By By Nick Pipitone
Head coach Joe Gardi said at practice before this past Saturday’s home game against No. 2 University of New Hampshire (UNH) that it was time for his team to “put up or shut up.” Following a gut-wrenching 29-26 loss to the Wildcats in the final minutes of a highly contested game, it appears the latter is now true.
Trailing 29-26 in the final two minutes, the Pride (5-4, 3-3 Atlantic 10) drove quickly down the field, reaching the Wildcats’ (8-1, 6-1) one-yard line before sophomore RB Kareem Huggins fumbled at the goal line. UNH recovered the fumble in the end zone and escaped Shuart Stadium with the win, ending any chances the Pride had to win the Atlantic 10 or reach the I-AA playoffs. This will be the fourth straight year the Pride has failed to advance to the postseason.
“My heart is broken and my players’ hearts are broken,” Gardi said. “But I think we know why we lost. Eight turnovers.”
Trading blows with the top team in the A-10 for most of the game, eight turnovers ended up costing the Pride dearly (the Wildcats did not commit any turnovers). Pride QB Anton Clarkson had arguably his worst game of the season, throwing four interceptions, with two of them coming in the red zone.
“I thought we played well,” Clarkson said. “Besides for a few fluke things that we couldn’t really control, it wasn’t all that bad. There were a couple things here and there, the ball just bounced extremely wrong for us.”
Leading 14-13 at the half, UNH got off to an early start in the third quarter. After the Pride defense stopped the Wildcats and forced a punt, Matt Henry’s kick hit the back of freshman CB Nick Altomare. UNH recovered at the Pride’s 14-yard line.
On the very next play, sophomore QB Ricky Santos found senior WR David Ball on a crossing pattern from 10 yards out, putting the Wildcats up, 21-13. Santos, who was named A-10 offensive player of the week, threw for 285 yards and four TDs on 23 of 35 passing.
“Overall I think we played good [against Santos and Ball],” Pride DE Dan Garay said. “If we played great, we would have won. We played good enough to win, but we didn’t play great.”
The Pride, however, quickly responded. On the ensuing possession, Huggins nearly returned the kick for a touchdown, but was stopped in UNH territory. Four plays later, junior RB Terry Crenshaw went 22 yards for the score on a shovel pass from Clarkson.
Instead of being content with the extra point, the Pride coaching staff decided to go for two. The two-point conversion was stopped and the Pride now trailed, 21-19.
The Blue & Gold defense held strong and the Pride was able to get back on the board late in the third quarter and take the lead. A methodical nine-play, 79-yard drive was capped off by TE Brandon Sebald’s first TD reception with the team, a 10-yard catch from Clarkson which put the Pride up, 26-21.
As has been the Pride’s main problem this season, it could not hold onto the lead late in the game. Santos and the Wildcats drove 55 yards in 1:30 to take the lead for good. A crucial pass interference penalty moved UNH into the Pride red zone before Santos found WR Aaron Brown in the corner of the end zone for the game-winning score.
With only 6:37 remaining, the Pride needed a field goal to send the game into overtime. In a season-defining drive, Clarkson led the team 72 yards down the field on nine plays with an effective intermediate passing game.
“I knew we had a lot of time to work with, especially with this offense where we can get down the field in a hurry,” Clarkson said. “I wanted to manage the clock, take what the defense gave me and try not to force the ball too much. I thought we did a really good job leading up to that last play.”
New Hampshire CB Etienne Boulay (two INTs) was called for pass interference while trying to cover WR Devale Ellis on a fade to the corner of the end zone. The penalty set the Pride up at the UNH one-yard line, where Huggins would eventually fumble to seal the Wildcats win.
The heart-breaking loss, the Pride’s third in its past six games, eliminates it from playoff contention, a tough pill to swallow for everyone involved with the team.
“It was definitely frustrating to lose that way knowing that we had a chance to win,” senior LB Cole Haley said. “Obviously it didn’t happen for some reason and we can only learn from it. We have to strive to win the next week.”