensively, sophomore Joe Cox paced the Bison with 11 tackles (five solo) while senior captain Michael Spraulding picked up nine (seven solo). Junior Dylan McNamara came up with a key interception in the endzone in the third overtime to keep the game tied.
 
The Bison trailed four separate times through the first three quarters, only to respond with a touchdown each time, which sent the game to the fourth tied at 28. Parker's score with 9:13 remaining in the fourth capped a 13-play, 97-yard drive and put the Bison up for the first time on the afternoon, 35-28. UNE answered with a nine-play, 55-yard drive of their own which Peyton Phillips polished off with a two-yard TD pass from Brian Peters to knot the score at 35 with 5:38 remaining in regulation.
 
Sophomore Amari Smith - who finished the day with 126 kick return yards - returned the ensuing kickoff 61 yards to the UNE 12, which set the stage for a 28-yard field goal from senior Alex Santiago that gave NC a 38-35 lead. The Nor'easters then drove 42 yards in 12 plays before Kevin Heintz knocked a 40-yard field goal through the uprights with 56 seconds left on the clock to force OT.
 
After the first overtime ended with neither team able to covert a field goal attempt, the teams traded touchdowns in the second OT to send it to a third extra session tied at 45. Santiago's 35-yard attempt in the third OT was blocked, setting the stage for the Nor'easters to win the game with any score. However, on the fourth play of their drive, McNamara intercepted Peters' offering in the endzone to force a fourth OT. Heintz 21-yard field goal gave UNE a brief 48-45 lead as Pierre-Charles won the game for NC with his third score of the game.
 
Three things you need to know...
            -Pina is now No. 2 all-time in program history with 30 touchdown passes. He trails only Michael Carven (2002-06), who graduated with 40.
            -Pierre-Charles has 1,594 career rushing yards, which is No. 4 all-time at Nichols. Next up is Kit Holmes (1987-89) with 1,686.
            -Today's game was the longest in school history. It also moved the Bison moved to 5-3 all-time in overtime. Nichols has won its last three OT decisions (28-27 vs Westfield State, 9/16/13; 36-35 vs MIT, 11/12/16).
 
Quote
"Just, wow. I don't even know where to begin. This team is so resilient. You can never count us out. Lately, the defense has been putting the offense in a good position (to score), but that wasn't the case today. We played from behind most of the game, but our offense kept its focus and seemed to respond every time with a score. Then, when we needed our defense the most, we got a huge turnover in overtime." –Nichols head coach Dale Olmsted
 
Next game
Saturday, November 2 vs Husson, 12:00 p.m.