BANGOR — Two teams playing in their first NCAA Division III Tournament football game put on a memorable show for the 1,900 fans who braved the cold, blustery conditions at the Winkin Complex Saturday afternoon.
There was no shortage of momentum swings but, in the end, the Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used a last-minute drive, aided by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, to produce a game-tying 38-yard field goal by Tucker Cheyne that set the stage for Peter Williams’ 13-yard touchdown pass to Seve Esparrago in overtime to give them a 27-20 triumph over Husson University.
New England Football Conference champion MIT improved to 10-0 while Eastern Collegiate Football Conference titlist Husson wound up 8-2 after having its eight-game winning streak snapped.
Husson, which had a crucial extra point blocked, was on the brink of victory. The Eagles had picked up two first downs after linebacker Ellis Throckmorton forced a fumble and Rick Orio recovered it with 4:27 left.
Protecting a 20-17 lead and facing a fourth-and-six at the MIT-33, the Husson coaching staff called a fake punt but it didn’t work as Throckmorton, who was lined up in front of punter Ryan Stroud, took the snap and gained three yards.
“It was obviously the wrong call,” Husson coach Gabby Price said.
With 48 seconds left and no timeouts left, Williams found Brad Goldsberry over the middle for a 29-yard completion to the H-41.
“I don’t think they were expecting it. They left me wide open,” Goldsberry said.
Williams then tossed a five-yarder to Goldsberry at the Husson sidelines and when someone on the Husson sidelines vehemently protested that one of the Husson pass rushers was held on the play, a 15-yard penalty was called.
“I remember running out of bounds and a Husson coach came in behind me, ran into the referee and chewed him out. So the ref threw the flag,” Goldsberry said.
After two incompletions, the Husson clock froze so there was an extended delay. When play finally resumed, MIT had a third-and-10 with 18 seconds left and Throckmorton snuffed out a screen pass to Goldsberry for no gain.
But the Engineers were still able to get Cheyne on the field and his field goal tied it up as time expired.
“He’s a first team all-conference kicker for a reason,” MIT coach Chad Martinovich said. “We work on this in practice on Fridays and we usually get the kicking team on the field and get the kick off within eight seconds.”
In overtime, Williams scrambled around right end to pick up seven yards and a first down on third-and-five and, on the next play, he rolled right again before hitting Esparrago, who did a nice job staying in-bounds in the corner of the end zone.
“It was just a cross over the middle and [Williams] scrambled out,” Esparrago said.
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