Mass. College Football: Curry College 31, MIT 28
By Brian Willwerth
MILTON, MA – At Curry College, they’re getting used to this kind of drama. For the second week in a row, the Colonels pulled off out a last-second win on their home field.
On Friday night, Kevin Fruwirth did it again in the clutch. He threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Robert Bambini on fourth down with 23 seconds to play, as Curry came back to beat MIT, 31-28, in an New England Football Conference Boyd Division matchup. It was a terrific football game that featured four lead changes in the last 18 minutes.
Curry was the first to reach the end zone. After a Tim Crowley field goal made it 3-0, the Colonels drove 83 yards in 13 plays. Phil Bigelow capped off the drive with an 8-yard run to make it 10-0. With just over a minute left before halftime, the Engineers’ Brad Goldsberry got behind the Curry defense, and quarterback Peter Williams found him stride. Goldsberry won the race to the end zone to cut the lead to 10-7.
But MIT’s momentum would not stay with them heading into the locker room, because the ensuing kickoff bounced a couple of times on the turf before Richard Johnson picked it up at his own 15. He got away from defenders, raced down the sideline, got some blocks, and finished with an 85-yard kickoff return for a score. Curry led 17-7 at the half.
The Engineers came out and dominated the third quarter. Goldsberry finished off a 76-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown run, his second score of the game. MIT took its first lead of the contest when Williams found Karson Ota wide open down the field for a 50-yard strike. The visitors led 21-17 after three.
The stage was set for a wild fourth quarter. After Fruwirth found Bambini deep down the left sideline – he found Jordan Shairs for a three-yard touchdown to put Curry back on top. But MIT came right back, with Goldsberry scoring his third touchdown of the game from 11 yards out to put the Engineers back in the front, 28-24. Goldsberry finished with 174 yards receiving to go along with his 79 on the ground.
Curry got the ball back at its own 17 with just over two minutes remaining. And just as he did last week against Westfield State, Fruwirth drove the Colonels down the field. Facing fourth down from the MIT 23, he threw one up in the left corner of the end zone, and Bambini hauled it in for the game-winning score, which set off a big celebration among the homecoming crowd. The pair hooked up 13 times for 221 yards in this contest.
Fruwirth was named Offensive Player of the Week in the NEFC last week for his heroics. He’s sure to get a few more votes this week as well. He finished 28-of-49 for 325 yards, and one very big touchdown at the end of the game. MIT’s Williams was also impressive, going 25-of-37 for 366 yards.
Curry improves to 2-0 in the Boyd Division, and 2-2 overall. MIT falls to 0-2 in division play.
