Ryan Murphy’s Game-Winning TD Catch Sinks MIT, 31-27

RYAN MURPHY'S GAME-WINNING TOUCHDOWN CATCH

BEVERLY, Mass. – Ryan Murphy's (Durham, Conn.) game-winning touchdown catch with 1:10 remaining in the contest catapulted the Endicott football team to a thrilling 31-27 comeback victory over MIT on Saturday afternoon at the newly named Hempstead Stadium.

Trailing 27-24 with 4:17 left to play, the Gulls orchestrated an eight play, 78-yard drive over the span of 3:07 to lock down its second conference win (2-0 NEFC) of the season.

Sophomore quarterback Sam Ouellette (Rochester, N.H.) engineered the drive completing five out of his six passing attempts for 70 yards, which was capped by the eventual score to Murphy in the left corner of the end zone. Ouellette connected with five different receivers (two running backs, three wideouts) throughout the drive, which included a 37-yard reception by sophomore Eric Razney (Peabody, Mass.) that set up Murphy's game-winning score.

Senior captain Spencer Walsh (Melrose, Mass.) amassed 17 yards on the drive (8 yards rushing, 9 receiving), while Jake Pelletier (Trumbull, Conn.) and Johari Johnson (Rockville, Md.) both had catches over five yards, respectively.

MIT did make a comeback attempt in its final drive, but an attempted hail mary pass towards the left corner of the end zone as time expired was thwarted by senior Jamison Craft (Phillipston, Mass.) who broke up the game-winning touchdown bid a few yards short of the end zone. Pressure off the edge by Endicott senior outside linebacker Marjan Solomon (Waltham, Mass.) also forced Engineers' senior quarterback Danny Callahan (Hinsdale, Ill.) to rush his throw.

ENDICOTT OFFENSE

• Ouellette went 19-for-31 passing on 201 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
• Johnson picked up a career-high 88 yards rushing on 21 carries to go along with his one-yard touchdown run at the 7:29 mark of the second quarter to tie the game up at 14-14. Johnson also finished with a team-high 140 all-purpose yards (88 rushing, 25 receiving, 27 kickoff).
• Pelletier led all receivers with a game-high 61 yards and two scores. Pelletier's first TD of the day came at 10:29 of the first quarter to cut into the Gulls' deficit at 14-7, while his second TD occurred at 12:48 of the third to give Endicott a 24-21 advantage.
• Walsh gained 77 yards on the ground, and nine yards receiving for 86 all-purpose yards.
• The Gulls won the time of possession matchup by over ten minutes (35:02-24:58).
• Endicott only went 4-of-13 on third down conversions but 3-of-5 on fourth down conversions, which led to two scoring plays. Kyle Regan (Nashua, N.H.) drilled home a 31-yard field goal thanks to one of the fourth down conversions that made the deficit 21-17 (3rd quarter), while Pelletier weaved his way through the defense for his second score of the contest (14-7 deficit, 2nd quarter).
• The Blue and Green had 201 yards passing and 200 yards rushing, its most balanced offensive output this season.

MIT OFFENSE

• Freshman running back Adis Ojeda (Springfield, Va.) had an impressive afternoon registering 221 yards rushing on 29 attempts for three touchdowns. Ojeda scored touchdowns of 49 yards, three yards and 21 yards in the loss. He also singlehandedly gave MIT a 27-24 lead with 4:23 left to play compiling 97 out of the 99 yards, highlighted by a 51-yard run on second-and-two from MIT's own nine-yard line.
• Callahan was 8-for-28 passing for a total of 80 yards.
• Senior Seve Esparrago (St. Louis, Mo.) paced the Engineers' receiving corps with four receptions for 40 yards.
• MIT notched 338 yards on offense, its second-lowest total this season.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 12-1 in the all-time series against MIT dating back to 2003.
• The Gulls won the first 11 games of the series before falling to MIT, 34-29, last season.
• Today's game started a tale of two quarters as both teams put up 14 points apiece in the first and second quarters, respectively, before Endicott eventually earned the comeback win.
• Endicott debuted alternate jerseys today's. The Gulls are now 1-0 in their new uniforms.

BE A POSITIVE INFLUENCE

• Junior defensive end Matthew Dow (Nottingham, N.H.) led all Endicott student-athletes with eight tackles (three solo, five assisted). Dow also had one sack and two tackles for a loss in the win.
• The defense tallied six quarterback hurries with John Fortes (North Reading, Mass.) and Ryan Brannigan (East Greenwich, R.I.) leading the way with two apiece.
• Craft, Tyler Calitri (West Hartford, Conn.), and Solomon all had pass breakups.
• Mike Romanelli (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) forced his third career fumble in today's win.
• Junior free safety Thomas Connors (Amesbury, Mass.) blocked his first career punt in the second quarter which led to Johnson's one-yard TD run.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (2-3, 2-0 NEFC) enjoys a bye week before traveling to Salve Regina University on Saturday, October 17 for a conference matchup against the Seahawks at 12 p.m. MIT (1-4, 1-1 NEFC) visits Coast Guard Academy on Saturday, October 17 at 1:30 p.m. 

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