Ethan Goldcamp, entering his first career start as the quarterback of the Coast Guard Academy football team a week ago, spent all week waiting to take his first hit. It’s something he said signifies the official start of the season.

“In practice, we have the red jersey (and can’t be hit),” Goldcamp said this week. “You wait for the first game to take your first hit.”

Well, he got that out of the way quickly. Goldcamp got “popped” on the first play of the game, an incompletion, before settling in to lead the Bears to a 34-7 victory over Alfred State at New London’s Cadet Memorial Field. Now, it’s on to Week 2 for Goldcamp, who will lead Coast Guard in Saturday’s nonconference game at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. (1 p.m.)

“I thought it went pretty well. We were incredibly balanced on offense,” Goldcamp said. “I’m not nearly as anxious (this week).”

Goldcamp, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior who is replacing record-setting quarterback Derek Victory, who graduated, finished 20-for-32 with 240 yards, one touchdown and one interception against Alfred State, now leading the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference in passing yards.

He threw a 37-yard touchdown to freshman Justin Moffatt in the third quarter and also hit Moffatt on the 1-yard line to set up a touchdown earlier in the game. In all, Goldcamp hit nine different receivers, with senior captain Cody Bain leading the way with four receptions. Senior receiver Darius Adams (hamstring) will miss his second straight game this week.

Goldcamp’s performance earned a “#prouddad” tweet from Victory.

“Ethan’s leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last year,” Coast Guard coach Bill George said. “He’s leaps and bounds ahead of where he was at the beginning of this year. He’s understanding the protections.

“Give all the credit to coach (Ray) LaForte (offensive coordinator). I was worried about three things (with Goldcamp), 1. blitz protection, 2. holding the ball too long and 3. the timing of our passing game. One and three are not as much of a concern anymore. He’s gotten more intelligent.”

This week, the Bears face a Union team which dropped its season opener last week to Husson 20-7. Husson was an NCAA Division III playoff team last season.

Wide receiver Packy Brown had 88 yards on four catches to lead Union in the loss, while quarterback Nick Cascione was 14-for-23 for 191 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The Dutchmen have one of their youngest teams in program history, with 12 seniors on the roster and 31 freshmen.

“Husson is a two-time NCAA playoff team,” George said. “We’re not going to trick ourselves (into overlooking Union). They’re getting back to the Union of old.”

“We’re excited to keep it going,” Goldcamp said. “We’ve got to be prepared. The game’s not going to end in the third quarter like it did last week. We go in with the mindset of being 1-0 every week. … We’ve talked through every single throw (from last week), what could be done better. My maturity has grown.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com