This Endicott College football team received a bye into the second round of the NCAA Division 3 playoffs for the first time in team history. Saturday afternoon in Salisbury, Md., the Gulls came within a few feet of pushing their way deeper into the postseason.
Ultimately, it wasn’t to be as host Salisbury knocked off Endicott, 35-28, at Sea Gull Stadium in a battle of Top 25 squads. With the loss, the Gulls saw their season come to an end at 9-2.
Quarterback Shea Lynch of Peabody attempted a career high 41 pass attempts for Endicott, completing 25 of those (61 percent) for 246 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He helped engineer a second half comeback that saw the Gulls rally from early deficits of 13-0 and 20-7 to take a one-point lead, then rally again to make it 28-28 after three quarters.
The 24th ranked team in the country, Endicott put up 21 points in the third quarter, starting its comeback when Lynch threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Adam Goodfellow just a minute and eight seconds after the second half began.
Markys Bridgewater — who finished with 138 yards rushing on 15 attempts — ran it into the end zone from 17 yards out on Endicott’s next possession, and Brandon Alfaro Mateo’s extra point kick gave the locals a 21-20 edge. He had also scored his club’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.
Following a Salisbury score and successful 2-point conversion, the Gulls once again responded before the third quarter ended. A forced fumble by Endicott special teamer Justin Marino of Lynn on a punt, which teammate Will Tirrell recovered, gave his team the ball inside the Sea Gulls’ 10-yard line. Lynch then fired a 7-yard TD strike to Jacob Ward to knot things up at 28-28.
But Salisbury, ranked 9th/12th nationally in the two polls, would not relent. They scored to re-take the lead for the final time with a little over 11 minutes to go, then buckled down after the Gulls drove 70 yards in nine plays to the hosts’ 5-yard line. Endicott was stopped on four straight plays, including two at the goal line, as the Sea Gulls held on for the victory.
Salisbury now moves on to take on Johns Hopkins in the third round of the playoffs next Saturday in a clash of 10-1 teams.
Jayson Little caught five passes for 84 yards for Endicott, with Goodfellow pulling down a team-best six catches for 70 yards. Defensively, Alfino Davis had an interception while Joe Tirrell had a dozen tackles. Former Masconomet standout Will Shannon of Topsfield was one tackle away from his career high for one game, finishing with eight.
Having won their fifth consecutive league title this fall while going a perfect 7-0 in Conference of New England play, Endicott is now a combined 46-10 over the last five seasons while losing just once in their last 29 CNE contests.