Football Comes From Behind to Defeat Coast Guard

New London, CT - Senior quarterback Bruce Rich scored on a 13-yard run with 10 seconds left as Framingham State scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to beat Coast Guard 25-23 in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) Bogan Division game, the final game of the season for both teams.

Framingham State (5-5, 3-4), which had 508 yards of total offense, finishes the season at .500 for the first time since the team finished 6-4 in 1986 while Coast Guard finishes 3-6 overall and 3-4 in division play. 

Coast Guard was leading 23-19 and appeared to have the game in hand when junior Pat Bennett intercepted Rich with 3:47 left on the Coast Guard 16-yard line, but junior running back Steve Arguelles fumbled with 52 second left on the Framingham 41-yard line giving the Rams one last chance and it took them just four plays to go 59 yards and win the game.

Rich threw a 14-yard pass to sophomore Shawn Miller and Rich then ran for 20 yards moving the ball to the Coast Guard 25. Rich then threw a 12-yard pass to sophomore Jonathan Hayes before scoring the game winning touchdown. Hayes had a game-high 13 catches for 115 yards.

Coast Guard led 10-0 at halftime as senior quarterback Niles Pierson (21 of 30, 279 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to junior Matt Keith (4 catches, 63 yards) with 7:14 left in the first quarter and freshman Jacob Shackleford kicked a 28-yard field goal with 29 seconds left in the first half.

Coast Guard had fumbled on its first possession of the second half before four straight touchdown drives, two by each team in the third quarter.

Miller scored the first of his three second half rushing touchdowns on the Rams first possession of the second half, a five-yard run with 11:33 left in the third quarter making the score 10-7.

The Bears answered on the next possession as Pierson threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to junior Sam England, the extra point was no good and Coast Guard led 16-7 with 8:29 left in the third.

Framingham came right back as Miller scored on a 25-yard run, Bennett blocked the extra point and the score was 16-13 with 4:15 left in the quarter.

Following a 34-yard kick return by Bennett, which gave Coast Guard the ball at midfield, Pierson capped a nine-play drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Arguelles on third-and-goal and following Shackleford's PAT the Bears led 23-13 with 1:09 left in the quarter.

Framingham punted and Pierson was intercepted on the next two possessions before Miller capped a five play, 56-yard drive with an 11-yard run, the two-point pass failed making the score 23-19 with 11:12 left in the game.

Coast Guard punted on its next possession, Framingham took over at its own 10 and drove down to the Coast Guard 35-yard line, but Bennett had the interception which appeared to clinch the win for the Bears.

Miller had 245 yards of total offense as he carried 25 times for 171 yards and the three scores while also catching eight passes for 74 yards. Rich was 35 of 47 for 306 yards as the Rams dominated time of possession, keeping the ball for 39 minutes and 23 seconds.

Arguelles led Coast Guard, which finished with 403 total yards (124 rushing), with 15 carries for 93 yards while England had a team-high seven catches for 99 yards.

Sophomore linebacker Anthony Pappagallo led the Rams with 10 tackles, eight solo while senior linebacker Brian Yurovich led Coast Guard with 12 tackles, seven solo and a sack.

Story courtesy of the Coast Guard Sports Information Office.