Comeback at Curry Spoiled on Last-Second Touchdown by Hosts
Box Score MILTON, Mass.--Western New England University scored two touchdowns in the last 3 minutes to take the lead, but it wasn't enough as Robert Bambini caught a 39-yard touchdown pass with 1 second left to lift Curry College to a wild 35-32 victory in New England Football Conference-Boyd Division action at Walter M. Katz Field on Saturday. Both teams leave with 3-3 identical overall records but Curry improves to 2-1 and Western New England drops to 1-2 in the NEFC-Boyd Division.
Kevin Fruwirth completed 30 of his 50 passes for 392 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Bambini pulled in 14 receptions for 177 yards and four touchdowns. But the duo's most important connection culminated in a 5-play, 65-yard, 36-second game-winning drive.
Trailing 28-20 late in the fourth quarter, Western New England scored on touchdown runs of 7-yards and 1-yard by Mike Ozzella and John Krafick, respectively, just 2 minutes and 41 seconds apart to take a 32-28 lead with under a minute to go. Both 2-point conversions failed via the pass.
On the ensuing kickoff after Krafick's plunge, Brandon Blom fumbled the return to his own 35 where Curry recovered to set up the last-second heroics by the Colonels.
The teams combined for 29 points in the final stanza--including two touchdowns apiece in the last 6:07 alone.
Krafick threw for 125 yards on 14 completions, with his favorite target being Adam Dunne who had five catches for 57 yards. Kevin Cook rushed for a game-high 107 yards.
Ozzella helped give Western New England a 7-0 lead on an 8-yard TD run, capitalizing on a muffed punt return by Curry at its own 20 yard line. Three plays later, WNE scored the only points of the opening quarter.
With 11:50 left in the first half, the Colonels knotted the game at 7-7 after Fruwirth threw a 19-yard TD pass to Jordan Shairs, capping off a six-play, 36-yard drive. The Golden Bears, however, reclaimed the lead at 10-7 on its next possession with a 41-yard field goal by Nick Fox-Edele.
Curry's next possession also resulted in a touchdown with 4:08 on the clock after a 13-play, 65-yard drive was capped off with the first (19 yards) of four Fruwirth-to-Bambini connections. Four minutes later, after forcing the Golden Bears into a three-and-out, Bambini hauled in a five-yard TD reception, wrapping up an eight-play, 85-yard drive and giving the Colonels a 21-10 edge heading into intermission.
On defense, Jeff Claffey and Sam Calley led the Colonels with five solo tackles apiece. Jose Rodriguez chipped in with five total tackles (4 solo) and also recorded an interception. Western New England was led by Nathan Fleming with a game-high 12 total tackles (9 solo), including one tackle for loss (-2 yards). Corey Brown and Kyle Jones (2 TFL) added six total tackles each.
Curry held significant edges in first downs (24-15), total offense (457-299) and time of possession (35:41-24:19).
