NORTHFIELD, Vt -  For the second straight week, a furious second half comeback bid fell just short for the Norwich Cadets.  After spotting Merchant Marine a 14-0 halftime lead, the Cadets thoroughly outplayed the visiting Mariners in the second half, but it was not enough. 

Facing one of the top scoring offenses in the conference, the Norwich defense did not budge in the opening quarter. Eventually, early in the second quarter, the visitors were able to capitalize on a prolonged 14 play drive to get the first touchdown of the day.  The Mariners were able to convert three different fourth down plays on the drive, including the touchdown play itself. On the final possession of the first half, Merchant Marine took advantage of a Norwich interception which Ryan Vannini returned 39 yards to the Norwich 35-yard line.  The run based Merchant Marine offense was eventually forced to throw the ball by the stingy Norwich defense.  Ben Rini was able to retain possession of the pass in the back of the end zone with only nine seconds left in the half.  The only Mariners completion in the first half spotted the visitors a 14-point lead going into the locker room.

The first half was also an offensive struggle for the Cadets as they only mustered 52 yards and 2 first downs in the first 30 minutes of the game.  The bright spot, and a little foreshadowing of the second half success, was Ryan O'Keefe (Scarborough, Maine) completing 7/10 passes in the first half. 

On the opening possession of the second half, a Cadet fumble combined with the 40-yard Merchant Marine return, quickly put the visitors in the red zone again.  Three plays later and the visitors owned a 21-point lead. 

 

The excitement got started when the Norwich offense retook the field with 10:40 to play in the third period.  The Cadets came out throwing the football and O'Keefe would find Will Thornton (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) for a 20-yard completion on the second play of the drive.  O'Keefe found Andrew White (Walpole, Mass.) for a 9-yard completion on a slant to set-up a fourth down attempt.  A quick pass to Trevor Chase (Eliot, Maine) and the Cadet drive stayed alive.  The big play of the drive was a 23-yard completion to a diving Chase to set-up first and goal from the 7-yard line.  O'Keefe perfectly executed the zone read and walked in virtually untouched for the first Norwich points of the day. 

The subsequent possession saw Merchant Marine with a 3rd and 5 from the Norwich 20-yard line.  The Mariners entered the game with a perfect record in the red zone and the top red zone offense in the New England Women's and Men's Conference (NEWMAC).  John Donoughe (Altoona, PA) and Simon Taraska (Willowick, OH) combined for a tackle at the line of scrimmage forcing a field goal attempt.  The snap was not handled by the holder who then attempted to throw the ball as the play broke down.  The heave was intercepted by Jeremy Henault (Goffstown, NH) and returned for 19 yards.  The emotion of the game had certainly swung.  It was the first red zone trip of the season where Merchant Marine had failed to score points and the Cadets knew it.

Again leaning on the pass, the Cadets moved the ball down the field.  O'Keefe connected with White, Thornton, and Chase before Justin Bryant (Eliot, Maine) rambled into the end zone for a 12-yard rushing touchdown.

Merchant Marine was able to answer with a touchdown drive of their own, reclaiming a 14-point lead.  Norwich went back on offense with just under six minutes remaining in the game.  Bryant finished the drive as he hauled in his second touchdown of the day, this time a 4-yard completion from O'Keefe.  The 13 play drive covered 75 yards and took just over 4 minutes off the clock.  

The ensuing onside kick was not recovered by Norwich and the Mariners took a knee to run off most of the remaining time.  Once the Norwich offense took the field again, there was only enough time for two plays which was not enough to complete the comeback bid.
 

Several players had their best performances of the season and a few had the best performances of their careers.  Henault finished the game with 17 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss and an interception, from his safety position.  Taraska had 12 tackles while Declan Kapusta (Walhalla, SC) and Marcello Misuraca (Wilmington, Mass.) chipped in with 11 tackles each.  

Offensively, O'Keefe had by far the best outing of his career.  The freshman quarterback finished the game 28/37 (75.7%), 272 yards passing, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, as well as a rushing touchdown.  Thornton had 9 receptions, Chase 8, White 5, and Bryant 4 catches including a touchdown. 

The Norwich defense held the Mariners to just over 300 yards which is significantly lower than what Merchant Marine has averaged so far this season.  In fact, the defense only surrendered 120 yards of offense and 6 first downs in the second half.  Offensively, the Cadets came to life in the second half exploding for 262 of the team's 314 yards on the day.  After only gaining a pair of first downs in the first half, the offense ranked up 14 first downs in the second half alone. 

The Cadets will travel to the United States Coast Guard Academy for their next game where The Mug will be at stake again.  The two teams have battled in the "Little Army-Navy Game" for almost 100 years. The first meeting between the two teams was in 1929 where Norwich came away with a 7-0 victory.  The two teams would play every season from 1954-2005 until conference realignment forced the series to be paused.  In 2017, the long time rivalry was reinstated.  "The Mug" itself has been given to the victorious team since 1931 when the publisher of the New London Day newspaper first donated the trophy.  The series currently stands 40-35-1 in favor of the Coast Guard Academy.  Currently, the Cadets are enjoying a 3-game winning streak and The Mug has safely resided in Northfield since a last second field goal sealed the victory during the historic 200th homecoming in 2019.