UNION, N.J. (9/17/14) – Quarterback Robert Meade III passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more in the Kean University football team's 41-28 setback against Endicott College on Saturday. The Gulls are now 1-2 on the year, while Kean drops to 0-2.
Endicott got on the board first after forcing a Kean punt on the opening drive. A long pass from Drew Frenette to Brett Egizi earned Endicott 43 yards and the game's first touchdown. But David Ricca got in on the PAT to block it for the Cougars and make the score 6-0.
Kean was on the wrong end of another long touchdown pass in the quarter, and the Gulls added a field goal for a 16-point outburst in the first.
But Kean put together an impressive drive of its own in the period, capped by a one-yard touchdown plunge by Meade.
Midway through the second quarter, Kean faced a 4th down in Gull territory and went for it. Meade impressively escaped the Endicott rush, scrambled left and found Qaudir Johnson for a diving, toe-dragging catch in the endzone for the touchdown. The extra point brought Kean within two.
In the final minute before halftime, Kean capped a 12-play, 82 -yard drive with another 1-yard touchdown run by Meade (pictured left) with just 46 seconds left on the clock to take a 21-16 lead into the locker room. The Kean defense had held the Gulls scoreless in the second quarter.
The script flipped in the third, however, as Endicott scored 15 unanswered through the air, including one on a halfback pass from Nate Lewis that gave EC a 31-21 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth, Kean got closer on an acrobatic play in the end zone by Brandon Robinson. The senior wideout snagged a redirected ball off a teammate's body to haul in Meade's second touchdown pass of the day – the fourth one Meade was credited for overall.
But Kean could not pull to within striking distance as a pick-6 by Endicott's Marjan Solomon capped the Gull scoring in the game as they held on for the 41-28 victory.
Marquis Oliver led Kean with eight tackles, while Ricca (pictured right) and Tom Winters both had sacks in the game. Winters was in on 1.5 tackles for a loss as well, for a total of six yards, and hurried the Gulls' QB three times.
The Cougars will head down to Texas next weekend for a date with the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday at 7 p.m. Eastern.
