NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Junior running back Al Georgio (West Greenwich, R.I.) ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Norwich University football team to a 38-6 win against Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) foe Anna Maria College on Saturday evening at Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium.
The win marks the third straight for the Cadets, who improve to 4-3 on the season and 3-1 in ECFC play. The loss drops the visiting AMCATS to 1-6 overall and 0-4 against ECFC competition.
Georgio scored back-to-back Norwich touchdowns at 4:51 in the second quarter and 14:52 in the fourth quarter, giving the Cadets a commanding 35-0 lead. The Cadets used four plays to travel 46 yards to set up Georgio for the two-yard touchdown run to mark his first score of the day. Norwich started the fourth quarter with the ball on the Anna Maria 7-yard line. A false start penalty pushed the Cadets back to the 12, which set Georgio up for a 12-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Following today's performance, Georgio has a team-high nine rushing touchdowns on the season.
The Cadets also saw rushing touchdowns from quarterback Keyen Foley (Hemet, Calif.) and running back Mike Cavanaugh (Raymond, N.H.), in addition to a touchdown reception by freshman Trystan Colaire (Pickering, Calif.). Freshman kicker Wesley Medeiros (Gilford, N.H.) finished a perfect five-for-five on extra-point attempts and nailed a 32-yard field goal with 9:21 to play in the fourth quarter to tally eight points for the Cadets.
Foley notched the first touchdown of the day at the 12:38 mark of the first quarter on a seven-yard run. Two Norwich drives later, Foley escaped the attempted sack and while on the run, found Colaire in the endzone. Colaire made an impressive one-handed grab in the air under strong Anna Maria coverage to score the first touchdown of his career.
After a 14-point first quarter, the Cadets added 14 more in the second quarter. Positioned on Anna Maria's 1-yard line on third down, Cavanaugh jumped over the AMCATS defensive line to net his first rushing touchdown of the season. Georgio's two-yard touchdown set the score at 28-0 entering halftime.
Following a scoreless third quarter, Georgio his second touchdown before Anna Maria was able to get on the board.
The AMCATS scored as sophomore running back Christopher Bettano (Tewksbury, Mass.) caught a six-yard pass from quarterback Gregory McGoldrick (Brooklyn, N.Y.). The AMCATS were able to get into scoring position on the strength of a 49-yard pass by McGoldrick to Bettano. A seven-yard pass to Josh Sundquist put the AMCATS in the red zone, and a five-yard offsides penalty by the Cadets moved them within 15 yards of the end zone. A five-yard pass to William Ricard (Billerica, Mass.) set up the scoring play. AMCATS kicker Julian Diaz's extra-point attempt was failed to clear the uprights.
The AMCATS had another opportunity to score late in the fourth quarter as Bettano broke through the Norwich defense at midfield and had what appeared to be an uncontested run to the end zone. However, freshman defensive back Donovan Murby (Manchester, N.H.) sprinted to catch up and grabbed Bettano's ankle on a diving swoop, stopping him five-yards shy of the endzone. Bettano totaled 64 yards on the run.
Bettano totaled 157 yards on 19 attempts for the AMCATS, and averaged a game-high 8.3 yards per carry. McGoldrick completed 18 of 36 passing attempts with one interception. He was sacked six times, including a game-high 12-yard sack by Norwich linebacker Addison Nye (Hooksett, N.H.). Jepthe Soulouque (Everett, Mass.) and Dane Pallotto (Westbrook, Conn.) both recorded eight-yard sacks.
Senior captain Ethan Hanks (Hull, Mass.) paced the Norwich defense with eight tackles. Andy Mangin (Concord, Mass.) chipped in with five. Pallotto, Soulouque, captain Luis Delgado (Accord, N.Y.) and James Cejka (Brunswick, Maine) all recorded fumble recoveries for the Cadets, while Sir Michael Finney (Killeen, Texas) returned an interception for 18 yards.
The Anna Maria defense was led by Tyler Rocha (Cranston, R.I.) and Jordan Koehler (West Warwick, R.I.) with nine tackles each. Koehler totaled two sacks totaling 19 yards, and forced and recovered a fumble.
Norwich recorded 19 first downs on the evening, while Anna Maria totaled 14. The Cadets totaled 75 more yards of total offense than the AMCATS, and bested Anna Maria 259 to 137 in rushing yards.
The Cadets return to action next Saturday, Nov. 2. Norwich will travel Newton, Mass. to take on the Mustangs of Mount Ida College. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m.