BANGOR, Maine -- Mount Ida College hung with defending Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) champions Husson College but eventually saw their 2015 season come to a close with a 20-7 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Winkin Sports Complex.
Husson running back John Smith rushed for over 100 yards for the seventh time this season and the 15th of his career as Husson clinched a share of the regular season conference title, but will lose out on the conference's NCAA bid due to losing the tiebreaker with Norwich.
The Mustangs lead the all-time series against the Eagles 8-5, but fall to 2-8 for the year, while Husson (7-2, 6-1 ECFC) wins its first back-to-back games in the series for the first time in seven years.
Andrew Light (Absecon, N.J.), Smith, Chris Toyloy (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Mike Whitsett (Chicopee, Mass.) completed 7-of-17 passes for 90 yards and two interceptions, as Mount Ida got playing time for several of their young quarterbacks. Cedric Baker (Maple Shade, N.J.) caught two passes for 70 yards and Melquawn Pinkney (Springfield, Mass.) rushed for 24 yards on 17 carries in his final game.
The Eagles struck first with 8:29 remaining in the first half when Smith punched in his 16th rushing touchdown on the season setting a new single-season school record with a 3-yard run. Husson led 7-0 going into the intermission.
Husson extended their lead to 14 after Rick Orio intercepted a Junior Smith (Windsor, Conn.) pass at the Mustang 29. Four plays later Cory Brandon connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Robenson Saintard with 1:59 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles put the game out of reach on Smith's second rushing touchdown of the game when he broke loose for an 18-yard score at the 14:54 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Mustangs only score on the day came with 10:02 left in the game, a Travis O'Brien (Portsmouth, R.I.) 2-yard run capping off a 7 play, 72-yard drive.
Husson totaled 299 yards of offense in the victory with 110 via the air and 189 on the ground. The 5th ranked Eagle defensive held Mount Ida to 108 yards of total offense, the second lowest allowed on the season by the Eagles.
Smith carried the ball for a game-high 39 times for 198 yards and two scores giving him 262 attempts for 1,457 yards on the season. He now has the most attempts and yards by any Eagle player in program history for a single-season.
Cory Brandon in his first collegiate start of his career connected on 12-of-21 passes for 110 yards with one touchdown.
Saintard was Brandon's main target on the day, catching four passes for 18 yards and one touchdown giving him six on the season.
The Mustang's defense saw 13 tackles from Sean Chinova (Watertown, Conn.), 12 from Matt Martin (Arlington, Mass.), 9 from Daniel Billy (Bradenton, Fla.) and 8 from Armand Rivera (Warwick, N.Y.). Rivera added a game-high 5.5 tfl.
Ellis Throckmorton paced the Husson defense with 13 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss (tfl), 0.5 sack and two quarterback hurries. Bryant Wade added ten tackles and 0.5 tfl, while Alonzo Connor record 6 tackles and two sacks. Orio and Jean Gabriel each had an interception.