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| Marchi (Temple athletics) |
It was a tough afternoon for Connecticut natives Logan Marchi and Isaiah Wright, and their Temple teammates, on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Owls lost 28-24 to the home-state UConn Huskies. Marchi had his UConn application rescinded less than a week before National Signing Day and ended up at Temple. Wright had offers from several schools, including UConn, and wound up with the Owls after originally committing to Rutgers.
Marchi had a day reminiscent of the St. Paul “Air Raid” offense. The redshirt sophomore attempted 54 passes and completed 33 of them for 356 yards, one touchdown and one critical interception. Wright, a sophomore who started his high school career at Holy Cross before transferring to West Hartford’s Kingswood Oxford, caught six passes for 50 yards, including a nine-yard strike from Marchi. Wright had the second-most catches on the team.
Marchi’s last pass of the game, to the front corner of the end zone, was batted down.
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| Wright (Temple athletics) |
Marchi and Wright hooked up for the nine-yard touchdown pass with 7:54 left in the third quarter. Aaron Boumerhi’s extra point cut the Temple deficit to 21-14.
Marchi’s next pass went to the wrong side, and Windsor native Tyler Coyle returned the interception 34 yards for a UConn touchdown. A Mike Tarbutt extra point put the Huskies ahead 28-14.
Temple responded with 10 straight points and got a final chance when Tarbutt missed a 36-yard field goal with 55 seconds left. The field goal would have put the Huskies up 31-24.
Instead, the Owls had a chance to steal the game. Marchi completed passes of 11 and 25 yards to get the ball to the UConn 44. After a Marchi spike stopped the clock, an incompletion made it 3rd and 10. Marchi completed a two-yard pass, but his last attempt to the end zone was knocked down by Coyle.
The frustrating loss made Temple 3-4 on the season. The Owls play against Army in their next game.
Speaking of the NVL, UConn’s Arkeel Newsome — former star at Ansonia — had 18 rushes for 56 yards and three catches for minus four yards, though one went for a touchdown.
