Worcester, MA --- Coast Guard senior Jon Resch (Litiz, PA) rushed for a trio of touchdowns on 43 yards while he passed for 306 yards and one touchdown as he helped lead the Bears to a 31-28 overtime triumph over Worcester State in New England Bogan Division action on Saturday afternoon.
With the win CGA ups their record to 4-3 while the Lancers slip to 5-3 overall. Both squads now sit in a tie for third place in the NEFC Bogan Division standings.
The duo-headed combination of freshman Mark Clancy (Havertown, PA) and junior Tyler Hames (Milford, CT) rushed for 57 yards as senior Pat Meggars (Manchester, CT) finished with six receptions for 135 yards and one touchdown.
Senior Corey Spencer (Malden, MA) put up the second-highest passing total in program history with 416 yards and three touchdowns on 37-of-59 passing - both of which established new single-game marks.
Spencer eclipsed a mark that had been previously held by Dan Hanson who set it during the 1995 ECAC Bowl matchup against RPI.
Junior AJ Scerra (Marlboro, MA) grabbed a school-record 17 receptions for 184 yards and one touchdown while sophomore Jack Sprague (Maynard, MA) and freshman Nick Riley (Stratford, CT) combined to haul in eight receptions for 120 yards.
Sophomore Mike Dance (Rocky Hill, CT) and freshman DaShawn Taylor (Ayer, MA) combined to rush for 34 times for 123 yards.
Neither team got off to a strong start as posession of the ball went back and forth three times between the two squads.
On Coast Guards third series, the Bears were aided by being set-up in good field position after a failed Lancer fourth-down conversion and scored on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Resch to Meggars with 6:23 on the clock.
The Blue and Gold responded by driving deep into enemy territory - converting twice on third downs - but were unsuccessful as they turned the ball over on downs.
Coast Guard promptly responded and marched down the field on an 11 play, 81 yard drive that culminated in a four-yard touchdown plunge by Resch, who completed a key 24-yard hook-up to Haynes out of the backfield, for the 14-0 advantage with 12:32 left in the second quarter.
Worcester State then kept the visitors on thier own side of the field on their next two drives to help set the stage for the first WSU score.
With 5:22 on the clock and the ball on the Blue and Gold 43, the Lancers drove to the goal line and made made it a 14-7 game at the intermission on a five-yard TD reception to junior Richie Dube (Shrewsbury, MA).
The hosts had a chance to put points on the board to start off the third, but junior Derek Muccini (Upton, MA) missed a 43-yard field goal try with the wind at his back.
The Lancer defense responded by holding Coast Guard to a pair of three-and-outs on their next two posessions as they helped the offense knot the score up at 14-14 at the 4:06 mark in the third. Dube caught his second score of the contest on a five-yard curl route.
CGA promptly answered the call by an air attack that saw Resch flick a 54 yard completion to sophomore Collis Brown (Kingwood, TX) and a 18-yard pass to senior Casey Paris (E. Tawakoni, TX). to put the visitors on the goal line.
The Bears then went up 21-14 on a one-yard run touchdown run by Resch to end the third period.
In a wild fourth quarter, the crowd was treated to an offensive display that saw Spencer complete six of his ten passes - including three on third down - in a four-minute drive midway through the period.
The drive ended with a four-yard score by Scerra, who made the wide-open grab on fourth down. Muccini, however, missed the PAT as the scoreboard had the visitors up 21-20 with 7:12 left in the contest.
After the Lancers held Coast Guard to a three-and-out, they took advantage of a poor punt to score from the opposite 41-yardline.
With the combination of Taylor and Dance who rushed six times for 15 yards and a 17-yard hook-up on third down by Spencer to senior Justin DeAndrade (E. Bridgewater, MA), Worcester State tallied the go-ahead points on a one-yard touchdown blast by Taylor.
Spencer also helped the Lancers erase the missed extra point with a successful two-point conversion to Scerra.
But Coast Guard found holes in Worcester State's prevent defense as they tied up the score on a quick drive that lasted nearly two-minutes.
Worcester State had the first posession of overtime, but failed to score as Muccini failed to put the Lancers on the board with a 35-yard field goal that was just to the left of the post.
The visitors took advantage of the good fortune and rushed several times to line-up the perfect spot for freshman Tyler Henning (Cypress, TX) who calmly drilled a 27-yard field goal for the game-winning score.
Sophomore Aaron Black (Edmond, OK) paced the visitors defensively with nine tackles (eight solo) including four tackles for a loss and a pair of sacks while senior Mark Bonner (Virginia Beach, VA) collected a game-best 13 solo tackles.
Fourth-year Dante Adams (Chesapeake, VA) and classmate Curt Barrett (Bremen, GA) also distinguished themselves with 11 tackles each and fourth-year Drew Russo (Boca Raton, FL) picked Spencer off twice while adding a forced fumble.
Junior Matthew Begley (E. Bridgewater, MA) was the standout for the Lancers on defense with eight tackles. On the line, senior Joe Sweet (Walpole, MA) and junior Bryan Narcisse (Medway, MA) both finished with seven tackles each and they combined for 4.5 TFL.
Sophomore Tyler Asam (Milford, MA) also chipped in with 2.5 TFL of five yards.
Senior Graham Asum (Marlboro, MA) finished with two kick returns for 46 yards. Asum now has 584 yards on 20 returns to his credit which eclipsed the single-campaign record of 558 held by Lancer Hall of Famer Kevin Gniadek (1998-01).
Asum also passed Gniadek's all-time mark as he now has 1,630 in his four-year career with four kick-returns for touchdowns.
Henning averaged 62.2 yards on kickoffs and nailed all four of his PAT attempts in addition to blasting away the game-winning field goal.
In just eight games, Spencer also now has 195 completions for an eye-popping 2,240 yards and 19 touchdowns. He reset the single-season completion record that had been held by Hanson, who set it during the 1995 season.
Spencer's total yardage and passing scores are the fourth-highest single-season marks ever put up.
Scerra also has an incredible 72 catches to his credit which passes Jeremy Frisch's tally of 67 which was set in 2005.
Worcester State will play its regular-season finale on Saturday at 1 PM against Fitchburg State on Homecoming. Coast Guard hosts Framingham State at 1:30 as they try to knock of the Rams who are unbeaten in Bogan Division play.