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Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus Athletics

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Brendan Dennis
49
Winner Merchant Marine USMMA 1-0
27
FDU-Florham FDU 0-1
Winner
Merchant Marine USMMA
1-0
49
Final
27
FDU-Florham FDU
0-1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
USMMA Merchant Marine 7 14 7 21 49
FDU FDU-Florham 10 10 0 7 27

Game Recap: Football |

USMMA Runs Past FDU Football in 2021 Opener, 49-27

Madison, NJ (September 3) – In the first game for FDU-Florham football since November of 2019, the Devils fell to the United States Merchant Marine Academy by a 49-27 final tonight on Robert T. Shields Field.

Offensively, the Devils were led by 311 passing yards and three touchdowns by Anthony Caserta (Bronx, NY) as well as 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns on nine receptions by Connor Perez (Warwick, NY). On the defensive side of the ball, Diony Dilone (Paterson, NJ) guided the hosts with 7.5 tackles, while Jake Swindasz (Hamilton, NJ) recovered a fumble for FDU in tonight's opener.
 
First Quarter:
  • An 80-yard kickoff return by Brendan Dennis (West Palm Beach, Fla.) on the opening play of the game set up FDU in perfect position to strike first. Merchant Marine's red zone defense, however, held strong and surrendered just three points on a Chris DeMedio (Cornwall, NY) 32-yard field goal 1:50 into the game.
     
  • Merchant Marine answered with a 15 play, 70-yard drive that last over six minutes and was capped by a goal line run by Ian Blankenship for the 7-3 edge. FDU went ahead prior to the horn sounding at the end of 15 minutes of play as Caserta guided the Devils offense and found Rory Sullivan (Hazlet, NJ) for an 11-yard touchdown pass for a 10-7 after the opening quarter.
Second Quarter:
  • Both teams scored twice in the second quarter and Merchant Marine led by just one point at the break, 21-20. The difference for the Mariners in the second was their ability to go 4-for-4 on third down conversions and hold the Devils to 1-for-5 on their third down attempts. 
     
  • A two-yard rush from Brian McGovern and a three-yard run by Blankenship gave the visitors their largest lead of the half at 21-10. FDU, however, came up huge on three straight drives to trail by just one at halftime.
     
  • Caserta found Perez in the end zone to cap an eight play, 75-yard drive taking the clock under three minutes in the half. On the ensuing USMMA drive Swindasz recovered a fumble and turned that into three more points on a 23-yard field goal by DeMedio.
Second Half:
  • Merchant Marine's offense took over the game in the second half as the visitors outscored FDU 28-7 to win the opener by a 49-27 final. Blankenship ran for three touchdowns and Matt Strong tucked the ball over the line for another score putting the game out of reach.
  • Trailing 49-20, Caserta closed the game with a seven play, 78-yard drive and found Perez in the end zone once again before the clock hit 00:00. 
As a team, FDU posted 311 yards through the air and went 5-for-5 in the red zone. Merchant Marine's run game was the difference in the game as the Mariners posted 362 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground totaling nearly 36 minutes of possession over the course of the game.
 
FDU will travel to William Paterson University for its final non-conference game of the 2021 season next Saturday, September 11. After a bye week, the Devils will welcome Misericordia University for homecoming on Saturday, September 25.
 
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