NEWTON, Mass. – With a shot at the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) championship still in their reach, Mount Ida needed a win over Husson University on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field, but came up short, falling 41-21 to the Eagles in the season finale.
Instead, it is Husson that claims their first conference championship by finishing out the year undefeated in the ECFC (7-0), and pushing their winning streak to eight games overall (8-1).
Mount Ida finishes their year at 5-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference, having won five of their final seven games to round out the 2014 campaign.
The Mustangs also recognized the members of their Senior Class before Saturday's home finale. Among those graduating are defensive back Jovan Wilkins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), quarterback Jawad Yatim (Shrewsbury, Mass.), linebacker Kalyn Smithson (Vilseck, Germany), defensive linemen Derek Bent (Billerica, Mass.) and Anthony Sanders (Meriden, Conn.), offensive linemen Troy Lawrence (West Haven, Conn.) and Andrew Miller (Allentown, Pa.), and wide receiver Nelson Curet (Roxbury, Mass.).
Cheerleaders Ashley Carpenter (Burrillville, R.I.) and Noel Torres (Blackstone, Mass.) and football manager Teiana Williams (Hartford, Conn.) were also honored in the pre-game ceremony.
On the field, sophomore Matt Greenman (Portsmouth, R.I.) caught five passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns to lead Mount Ida, but the Mustangs could not hold down the passing attack of the Eagles, who saw junior quarterback Joe Seccareccia (Bangor, Maine) throw for 206 yards and five touchdowns.
Three of those scores went to sophomore wideout Deon Wiggins (Bridgeport, Conn.), who grabbed seven balls for 113 yards.
Along with Wiggins and Seccareccia, freshman running back John Smith (Fayetteville, Ga.) starred for Husson, gaining 158 yards on 34 carries and punching in the final score of the day to seal the win for the visitors.
After Josiah Hartley (Bangor, Maine) caught a 14 yard touchdown pass in the back corner of the end zone to give Husson the lead in the first quarter on a play that was set up by a muffed punt fumbled by the Mustangs, Mount Ida levelled the score when Greenman caught a 34 yard slant pass from Yatim, who completed 11-19 pass attempts for 145 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Both kicks on each team's opening touchdown failed, so the score was knotted at six apiece, but on Husson's next possession, senior Ryan Stroud (Dover-Foxcroft, Maine) grabbed a 38 yard touchdown pass to put the visitors up 13-6, which is how the teams went to the break.
The second half belonged to Wiggins, particularly the third quarter, in which he caught a pair of touchdowns. The first came on a fourth and nine play, in which the Eagles went for it from the Mount Ida 32 yard line and Seccareccia floated a pass to the left side which Wiggins used his size to come down with.
On the next series, Mount Ida freshman Travis O'Brien (Portsmouth, R.I.) took the first down hand-off and scampered 59 yards to set up Mount Ida at the Husson 26 yard line. After five straight hand-offs to freshman Jaleel Battle (Buffalo, N.Y.), Yatim got into the end zone on a one-yard keeper to pull Mount Ida back to within one score.
However, Husson opened up their lead again on their next possession, as Smith rushed for 17 yards on a 3rd and 13 play, and Wiggins caught a ten-yard touchdown pass for his second score of the day.
The final dagger came courtesy of Wiggins again when, with twelve minutes left in regulation, he came away with a 27 yard jump ball after Seccareccia was flushed out and escaped a near-sack in the back-field.
Yatim found Greenman on another short pass from midfield that the sophomore wide receiver got loose down the right sideline and took to the end zone on the next possession, but Husson used Smith to eat time off the clock and stopped any hopes of a Mustang comeback after a forced and recovered fumble by Sean Chinova (Watertown, Conn.) when two plays later Bryant Wade (Fairfield, Maine) sacked Yatim and knocked the ball out, recovering it himself.
That set up a 13-yard rush by Smith to cap the scoring, with Josh Gray (Bucksport, Maine) adding his fifth extra point of the day.
Chinova led the Mustangs with 15 tackles, ending the season with a team-high 112 tackles, which is also among the national leaders. Sanders had 11 tackles, while Wilkins had nine tackles and broke up a potential touchdown pass from Seccareccia.
Bent had 1.5 sacks in his final game, giving him five sacks on the season, which is second on the team.
Kenny Sweet (Portland, Maine) led the Husson defense with 12 tackles, one of them for a loss of nine yards, and also had an interception, which he returned for 30 yards. In addition to his fumble recovery, Wade had nine tackles and one of Husson's two sacks in the game.
The Eagles controlled the time of possession, leading 33:16 to 26:44, and were 3-4 in red zone chances, while Mount Ida scored in their only trip to the red zone.
Husson now moves on the NCAA tournament, where they will receive the automatic bid from the ECFC, with the announcement of the bracket coming later this month.