THE BASICS:
 
- Score: Merchant Marine 56, MIT 34
 
- Records: MIT (2-3, 0-2 NEWMAC); Merchant Marine (6-0, 3-0 NEWMAC)
 
- Location: Kings Point, N.Y. (Tomb Field)
 
- The Lead: On Saturday afternoon in Kings Point, N.Y., the MIT football team dropped a 56-34 final to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Tomb Field.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- The Engineers got on the board just 3:16 into the game as a touchdown pass by graduate student Chris Mauck (Wellington, Fla.) found sophomore Jonathan Berger (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) from 16 yards out for the 7-0 lead. Mauck hit senior Ben Dwyer (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) for a 60-yard completion to lead that drive that covered 90 yards.
 
- After a fourth-down stop by the MIT defense on the ensuing drive, the Engineers fumbled on first down and the Mariners converted that into a four-yard touchdown run by Brian McGovern to even the game at 7-7 with 6:33 left in the first.
 
- The two teams combined for three turnovers on the next three possessions, but it was again the Mariners that capitalized as Ian Blankenship scored from two yards out to put the hosts in front 14-7 with 25 seconds on the clock in the opening quarter.
 
- USMMA's Jackson Tinkis converted a 24-yard field goal to make it a 17-7 margin, but the Engineers answered midway through the second quarter. MIT recovered a fumble at the 23-yard line with 8:19 left before halftime and after a USMMA pass interference penalty, senior Dennis Gastel (Lincoln, R.I.) pulled down a seven-yard TD pass from Mauck to get MIT within 17-14 with 7:04 on the clock.
 
- The Mariners closed the half with 10 unanswered points as Talsen Smith hauled in a 27-yard TD catch over the top to make it 24-14 with 3:49 remaining, followed by a Tinkis 33-yard field goal as time expired for the 27-14 lead at the break.
 
- In the second half, the Mariners added another Blankenship rushing touchdown just 4:44 into the third quarter before MIT answered with a nine-yard TD to Gastel for his second score of the game to make it 34-21 after three periods.
 
- USMMA pushed the lead out to 49-21 at the 9:42 mark of the fourth period as Ceaser Gonzalez scored on a one-yard rush and Blankenship found Cody Miller from 15 yards out for his first touchdown of the day. The teams traded touchdowns over the final nine minutes, including a 57-yard Mauck TD pass to Dwyer as the Engineers and a four-yard rushing TD by junior Oakley Dehning (Longmont, Colo.) to close out the 56-34 final.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Mauck ended the game 23-for-54 for a career-high 357 yards and four touchdowns, while Dwyer had nine receptions for 224 yards and a touchdown. His 224 receiving yards mark the second-highest single-game total in MIT history.
 
- Defensively, senior Paul Calvetti (Ridgewood, N.J.) again led the Engineers as he totaled 17 total tackles, including nine solo stops. Senior Will Exson (Charlotte, N.C.) also finished in double digits with 13 stops and a team-high 10 solo tackles as the Engineers also forced two turnovers.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- The Engineers are back in action on Saturday, October 23rd as the team returns home for the first time in seven weeks to host Norwich University for a 1 p.m. start at Steinbrenner Stadium.
 
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