DARTMOUTH, Mass. – A total-team performance by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football squad had the Corsairs soaring to a 40-0 victory over the visiting Fitchburg State Falcons Saturday afternoon at Cressy Field.
The Corsairs (6-2, 4-2 MASCAC) were led by a vicious running attack. Freshman
Marvens Jean rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown, while junior
Luis Gonzalez finished with 115 yards and a score and added a receiving TD as well. Sophomore quarterback
Dante Aviles-Santos registered 57 yards on the ground with two rushing scores and sophomore
Richarno Hylton took a 51-yard rush to the house on his only carry of the day.
Defensively, 5th-year senior
Marcus Elysee had himself a day with three sacks and nine total tackles. Two of his sacks came on back-to-back plays. Senior
Malik Gibson and
Mekhi Geter each finished with six tackles, while 5th-year senior
Chris Gomes had an interception in the third quarter.
Altogether, the Corsairs put up 597 yards of total offense and held the Falcons (0-7, 0-5 MASCAC) to 145 yards.
UMass Dartmouth's first scoring drive started from its own 1-yard line and the Corsairs took 13 plays to move 99 yards. The drive was highlighted by 40 combined rushing yards from Gonzalez and a 25-yard pass to Jean. Aviles Santos then took home a 24-yard touchdown rush and UMassD converted its 2-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 3:34 left in the first quarter.
The Corsairs scored three TD's in the second quarter to push its lead to 26-0 at halftime. Gonzalez punched in a 7-yard run with 10:45 on the clock and Aviles-Santos ran in his second touchdown of the day with 7:17 until halftime. UMassD used some trickery when senior wide receiver
Keenan Little tossed a 15-yard strike to Gonzalez just 42 seconds before the break.
Jean capped off a 90-yard drive in the third with a 33-yard touchdown rush to put the Corsairs up, 34-0, with 5:45 left in the quarter.
The final scoring play of the game belonged to Hylton, who found a seam up the middle and broke free for a 51-yard TD rush with 8:58 left on the clock to put up a 40-spot on the Falcons.
UMass Dartmouth will now prepare for a critical MASCAC game at Bridgewater State on Saturday at 12 p.m.
