Going into this game, the William Paterson football team was a team searching for not only its first win of the season but their first win under new head coach Edwyn Edwards.
Their opponent, the Kean Cougars, were looking to bounce back after a fourth quarter collapse against Rowan University last week. In this NJAC faceoff, it would be the Cougars that came out on top.
In the first quarter, neither team could get on the board as both defenses held strong. William Paterson would get in the red zone on their opening drive of the game.
But the Pioneers would leave the drive with zero points as Cole Dessicino intercepted William Paterson quarterback JC Landicini on 4th and 4 on the Cougars 15-yard line. Kean would draw first blood as in the second quarter, as Ty Kline threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jason Marasciulo.
Anthony Lopez would make the extra point attempt to put Kean up 7-0. William Paterson would respond with a touchdown drive of their own.
On this drive they chewed up over four minutes of game clock as Landicini and wide receiver Blake Wypler played buddy ball on this drive. Wypler during this drive recorded three catches for 56 yards.
The last of his three catches went for 26 yards on 4th and 4, setting up the Pioneers on Kean’s three-yard line. Setting the stage for running back Tyler Brookes to cap off this drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Their kicker Omar Rodriguez made the extra point to tie the game at 7-7. Kean responded with a touchdown drive, but would only take almost three minutes of game clock to do so.
Kean would march down the field mainly through their aerial attack. Kline’s arm got them in scoring range, and he would end this drive by throwing it to receiver Christian Bujno for a 19-yard touchdown.
Following the touchdown by Bujno, chaos ensued. William Paterson’s star defensive end Joseph Pressley blocked Kean’s extra point attempt.
Terrill Yankson went on to return it 94 yards for a defensive two-point conversion. Cutting the Cougars lead to 13-9. Neither team’s offense could muster a scoring drive as Kean went into halftime still with the lead.
Following halftime, the floodgates opened, and the Cougars would run away with this game. After the Pioneers went for it on 4th and 12 on their own 32-yard line but failed to convert.
Kean set up shop in a prime scoring opportunity, and they would deliver. Following a six-yard pass by Kline to Anthony Perez, the Cougars signal caller would deliver a 13-yard touchdown pass to Marasciulo.
Kean took a 20-9 lead after making the extra point attempt. On the third play of William Paterson’s ensuing drive the Pioneers ensuing drive, Landicini threw an interception to Jesse Wilfong.
William Paterson and the Cougars would trade not having scoring drives for the rest of the third quarter. Kean would score again at the start of the fourth quarter, with Kline throwing a nine-yard touchdown to Sal Marchione.
Marchione’s touchdown grab would give the Cougars a 27-9 lead. Then, with over three minutes left in the game, Lopez would make a 31-yard field goal to give Kean a 30-9 lead.
With 10 seconds left, the Pioneers scored a touchdown as backup quarterback Bobby Paglia threw a 23-yard touchdown to Jaiden Sposito. But their kicker Rodriguez went on to miss the extra point.
Kean went on to win this game convincingly with a score of 30-15. They advance to a 2-4 record, while William Paterson remains winless with a 0-7 record.
