Curry’s Zammit ‘goes’ past Mariners

loading...

CASTINE – Depending on the offensive scheme, a running back may answer to a variety of names.

Sometimes he’s a tailback. Sometimes, a halfback. Other times, a wingback.

Then there are the names that Curry College coach Steven Nelson attaches to his talented sophomore, Raphael Zammit.

Often, Zammit starts off a play as a “No” back. But along the way to the end zone, Nelson often changes his mind.

“You say, ‘No, no, no!’ and then ‘Go, go, go!’ because [he’s so unpredictable], Nelson said after the Colonels had posted a 55-24 win over Maine Maritime Saturday afternoon at Ritchie Field.

On Saturday, Zammit gave Nelson more opportunities to say “Go” than “No,” as he rushed for 117 yards on 10 carries and scored three touchdowns – each of the make-it-up-as-you-go-along variety.

The highlights:

. On his first touch of the game, Zammit fielded a punt at the C-45, followed a block to the right, and bolted untouched for a score that made it 7-0 with 12:43 to go in the first quarter.

. Late in the second quarter, the 5-foot-8, 170-pound speedster made it 28-6 when he took a toss, started around left end, and realized that there was no hole.

No matter: He pivoted just before he got to the sideline, traversed the field, and rambled 11 yards – around right end – into the end zone.

. And on Curry’s first play of the second half, Zammit capped his day with a 64-yard TD sprint on a first-down off-tackle run.

He bounced off one tackler at the line of scrimmage, kept his feet, and scooted down the left sideline into the end zone.

“You’ve got to go with the flow,” Zammit said with a shrug. “That’s just how it happens.”

Curry improved to 2-0, while Maine Maritime Academy is 0-1.

While the Colonels piled up a 49-6 lead midway through the third period, Curry wasn’t exactly dominating the line of scrimmage: MMA finished with 483 total yards of offense to their opponents’ 387.

The problem: After MMA pulled within 7-6 on a 34-yard option keeper by Patrick Bard with 4:12 to go in the first period, five straight Mariner possessions ended on turnovers.

A hefty chunk of MMA’s offense came in the fourth quarter, as the Mariners scored three touchdowns and outgained Curry 186-74.

“We were moving the ball pretty good in the first half,” first-year MMA coach Chris McKenney said. “We just had turnovers and some mental mistakes.”

Among the mistakes: Seven fumbles (four of which ended up in Curry’s hands) and three interceptions in the game.

MMA’s offense was led by sophomore QB Bard, who played wide receiver last year, and freshman fullback Don Thibodeau.

Bard completed nine of 16 passes for 184 yards, rushed 15 times for 84 yards, and scored three touchdowns. Thibodeau added 142 yards and a TD on 16 carries.

Bard said the game taught the Mariners some valuable lessons.

“In our first game of the season with a new offense, some mistakes were happening,” Bard said. “Really, today was a big learning day. We learned a lot today. We didn’t play terribly bad. We just made a lot of mistakes that shouldn’t have happened.”

Curry quarterback Steve Santos completed seven of 11 attempts for 125 yards and three touchdowns.

Stearns of Millinocket grad Justin Cummings made an impact in his first college game for MMA, rushing seven times for 49 yards and catching one pass for 60 yards.

He broke through for a 28-yard gain (which was shortened to 21 yards on a penalty) on his first collegiate carry.

COLONELS 55, MARINERS 24

Curry (2-0) 14 14 21 6?55

Maine Maritime (0-1) 6 0 0 18?24

C?Zammit 55 punt return (Lovendale kick)

MMA?Bard 34 run (kick failed)

C?Ciannetti 65 pass from Santos (Lovendale kick)

C?Coppenrath 15 pass from Santos (Lovendale kick)

C?Zammit 11 run (Lovendale kick)

C?Zammit 65 run (Lovendale kick)

C?Lang 23 pass from Santos (Lovendale kick)

C?Upshaw 13 run (Lovendale kick)

MMA?Bard 1 run (rush failed)

MMA?Thibodeau 3 run (rush failed)

MMA?Bard 10 run (kick failed)

C?Eakins 6 run (rush failed)

Curry Maine Maritime

First downs 17 16

Rushing att.-yards 54-262 45-299

Passing comp.-att. 7-12 9-16

Passing yards 125 184

Total yards 387 483

Punts-avg. 4-29.8 3-25.3

Fumbles-lost 0-0 7-4

Intercepted by 3 0

Penalties-yards 3-15 6-45

Rushing

Curry: Eakins 7-38, Pascarelli 1- (-9), Minukas 4-2, Curry 4-15, Jeannotti 2-9, Zammit 10-117, Santos 6-7, Ciannetti 1-4, Upshaw 8-39, Simpson 8-39, Dick 3-1; Maine Maritime: Cummings 7-49, Bard 15-85, Casavant 7-23, Thibodeau 16-142

Passing

Curry: Santos 7-11-125-0, Pascarelli 0-1-0-0; Maine Maritime: Bard 9-16-184-3

Receiving

Curry: Ferrando 3-30, Lang 2-25, Ciannetti 1-65, Coopenrath 1-5; Maine Maritime: Casavant 4-51, Brown 3-48, Montagne 1-25, Cummings 1-60

A?800 (est.)