Coast Guard football plays at Worcester St. today

The Coast Guard Academy football team, fresh off last week's New England Football Conference Bogan Division win over Westfield State, looks to make it two division wins in a row today.

The Bears (3-3, 2-2) play at Worcester State in a Bogan Division game at 1:30 p.m.

Coast Guard trailed 21-10 last Saturday afternoon at Westfield State with the Owls driving into opposing territory. That's when Coast Guard free safety Evan Rothfeld stepped in front of a Westfield pass and returned it 44 yards, leading to a Bears' touchdown on the next play. Coast Guard pulled off a win, 31-27.

"They could've wrapped the game up," Coast Guard coach Bill George said of the Westfield drive that was halted by Rothfeld. "Then he returned it 44 yards; that swung the whole game. That gave us a boost."

For Coast Guard, which lost five games last season by seven points or fewer, four in the final minute, the tight win was a boost in general heading into today's game.

Worcester State (5-2, 3-1) defeated Coast Guard 31-30 last season, as the Bears missed a potential game-winning field goal from 43 yards out as time expired.

- Vickie Fulkerson