WESTFIELD, Mass -- The Buccaneers traveled to Westfield on Saturday afternoon to take on the Owls in conference play. With a win, the Bucs would get back to .500 overall and over .500 in conference play after starting the season 1-4 overall. It took overtime to do it but, the Bucs picked up their fourth win of the season, fourth win in conference, and third win in a row with a 21-14 victory over the Owls in the extra session.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 21, Owls 14

Records: Maritime 4-4 (4-3)

               Westfield 2-6 (2-5)

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Quarterback Joe Schwartz and Evan Pierce combined to complete seven of nine passes for 105 yards.
• Brooks Moss led the ground attack with 56 yards on six attempts and had a 63-yard run.
• Schwartz and Pierce each had a rushing touchdown in the game, Schwartz in regulation, Pierce in overtime.
• Defensively, Mac Kromenhoek recorded a game-high 12 tackles. 
• Jackson Mahoney had an interception to go along with nine tackles. 
• Freshman Nathan Malek recorded eight tackles, had a strip sack, and a tackle for loss.
• Kyle Stephens had 1.5 sacks and three tackles.
• On special teams, Hunter Bernard blocked a punt and Stephen Jurbala blocked his second field goal in as many weeks.
• Jorden Woods returned the Jurbala blocked field goal 80 yards for a Buccaneers touchdown.
• Kicker Grayson Smith went three for three on PATs in the win.

Westfield

• Quarterback Miles Foerster completed 13 of 22 passes for 122 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
• Manny Mengata carried the ball 24 times for 24 yards. 
• Casey Tang had a touchdown on two carries for 34 yards.
• Tang led the Owls in receiving with 43 yards on four catches.
• Aidan Patterson had one catch for a 19-yard touchdown.
• Defensively, Budder Ferreira and Tommy Bean each had a team-high 10 tackles. Ferriera added a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. 
• Justyn Gardener had 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and five total tackles, as well as a forced fumble.
• On special teams, kicker Andrew Currier was two for two on PATs. He also punted three times for 173 yards, an average of 57.7 yards per punt.

How It Happened

Two high-powered rushing teams faced off against two stingy rush defenses on Saturday, and it showed with only 35 points in a game that went to overtime.

In the first, Westfield scored on their first drive after forcing the Bucs to go three-and-out. They went 69 yards in 16 plays, taking 10:11 off the clock. Foerster found Patterson for a 19-yard touchdown to give the hosts a 7-0 advantage. That touchdown proved to be the only score of the half, and Westfield took their touchdown lead into the halftime break.

In the third quarter, the Bucs executed an onside kick to open the half and were forced to punt. Westfield proceeded to go three-and-out as well, and the Bucs got the ball back at the Westfield 17-yard line after a tipped punt by the Bucs set them up in great field position. In six plays, Maritime went the 17 yards they needed and tied the game on a Schwartz one-yard run. Midway through the third, the score was tied, 7-7. On the Owls' ensuing drive, their offense drove 69 yards again, this time on nine plays, and capped the drive off with a Tang 20-yard run to retake the lead, 14-7, heading to the fourth.

The fourth started with a Westfield Drive following a Buccaneer punt that ended the third. The Owls got the ball at the Bucs 32 32-yard line and went 18 yards on eight plays. From the Maritime 14-yard line on fourth down and four yards to go, the Owls lined up for a 30-yard field goal. For the second straight week, Jurbala came around the edge and blocked the kick that would have put the Owls up by 10 points. Wood recovered the blocked kick and flew down the sideline, evading would-be tacklers, and found the end zone to tie the game at 14-14 with 11 minutes left in regulation. In the last 11 minutes of the fourth, each team punted, Foerster threw an interception, and the Bucs missed a potential game-winning field goal from 47 yards, which would have set a new Maritime field goal distance record. With two seconds left, the Owls kneeled out the rest of regulation and the teams went to overtime. 

In the overtime period, the Buccaneers took the ball first and got into the end zone on a Pierce one-yard run to take a 21-14 lead. The Owls took over and couldn't get anything going, gaining just three yards on the first three downs. On fourth down, needing a touchdown to keep the game going, Foerster was sacked by Colin Bower and Stephens to seal the 21-14 comeback win for Maritime.

What's Next

The Bucs are back home on November 8th to take on Worcester State at noon inside Clean Harbors Stadium.