Anna Maria beats Coast Guard football 29-24
Sep. 26—NEW LONDON — Coast Guard coach C.C. Grant would later equate it to a pitcher, in baseball, who throws a 98 mph fastball exactly where he wants it only to have the batter drive it 450-feet for a home run.
"It's one of those things," Grant said. "... When that happens, you tip your cap."
Anna Maria quarterback Alex Cohen played the role of the home run hitter late Saturday afternoon, throwing a 27-yard touchdown pass to Deandre Wallace with 21 seconds remaining to give the Amcats a 29-24 victory over the Coast Guard Academy football team before a full house on Parents' Weekend at Cadet Memorial Field.
Wallace, who is 6-foot-5, caught the ball in double coverage, leaping over a pair of Coast Guard defenders.
Coast Guard got a 34-yard completion from quarterback Tafari Wall to Damaso Jaime on its final possession, getting to the Anna Maria 41, but Wall was sacked on second down and the Bears ran out of time in seeking their second straight victory.
Coast Guard clung to a 24-23 lead for the entire fourth quarter to that point, but couldn't capitalize on any of its prime opportunities to add to the lead.
The Bears got a 54-yard kick return from Jacob Wagner which gave them the ball at the Anna Maria 27-yard-line at the end of the fourth quarter, but Coast Guard ended up punting after a false start backed them up to what was eventually fourth-and-13.
Coast Guard then got an interception by freshman Ethan Lasher, taking over possession near midfield. But the Bears turned the ball back over on an interception by Anna Maria's Kasir Henry.
Coast Guard punted twice more, as Wall scrambled for an 8-yard loss on third-and-5 from the Anna Maria 32 and, following another Coast Guard interception which created a buzz in the stadium with 3 minutes, 21 seconds left, the Bears had a first-down run by Wall negated by a block in the back, eventually resulting in fourth-and-11.
Finnegan Hall's punt backed up Anna Maria to its own 25 with 1:36 on the clock, but the one-point lead wouldn't stand against a determined Cohen, Anna Maria's senior quarterback who was knocked out of the game for a time after a big hit. Cohen was 5-for-7 on the drive for 70 yards.
"It's just an amazing feeling," Cohen said. "We practice situational football so much. The two-minute drill is so much a part of our practice. My mentality going into that final drive was confident. We were going to come away with a win there."
Coast Guard finished with 424 yards offense, getting 28 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown from Jared Colletti, his second straight 100-yard rushing week. Wall was 19-for-32 for 272 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Jaime had 2 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown and Colletti added six catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Coast Guard had three interceptions.
It was the mistakes with the Bears up one which bothered Grant more than the game-winning touchdown.
"Simple things," Grant said. "We're driving the ball ... we have the ball on their 32 and it's like 'We have two plays here (for a first down).' Then Tafari takes a loss instead of throwing the ball away. We go from having a chance for a first down to punting.
"We made some boneheaded errors as we were driving the ball. In a game as close as this, you can't make boneheaded errors. ... (But) you forget that we're developing kids here. We had some good points. The defense, for the second half, controlled the game."
Anna Maria led 17-10 at halftime. The Amcats scored first on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Cohen to David Robinson on their first drive, going up 7-0. Coast Guard's Hall came back with a 40-yard field goal as the Bears pulled within 7-3, but with Hall about to make it 7-6 on the next possession with a 44-yard kick, Coast Guard was called for a false start.
With Hall then lining up a 49-yarder, the kick was blocked and returned 60 yards for a touchdown by Donavin Johnson, as Anna Maria took the 14-3 lead. Coast Guard carved the lead to 14-10 with a 1-yard touchdown run by Colletti following an interception by sophomore Noah Greene.
Anna's Maria's Ryan Kent closed the half with a 24-yard field goal to make it 17-10.
Coast Guard tied it up immediately to start the second half on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Wall to Colletti, with Colletti racing under the ball to make the catch in stride. The Bears scored again with 55 seconds left in the third quarter on Wall's 67-yarder to Jaime, taking the first lead of the game at 24-17.
With Old Lyme's Matt Sapere taking over at quarterback for Cohen, however, Sapere threw a 63-yard touchdown to Wallace to make it 24-23 after Coast Guard's Ryan Vigo blocked the extra point.
Coast Guard plays at home again next week, opening New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference play against Norwich.
