Volume 116 >> Issue 58 : Tuesday, November 12, 1996

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Football Finishes Season with 28-0 Loss to Bentley

The football team closed its season with a 28­0 loss on Saturday to Bentley College, the third place team in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference, to end its season with a 4­5 record.

Throughout the game, a steady light rain fell, making for slippery playing conditions on the field. Several times players on both sides could be seen sliding on plays.

Bentley was an aggressive opponent and had a more successful passing game to keep the Engineers occupied throughout the game. MIT's defense was able to stop many Bentley drives, but a Bentley pass to the left set up the team's first touchdown of the day with 6:15 left in the first quarter. A successful extra point attempt brought the score to 7­0.

Within the first minutes of the second quarter a 14-yard pass from quarterback Scott Blackburn '99 to Troy Thorson '98 put MIT on the Bentley 30-yard line with a first down. A pass from Blackburn to Troy Gayeski '98 gained MIT two yards, leaving them six away from a first down. However, Bentley stopped the drive and was soon in possession of the ball again.

MIT's defense fought hard to prevent Bentley from gaining yardage throughout the quarter. Angus Huang '00 had a few nice nice tackles during this time, and Kevin Trexler '98 had an excellent quarterback sack that set Bentley back 10 yards.

Possession continued to go from team to team, and Bentley was soon on the MIT 2-yard line. With 34 seconds left in the half, Bentley broke through the MIT defensive line to score their second touchdown of the game. The extra point attempt was unsuccessful, bringing the score to 13­0.

The third quarter began with a 32-yard return by Trent Redman '97 that signaled a resurgence of the MIT team. As the quarter continued, a pass from Gayeski to Duane Stevens '98 gained MIT 25 yards and placed the team on Bentley's 28-yard line. However, a quarterback sack lost MIT 11 yards that they were never able to regain.

The ball soon returned to Bentley, who was able to score a third touchdown and make a successful two point conversion with 1:53 in the third quarter to bring the score to 21­0.

The fourth quarter began and Bentley quickly scored their final touchdown of the day with 12:03 left in the game. The successful extra point attempt put Bentley up 28­0.

The Engineers prevented Bentley from capitalizing on a MIT fumble with 4:56 left in the game to keep the score 28­0 at game's end.

Although the game was lost there were some good achievements. Quarterback Blackburn broke the MIT single season passing record, late in the fourth quarter. Gayeski, back after a five-week absence because of an injury, led the team in rushing for 65 yards in 15 attempts. Maik Flanagin '99 came in second with 33 yards gained in 11 attempts.

On the receiving side, Stevens led the team with 35 yards on three attempts. Thorson was close behind with 25 yards in two attempts, while Redman had 18 yards in three attempts.