Football 10/7/2006 12:00:00 AM

Union Edges WPI 28-27

Union 28, WPI 27

Worcester, MA -- Union's Doug Davis (Yonkers, NY) intercepted a two-point conversion pass in the left corner of the end zone with 30 seconds remaining to cap off a wild, seesawing fourth quarter, as the Dutchmen thwarted WPI, 28-27, in front of 2,101 at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon's homecoming contest.

Davis' pick finished off a 31-point fourth quarter that began with Union holding a 17-7 advantage over the Boynton Hill Eleven.

The Dutchmen (4-1 overall, 3-0 Liberty League) were flying down the gridiron at the start of the quarter when they coughed up the ball after a completed pass inside the five yard line. Andrew Sides (Acton, MA) was there to cause the fumble, as he smacked the ball out of Union player mitts. It bounced off another player right back into Sides' hands, and the Engineers (2-3, 0-3) took over deep in their own territory.

WPI then constructed a methodical 96-yard scoring drive in 13 plays, including the conversion of a fourth-down play as well as two third-down conversions, which led to Alix Orton (Worcester, MA) plowing in from a yard out. Greg Lyons' (Holden, MA) kick was true to make it 17-14 Dutchmen.

Union came roaring back, as two consecutive pass plays worth 20-plus yards (a 22-yard completion from Anthony Marotti (Riveredge, NY) to Ryan Twichell (Fayetteville, NY) and a 21-yarder to Josh McKelligan (Canton, MA) set up a 38-yard field goal by Ben Rapple (Queensbury, NY), giving the Dutchmen a six-point, 20-14 cushion with 6:43 remaining.

WPI's next drive would give the Engineers their first - albeit brief - lead of the game.

Three plays into it, Rob Pantalone (Camp Hill, PA) hooked up with Matt Burger (Ballston Lake, NY) for an 11-yard completion to make it fourth-and-three, before the dynamic duo connected again - this time on a picture-perfect 46-yard completion in the flat to give WPI a first down at the Union 21. Five plays later, Pantalone called his own number on a nifty option keeper to the left from five yards out to tie it at 20-20. Lyons booted home the PAT to make it 21-20 with 3:10 left.

But Union reclaimed the lead - eventually for good - less than two minutes later, with All-American running back Tom Arcidiacono (Castleton, NY) punching it in from six yards out. Highlighting the drive was a Marotti-to-Twichell 18-yard pass play on fourth-and-10 from the WPI 43, which led to a 19-yard carry by Arcidiacono (34 carries for season-high 205 yards, three touchdowns). Then, Marotti (26-of-44, 284 yards passing to eight different receivers) fired a strike to Twichell (eight receptions, 100 yards) for the two-point conversion, giving the Dutchmen a seven-point, 28-21 lead with 1:24 remaining.

That set up WPI's pivotal drive, which began at its own 33. George Chyoghly (Boylston, MA; 14 carries for 79 yards) started the drive with a pair of runs totaling 11 yards, before Pantalone (8 carries for 23 yards rushing; 16-of-32, 290 yards passing, one interception, one touchdown) burned the turf with a 16-yard rush to the Dutchmen 40. On the next play, Pantalone dropped back and put everything he could behind his next pass, which sailed into Burger's hands for a 40-yard scoring strike. Burger (nine receptions for 175 yards) flew down the right sideline and caught Pantalone's offering in stride to close the Union lead to one point.

But instead of attempting the point-after to tie the game, WPI elected to go for the win. Pantalone took the snap, rolled to his left, and then fired it toward 6-8 Tom Ryan (Newtown, CT) in the left side of the end zone, where Davis came up with the pick to preserve the Union victory.

The two teams combined for 931 yards of total offense in the game, with Union racking up 520 of them. Defensively, Dylan Walton-Yedlin had a team-high 10 tackles for the Dutchmen, including two tackles for loss, while Matt Boudreau (Rensselaer, NY) had a Herculean effort for the Engineers (16 tackles, forced fumble). Adam Haines (Manchester, NH) added 10 tackles for WPI.

The WPI tradition of the Robert Pritchard Award, given to the Outstanding Back and Lineman on Homcoming, was presented by his daughter Diane, went to Burger and Nate Levesque (Fall River, MA; seven tackles).

Union is in action next Saturday at Frank Bailey Stadium as the Dutchmen host Franklin and Marshall. WPI has next weekend off before hosting Rochester with a noon time game on Boynton Hill on Oct. 21.