THE BASICS
Score: Mount Ida 14, Dean College 7
Records: Mount Ida (3-3, 2-1 ECFC), Dean College (3-3, 1-2 ECFC)
Date: Saturday, October 14, 2017
Location: Lippert Field, Franklin, Mass.
Time: 12:00 PM

THE LEAD
In a contest that saw almost every statistical category point in favor of Dean College, it was Mount Ida who escaped with a 14-7 win in Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) action on Saturday afternoon.

The win for the Mustangs snaps the Bulldogs' three game winning streak as they head back out on the road for two more conference games beginning next week.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Things were going smoothly for the Cardinal and White as they took their first possession and marched 50 yards on 15 plays chewing up nearly eight minutes off the clock as Richard Harris (Uniondale, N.Y.) steadily ripped off big chunks of yardage on the ground.

It looked as if the Bulldogs were in the endzone but a penalty nullified a touchdown run by Matt Bethel (Miami, Fla.) and Dean eventually settled for a field goal. That attempt, however, was blocked by Chris Mederios (Pelham, N.H.), and it bounced right into the awaiting arms of DeSean Hart (Mays Landing, N.J.), who raced 80 yards up the sideline for game's first score.

Mount Ida added another touchdown midway through the second half when Mike Pina (Brockton, Mass.) connected with Nick Hewitt (Killingly, Conn.) for 45 yards, setting the visitors up deep in Bulldog territory. De'Andre Goldson-Fisher (Springfield, Mass.) punched it in from three yards out to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead.

On their opening drive of the second half, Dean was back at it on the ground using the combination of Harris and Davel Carr (Clinton, Md.) to move the ball with ease inside the Mount Ida 20-yard line.

Carr powered his way into the endzone from eight yards out but for the second time in the game, a Bulldog score was called back because of a penalty. The Mustangs defense then stiffened, forcing Dean to turn the ball over on downs inside the 15-yard line.

On their next possession, Noah Taiese (Aiea, Hawai'i) took a bulk of the carries and proved to be effective, getting the Bulldogs to the Mustang 11-yard line after an 11-yard run on third and six. Unfortunately for Dean, Bethel was sacked on first down and then three straight incompletions turned the ball over on downs again.

A 13-play drive in the early portion of the fourth quarter had the Bulldogs deep in Mount Ida territory again but the Bulldogs failed again to score after getting inside the Mustang ten-yard line.

With less than four minutes to play, Dean finally connected on a big play with Bethel hitting Shafi Harris (Newark, N.J.) with a short pass and he sprinted up the right sideline for 34 yards until he was bumped out of bounds at the Mount Ida ten. This time, the Bulldogs did get into the endzone as Taiese bowled his way in from four yards out.

After the Mustangs recovered the onside kick, the Bulldogs used their timeouts wisely and forced a punt with around 40 seconds left. A line drive type punt hit the ground and made contact with a Dean player at the 16-yard line and Mount Ida was there to recover, giving them possession with 38 seconds left and ending the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Dean led in almost every statistical category including first downs (19-7), total offense (306-127) and time of possession (36:27-23:33). The biggest disparity was on the ground where the Bulldogs outrushed the visitors, 252-25.

MORE NUMBERS
Today's contest marked the first time this season that the Cardinal and White did not intercept a pass or force a turnover, but the defense was still exceptional, holding the Mustangs to just seven points, allowing just 127 yards of total offense ad holding the visitors to 2-for-12 on third down.

BULLDOG BITES
Harris finished with his second career 100-yard rushing game, ending with 104 yards on 24 carries while three other rushers – Carr (56), Taiese (47) and Bethel (45) – all out rushed the Mustangs as a team.

Ricco Aaron (Douglasville, Ga.) had another stellar performance for the Dean defense, ending with ten tackles, a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss.

MORE NUMBERS
Josh David (Sandown, N.H.) was the star on defense for the Mustangs, finishing with a game-best 18 tackles, while Herman Congo (Wilmington, Del.) added 12 stops of his own.

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are back in action next Saturday when they hit the road for a trip to Castleton State. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m.