Football Closes Out 2013 Season With 62-28 Romp of Pace
Box Score
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 16, 2013) - The LIU Post football team ended its 2013 campaign on a high note Saturday afternoon, defeating Pace by a 62-28 count, on Northeast-10 Championship Weekend at Hickox Field in Brookville, N.Y. The win rounds out the Pioneers' year at 5-6 overall.
Tied 7-7 at the end of one quarter of play, the Pioneers registered 24 unanswered points before halftime to go into the intermission ahead 31-7. Five seconds into the stanza, senior kicker
Karsten Viste (Randaberg. Norway) concluded a seven-play, 34-yard series with a 31-yard field goal to make it a 10-7 game.
One drive later, a botched Pace (0-11) punt by freshman Murilo Rosendo (West Harrison, N.Y.), coupled with a 36-yard return by red-shirt freshman wide receiver
Michael Richardson (West Babylon, N.Y.), set up shop for LIU Post at the opposition's 23-yard line. Four plays in, junior
Tyler Heuer (Oceanside, N.Y.) took a two-yard keeper into the end zone, which extended the hosts' lead to a 10-point margin (17-7).
Red-shirt freshman quarterback
Matt Brennan (Sayville, N.Y.) would cap the scoring in the quarter by tossing a pair of touchdown passes. He hooked up with red-shirt junior wideout
Kamron Palmer (Brooklyn, N.Y.) on the first for eight yards, and later connected with red-shirt senior receiver
Joe Botti (Holtsville, N.Y.) for a 21-yard strike.
In the second half, it continued to be all Pioneers. Brennan found Richardson for a 20-yard touchdown pass nearly eight minutes in, while Viste split the uprights from 37 yards out only two-and-a-half minutes later to widen LIU Post's cushion to 41-7.
Pace managed a rally before the conclusion of the period, however, as a Jashon Dawson (Passaic, N.J.) 47-yard TD run, and a 46-yard pick-six by Michael Petrizzo (West Hempstead, N.Y.) closed the gap to 41-21.
That was as close as the Setters got though. The green and gold tallied the first 21 points of the fourth quarter to seal the win. The first touchdown-scoring possession, occurring off a
Joe Florio (Bayville, N.Y.) one-yard push, was sparked by a 20-yard scamper from senior tailback
Jeff Mack (Bronx, N.Y.). That rush put him over the 2,000-yard plateau for his four-year career.
Brennan finished the day 16-for-27 with 222 yards passing and four touchdowns. Botti and sophomore tight end
Sean Binckes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each caught five of those balls for 68, and 67 yards, respectively. Mack headed up the ground game with 67 yards rushing, on eight carries.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker
Julian Santiago (Selden, N.Y.) accrued 10 tackles. Senior inside linebacker
Rob Bright (East Meadow, N.Y.) collected nine tackles (two TFL) and one pass break-up in his final game in a Pioneer uniform. Senior free safety
Tommy Williams (Westbury, N.Y.) and red-shirt junior defensive lineman
Dan Belfiore (Glen Cove, N.Y.) added seven tackles apiece. Belfiore also chipped in a sack, and three quarterback hurries.
Head Coach
Bryan Collins and his LIU Post squad have now concluded the 2013 campaign. For more information on Pioneers' football, please continue to visit www.LIUPostPioneers.com.