Oct. 26, 2002
Final Stats
Poughkeepsie, NY - The Marist College football team scored a late fourth quarter touchdown, but could not recover an onside kick, falling 17-14 to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Football League opponent Iona, tonight on Leonidoff Field. The Red Foxes, who have lost back-to-back games for the first time this fall, had their hopes of a perfect home record ended, falling to 5-1 at home and 5-3 overall on the year.
Kevin Bielen nearly engineered anther late comeback for the Red Foxes, leading Marist 70 yards in 3:02, setting up a Jason Hooper reverse, that went 12 yards for a touchdown to make the score 17-14. The ensuing onside kick failed to travel the required 10-yards, and Iona covered the ball and ran out the final 1:09 of the game.
The Gaels struck first taking a 7-0 lead when Rob Terry scored on a 10-yard run with 9:43 remaining in the second quarter. Marist answered with a touchdown of its own with 55 seconds remaining in the first half, when Bielen ran a naked bootleg into the end zone. Iona would play out the final second of the half, and take a 14-7 lead into the break, when Mark Palmiotto connected with Billy Brieden for a 38-yard touchdown strike with just 19 second left in the half. The TD strike capped off a four play 52-yard drive to give the Gaels the lead.
Iona, who improves to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in MAAC play, converted a field goal with 1:39 left in the third quarter to reach 17 points. The defense held Marist to 172 yards, allowing only 109 total yards of offense in the first three quarters.
Chris Price led Marist rushers with 69 yards, while the Gaels Terry had 124 yards on the ground and a touchdown in the winning effort. Marist was 9-25 with two interceptions in the air, while Iona's Brieden completed 11-22 passes for 161 yards, with a touchdown and an interceptions.
Adam Ercoli finished with two tackles for loss for the Red Foxes, giving him 18 for the season, which is the second highest single season total in Marist football I-AA history.
Marist will take to the road for its final three games of the year, beginning November 2nd with a 1:00 pm game at Georgetown. The Red Foxes are now 3-3 in MAAC play.
