BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Sophomore
Trell Best picked off a pass on Bridgewater State's potential game-tying drive with 45 seconds remaining to secure the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's, 26-20, road victory in its biggest game of the year.
The Corsairs (7-2, 5-2 MASCAC) keep their Bowl Game hopes alive with one contest remaining in the regular season, while the Bears (5-3, 5-1 MASCAC) suffer their first conference loss of the year.
Sophomore quarterback
Dante Aviles-Santos threw for 236 yards and four touchdown passes, upping his MASCAC lead to 19 passing TD's, he also added 61 yards on the ground. After missing the previous two weeks, 5th-year senior
Douglas Machado came away with 84 receiving yards and two scores, while senior
Keenan Little and freshman
Marvens Jean had TD catches as well.
5th-year senior
Chris Gomes led the Corsairs with 13 tackles with 10 solo. Senior
JP Mason finished with 12 tackles and nine solo. Junior
Josh Lacerte recorded 1.5 sacks with Freshman
Mike Henricksen on the other half of one, while 5th-year senior
Sean Reall and freshman
Sam Alicea added a sack as well. Sophomore
Shane Meerbott picked off a pass and returned it 25 yards to join Best with an INT.
It was a back-and-forth grind it out game. Bridgewater took a 6-0 lead with 9:19 in the first when junior Adam Couch completed a 53-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown rush.
UMass Dartmouth then took its first lead with 5:32 to go in the first when Aviles-Santos welcomed back Machado with a 42-yard pass and catch for six. The Corsairs then converted their 2-point conversion to make it 8-6.
Couch, the MASCAC's leading rusher, showed why with a 33-yard scamper to give the Bears a 12-8 lead with 3:06 left in the first.
The Corsairs took the lead right back on their very next drive, taking 10 plays to move 82 yards, highlighted by a 39-yard pass to freshman
Mike Vincent to set up UMassD at the 2-yard line. Aviles-Santos then tossed a touchdown to Little to make it a 14-12 game with 14:40 in the second.
Couch then completed another long Bridgewater drive with a 25-yard rushing score just before halftime to give the Bears a 20-14 advantage at the break.
After forcing a Bridgewater punt in the early going of the second half, the Corsairs took nine plays to go 73 yards and tie the game. Aviles-Santos connected with Little for 31 yards and then hit Jean for a 7-yard score to make it even at 20.
The defense stepped up, forcing Bridgewater to punt twice and causing a turnover on fourth down. Jean broke off a 41-yard rush to open the fourth quarter, setting up an 18-yard strike from Aviles-Santos to Machado to take the lead for good, 26-20.
Bridgewater got the ball back on its own 26-yard line with 2:11 to go looking for a touchdown. The Bears moved the ball to the UMassD 28-yard line with 51 seconds left. Junior quarterback James Cahoon's pass was then intercepted by Best to seal the victory for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth has its bye-week on Saturday and will look forward to its final regular season game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 13 against Plymouth State at noon at Cressy Field.
