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SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College football team put together a 13-play, 80-yard drive to take the lead with under four minutes remaining and the defense came up with a game-saving stop to give head coach Jon Drach his first Union victory with a hard-fought 18-14 win over SUNY Maritime on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
After going scoreless on its previous seven drives, Union got the ball on its 20-yard line with 10:51 left and put together its longest drive of the afternoon to take back the lead. Senior Michael Fiore ran for a key third-down conversion early in the drive, and senior quarterback Patch Flanagan got around the corner for a five-yard gain on 4th and 3 from midfield to keep the drive alive. Back-to-back 12-yard rushes from Fiore and senior Jonathan Anderson got the ball to the one-yard line, where Flanagan found junior Cam Fries for his first collegiate touchdown to put Union up 18-15.
Maritime got the ball back and made it as far as the Union 24-yard line before a huge tackle by senior Cole DaSilva for a five-yard loss on 2nd and 2 moved the Privateers back. After an incomplete pass on third down, senior Mitchell Bishop and junior Charles Johnson converged on quarterback Steven Stassi in the backfield for the game-clinching sack.
The Union defense made another big play earlier in the quarter that ended up providing the winning differential. After the Privateers reached the Union 12-yard line with 11:00 to go, senior Ethan VanderBrink got his hand on a Luke Caliendo field goal to keep the deficit at three and set up the game-winning drive.
Flanagan finished the day 13-for-24 for 128 yards and two touchdowns, while Fiore rushed for a team-leading 96 yards and senior Tommy Leonard caught four passes for 40 yards. Defensively, sophomore Jordan Black led the team with nine tackles while Bishop had a team-best 1.5 tackles for loss.
The day started well for the home team, as Flanagan went 4-for-4 as the Garnet Chargers drive 81 yards in six plays to take an early lead. Three of the passes went for at least 20 yards, capped by a 21-yarder to senior Robbie Tolbert that was followed by a successful two-point conversion to sophomore Mike Dinardo that put Union up 8-0. Union's next drive also resulted in points, getting all the way to the Maritime 13-yard line before a 30-yard field goal from senior Max Gluck.
The next two quarters belonged to the Privateers, who rattled off 15 straight points before Union returned to form both offensively and defensively in the final frame. The Garnet Chargers managed only 72 yards over its next seven drives, including a pair of fumbles, an interception and two turnovers-on-downs.
Union will return to action on Friday night with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Springfield College.