Jay Jay Vanderstyne (Victor, NY/Victor) caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Molisani (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) with 2:25 to play and Griffin Moar (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) added the extra point as the University of Rochester rallied to defeat the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Edwin Fauver Stadium.
Molisani marched Rochester 89 yards in eight plays covering 2:55. He threw only two passes – a 12-yarder to Pedro Sosa (Rochester, NY/Gates Chili) to start the drive – and the TD pass.
Vanderstyne credited Molisani. “Aaron did a great job,” Vanderstyne said. “He put the ball between two defenders.”
Matt Bielecki (Albany, NY/Burnt Hills) broke a 35-yard run to put the ball at the MM 42. He carried the ball three more times in the drive, gaining 17 yards. Bielecki finished with 130 yards on 27 attempts.
Merchant Marine drove from its own 26 to the Rochester 24 in the final minutes. Chuck Kleinschnitt completed two fourth-down passes to Adam Franco (13 yards and 14 yards) to keep the Mariners moving. On fourth-and-nine from the Rochester 24, He hit Jon Spiropoulos (Ft. Myers, FL/Bishop Venot) over the middle but was stopped three yards short of a first down by Rochester's Andy Rape (Zelienople, PA/Freedom Area).
“They (Merchant Marine) were getting a lot of passes (completed),” said Rochester head coach Scott Greene. “At the end, we finally knocked it down.”
Rochester took over at its own 18 with 29 seconds left and Molisani kneeled twice to secure the victory.
The Yellowjackets improved to 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the Liberty League. Merchant Marine is 3-3 overall, 1-2 in the league.
“These kids fight for one another,” said Greene. “We're having fun out there.”
Molisani completed 19 of 27 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Vanderstyne caught 10 balls for 165 yards and two scores. He had a 47-yarder from Molisani just before halftime that gave Rochester a 14-7 lead at the break.
“Aaron's a difference maker for us,” Greene said. “He makes plays with his legs and his arms.”
Bielecki rushed five yards for a TD and caught a four-yard scoring pass from Molisani.
For the Mariners, Chuck Kleinschnitz completed 27 of 41 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
Kleinschnitz threw TD passes of eight yards to Spiropoulos late in the second quarter and four yards to Khalil Khan (Exton, PA/William Allen) with 2:35 left in the third.
The TD pass to Khan ended a nine-play, 77-yard drive late in the third quarter and tied the score at 14. On the next Academy possession, Kleinschnitt bobbled the snap and his fumble was recovered by Rochester's Ryan Barnard (Corning, NY/Corning East) at the MM23. Bielecki carried the ball on four of five plays, finally diving into the end zone from the five for a 21-14 lead with 13:21 left.
Preston Morgan (Easley, SC/Wren) returned the kickoff 42 yards to the Rochester 39. Nine plays later, Geoff Troy (Gainesville, FL/Buchholz) kicked a 34-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-17 with 10:09 to go.
When Rochester couldn't move, Patrick Till (Forestville, NY/Forestville Central) pinned the Mariners at their own six with 8:34 remaining. The Mariners drove 94 yards in eight plays covering 3:14 and ending with a 34-yard TD sprint by John Watson (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) and Troy's PAT at 5:20.
That set up the game-winning sequence.
It was the second consecutive game that Molisani staged a fourth-quarter TD drive. Last week, he drove the Yellowjackets 73 yards in the last four minutes and scored the winning TD on a four-yard run with 41 seconds left in a 19-18 win over St. Lawrence.
Notes: Bielecki moved into third place on the career rushing list with 2,431 yards. He passed Mike Corp (1974-77, 2,315 yds.), Sam Guerrieri (1983-86, 2,319 yds.), and Carmen Malatino (1987-90, 2,340 yds.)... Bielecki's TD run was the 19th of his career and that puts him in a five-way tie for eighth place in TD rushes...Vanderstyne set career highs for catches and yardage in one game... Defensively, Pat Gallagher had two sacks for the second straight game. Graig Baxter had one and a half (plus a half-tackle for loss), Jason Goeller had one, and Joe Galantini had half a sack.
