Nov. 6, 2010
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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - Freshman quarterback James LaMacchia (Bronx, N.Y.) for three touchdown passes, but the Marist football team suffered a 28-21 loss to Davidson in a Pioneer Football League game on Saturday at Tenney Stadium at Leonidoff Field.
The three touchdowns catches gave LaMacchia eight for the season, enabling him to break the program record for touchdown catches in a season, which was initially set by Guy Smith with seven in 2005.
Looney entered the game with 8:56 left in the third quarter in relief of junior quarterback Tommy Reilly (Marlton, N.J.) with the Red Foxes trailing 18-0. Although he was intercepted on his first drive, Looney engineered a seven-play, 69-yard march on his second drive which culminated in a six-yard touchdown pass to LaMacchia. Looney had kept the drive alive with a six-yard scamper on a fourth-and-five from the Davidson seven.
On its ensuing drive, Davidson faced a third-and-two from its own 31, but a 62-yard run by Justin Williams brought the ball to the Marist 7. Two plays later, on the first snap of the fourth quarter, Jonathan Carkhuff completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Lanny Funsten to give the Wildcats a 25-7 lead with 14:54 remaining.
The Red Foxes scored on their next play from scrimmage, as Looney and LaMacchia connected on a 59-yard scoring strike to close the gap to 25-15. However, Davidson countered with a 15-play, 78-yard drive over the next 8:33, which culminated in a 19-yard field goal by Ben Behrendt and gave the Wildcats a 28-14 advantage with 6:12 to go. Davidson kept that drive going by converting three third downs.
Marist started its next drive at the Davidson 47 with 6:08 to play. Facing a fourth-and-one at the Davidson 38, Looney's eight-yard pass to junior wide receiver Kevin Fitzpatrick (Columbia, Md.) resulted in a first down. A 19-yard pass to freshman running back Atiq Lucas (Coram, N.Y.) brought the ball to the Marist 11, and an offside penalty against Davidson gave the Red Foxes a first-and-five and the Davidson six. Looney then completed a six-yard pass to LaMacchia for a touchdown - the pair's third touchdown connection over a span of 13:22 - that made the score 28-21 with 3:42 to play.
Davidson turned the ball over on downs at the Marist 22 with 25 seconds to play. Looney completed an 18-yard pass to LaMacchia that brought the ball to the Marist 40 with nine seconds left, but the Red Foxes would get no closer. After one desperation pass from Looney fell incomplete, he was intercepted by Peter Kidwell on the Davidson three on the game's final play.
The Red Foxes, who had just nine turnovers entering the game and were plus-five in turnover ratio, turned the ball over five times in the contest. Two of their first-half turnovers led to Davidson touchdowns. After a fumble by junior wide receiver Michael Rios (Miami, Fla.), the Wildcats took a 10-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown plunge by Kenny Mantuo. Three plays later, a Reilly interception was returned by Dan Casey to the Marist 11. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Carkhuff found Mark Hanabury for a four-yard touchdown pass. Michael Blanchard ran for a two-point conversion as Davidson took an 18-0 lead with two scores in 51 seconds.
Looney finished 11-for-17 for 207 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Reilly went 12-for-21 for 123 yards and an interception. Rios led the Red Foxes in catches and receiving yards, catching seven passes for 118 yards. LaMacchia gave the Red Foxes a pair of 100-yard receivers with 103 yards on five receptions. The Red Foxes ran for just three yards on 15 rushing attempts.
For Davidson, Mantuo ran for 124 yards on 35 carries. Carkhuff finished 21-for-27 for 187 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Hanabury led the Davidson receiving corps with nine catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Brody Medford led the Davidson defense with eight tackles, including seven solo stops, and two pass break-ups.
Davidson improved to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in PFL play; Marist is now 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the PFL. The Red Foxes will close out both the home portion and PFL part of their 2010 schedule next Saturday, when they host Dayton at noon. Prior to the game, the program will hold its annual Senior Day ceremony.
Notes: LaMacchia tied the single-season program record with 62 catches, which he initially set last season. ... Rios' seven catches were a career high. ... Sophomore linebacker Isaac Sine (Chantilly, Va.) led the Marist defense with 14 tackles. ... Davidson held a 35:51-24:09 edge in time of possession. The Wildcats held the ball for 13:25 in the first quarter, a period in which Marist ran only three plays from scrimmage. However, Davidson's 15-play, 78-yard opening drive ended on a second-and-goal play from the Marist one when junior nose tackle David Toriola (Jamaica, N.Y.) forced and recovered a fumble by Mantuo to end the drive.
