NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Cadets were unable to come away with a win against WPI on homecoming.  The first half was a back-and-forth affair, but the Engineers were able to pull away in the second half.

The game started with some jitters for the home team.  There was a flag on the opening kickoff return which backed-up the Cadets right away. Norwich came out aggressively on offense, throwing on each of the first three plays of the game.  Unfortunately, the offense was not able to move the chains, and needed to punt from their own 8-yard line.  After the punt, WPI began their first possession already at the Norwich 39-yard line.  An initial incomplete pass was quickly followed up by back-to-back runs, and the ball was down to the 8-yard line.  Noah Herzig then took a little pop pass behind the line of scrimmage, ran around the left edge for the first points of the game, and a 7-0 lead for WPI.

The second possession for the Cadet offense was another 3-and-out which gave the ball back to WPI at the Engineer's 40-yard line.  The Cadets forced a 4th down which WPI was able to convert with a 17-yard completion. Two plays later, Devin DeJesus (Chelmsford, Mass.) got his second interception in as many games and returned if for 17 yards to get the ball back to the offense at the WPI 46-yard line. 

Ryan O'Keefe (Scarborough, Maine) immediately found Will Thornton (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) for a 30-yard completion getting the offense quickly into the red zone.  But, just like the Norwich defense had successfully done on the previous drive, the Engineer defense closed off a promising offensive drive with an interception. 

The two teams exchanged several punts as both defenses continued to play well.  The Norwich offense put together a touchdown drive to begin the second quarter.  The 7 play, 88-yard drive included a 14-yard reception by running back Justin Bryant (Eliot, Maine), a 33-yard run by freshman Jeremiah Claiborne (Redlands, Calif.), and finally an 18-yard strike from O'Keefe to Thornton for the touchdown.  The game was tied 7-7.

WPI answered with a 9 play, 66-yard touchdown drive of their own to regain the 14-7 lead.  A turning point in the possession was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a big hit by Ethan Amburn (Suffield, Conn.).  A couple of WPI running plays finished off the drive.

A quick 3-and-out by the Maroon and Gold put the defense right back on the field. With just over three and a half minutes left in the half, WPI tried to add to their lead.  Engineer quarterback Stephen MacDonald, who was under pressure most of the day, eventually came up short on a 4th down completion.  Facing a long 4th and 15, MacDonald threw to a receiver on the right side.  Stefan Romero (New York, N.Y.) and Jeremy Henault (Goffstown, N.H.) combined on the strong tackle to force a turnover on downs. 

The Cadets were unable to move the ball on the next possession and the WPI offense took over, after a Norwich punt, at the Norwich 30-yard line.  Several running plays, in the last 30 seconds of the half, eventually resulted in WPI converting a 36-yard field goal and going into halftime with a 17-7 lead. 

The third quarter was as exciting and chaotic a quarter as you could imagine.  WPI opened the second half with an 11 play drive that only covered 25 yards due to penalties.  On the possession, the Engineers converted on their first 4th down of the half but got stuffed on their next attempt. Linebacker Simon Taraska (Willowick, Ohio), who came into the game as the 5th leading tackler in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), met the running back in the hole and shut down the offensive drive. 

With renewed excitement, the Norwich offense took the field.  O'Keefe came out throwing.  On his 5th consecutive pass of the drive, a WPI linebacker returned an interception 48-yards to put WPI up 24-7.  A great kickoff return by Thornton put the ball exactly on the 50-yard line. Unfazed by the previous possession, the Norwich offense kept competing, but went 4-and-out at the WPI 43-yard line.  It was now the defensive unit's opportunity to play unfazed as senior captain Zach Kirka (Potsdam, N.Y.) intercepted a second down pass and returned it to the WPI 36-yard line.  The Cadets wasted no time as O'Keefe connected with Bryant on a swing pass which finished in the end zone and making the score 24-14.

WPI offense answered on the next possession.  After another 4th down conversion allowed the possession to continue, a missed tackle on the subsequent play resulted in a 50-yard touchdown as WPI stretched the lead back to 31-14.

The very next offensive possession for Norwich was an 11 play, 67-yard drive resulting in a successful field goal by Zach Buchy (Suffolk, Va.).  The Engineers closed out the scoring on the following possession as they added one more touchdown for the final score of 38-17.

Declan Kapusta (Walhalla, S.C.) played an excellent game and finished with 10 total tackles.  DeJesus finished with 9 tackles, Taraska and Iva Hayes (Miami, Fla.) each had 8 tackles.  Bryant, Trevor Chase (Eliot, Maine), and Andrew White (Walpole, Mass.) each ended the day with four receptions while Thornton had three. 

After today's game, Norwich is 0-1 in the NEWMAC and WPI moves to 1-0.  The Cadets will travel to SUNY-Maritime which is a first year member of the NEWMAC conference.  SUNY-Maritime lost their first ever NEWMAC contest by the score of 36-19 against US Merchant Marine.