KINGS POINT, N.Y. - The visiting Western Connecticut State University Wolves fell behind, 20-0, early and went on to drop its season opener, 44-27, against the United States Merchant Marine Academy Mariners in football action this afternoon at Brooks Stadium.  WestConn junior QB John Giller (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) threw three touchdown passes in his first game back after suffering a season-ending injury in mid-season last fall.  The Wolves will stay on the road next weekend when they begin defense of their Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) title on Friday, September 13 at 7 p.m. against Massachusetts Maritime.

The game started well for the WestConn defense when junior LB Justin Ingebrigtsen (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) intercepted the first pass of the game.  The Wolves offense could not capitalize on the turnover, however, and the Mariners scored the game's first touchdown on a 60-yard pass from Gerry Alota to Talsen Smith with 11:38 on the clock.  Senior DeShaun Hardy-Walker (Newark, N.J.) had another WestConn interception, the Mariners blocked a punt, but neither turned into any points on the offensive side.  Ingbrigtensen and sophomore teammate Eamon Moran (Stratford, Conn.) finished a WestConn goal line stand late in the first period, but the Wolves offense continued to stall and the Mariners got the ball back in WestConn territory after a short punt.  Merchant Marine scored its second touchdown on a five -yard run by Alota and led, 13-0, after one quarter.

The home team drove 76 yards in 12 plays for their third score on a three-yard Alota run with 9:02 left in the second frame.  WestConn got on the board for the first time this fall on a 36-yard pass from senior QB Keion Jones (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) to sophomore WR Dae'Shawn Allen (White Plains, N.Y) to make the score 20-7 with 5:42 remaining until halftime.  Merchant Marine answered with another long drive, advancing 75 yards and taking a 27-7 lead on a one-yard scoring lunge by Alota just before the end of the second quarter.

Chad Hollar intercepted Jones and returned the ball 39 yards into Wolves territory to set up Merchant Marine's fourth touchdown.  Will Surdez scored on an eight-yard run for a 34-7 Mariner lead with 8:54 left in the third frame.  The Mariners stopped WestConn on 4th-and-2 from their own three-yard line to end ae Wolves threat later in the third, but Giller found sophomore WR Markus Faucett (Bronx, N.Y.) for a 26-yard touchdown pass moments later to make the score, 34-13, at the final break.  The Mariners went ahead, 44-13, when Jackson Tinkis made a 25-yard field goal and executed a successful onsides kick that led to a sixth Merchant Marine touchdown with 11:53 on the clock.  Giller added a 21-yard scoring strike to senior WR Zach Soriano (Middle Island, N.Y.) and an 11-yard touchdown toss to Faucett later in the final quarter, but the visitors ran out of time.

Giller finished 17-for-24 passing for 168 yards while Jones was 6-for-16 for 76 yards.  Alota was 5-for-11 for 115 yards for the run-heavy Mariner offense.  Nine Merchant Marines combined for 277 rushing yards, led by 72 and a touchdown by Zach Zebro, and senior RB Kevin Franceschini (Bronx, N.Y.) paced WestConn with 35 yards on the ground.  Allen had 10 catches for 75 yards and senior WR Julian Ferguson (Enfield, Conn.) had five grabs for 69 yards.  Smith led all receivers with 83 yards on three catches. Defensively, Moran made a game-high 12 tackles and senior DB Milleeq Green (Bridgeport, Conn.) had seven tackles.  Caleb Green made eight stops for Merchant Marine.