BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. -Â Thursday night football in Buzzards Bay was a successful business trip as the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth defeated Mass. Maritime, 28-14, at Clean Harbors Stadium to remain atop the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC).
The Corsairs (5-1, 4-0 MASCAC) are on a four-game winning streak and piled up 457 total yards on the night, while the Buccaneers (2-3, 2-1 MASCAC) drop their first conference game of the season.
Junior QB Dante Aviles Santos threw for 319 yards with one passing touchdown and added another with his legs. Senior RB
Luis Gonzalez ran home two TD's on 46 yards, while junior
Richarno Hylton led all players with 66 yards on the ground. Sophomore WR
Angel Sanchez went for a season-high 191 receiving yards with one touchdown and leads the MASCAC with 613 yards and is tied for the most TD receptions with five, despite only playing four out of UMass Dartmouth's six games.
Sophomore
Sam Alicea led the Corsairs with six solo tackles and two sacks, while senior
Josh Lacerte brought down the quarterback as well. Lacerte (5.5) and Alicea (5.0) are first and second in the conference in sacks. Junior
CJ Waite had an interception, while 5th-year senior
Marcus Elysee and junior
Jackson Wellman were credited with tackles for a loss of yards.
UMass Dartmouth scored its first touchdown with 6:51 left in the first quarter. Aviles-Santos had two passes to junior
Antonio Stakely for 24 yards to move the Corsairs to Mass. Maritime's 28-yard line. Gonzalez then took a handoff 28 yards to the house to make it a 7-0 advantage.
It took until 8:53 in the second for UMass Dartmouth to add to its lead. Starting at their own 24-yard line, Aviles-Santos completed passes of 17 yards to 5th-year senior
Keenan Little and 13 yards to sophomore
Mike Vincent to eventually move the ball to the MMA 22-yard line. On fourth down, Aviles-Santos sent a strike to Sanchez for a 22-yard TD, bringing the score to 14-0.
Mass. Maritime fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Corsairs started their next drive in great field position on the 33-yard line. A 28-yard pass to junior
Isaiah Cole set up a four-yard rushing score for Aviles-Santos to extend the lead to 21-0 at the half.
The Buccaneers came out firing to open the second half with two quick passing touchdowns, one for 41 yards and the other from three-yards out to cut their deficit to 21-14 with 6:01 left in the third.
UMass Dartmouth scored its final touchdown on the very next drive. A 39-yard pass and catch to Sanchez moved the ball to the MMA 21-yard line. Hylton then turned three rushes into 20 yards and Gonzalez powered in his second rushing TD of the night, to bring the score to its final of 28-14, with 2:42 to go in the third.
The Corsairs' defense stepped up in the fourth quarter to hold off the Buccaneers.
UMass Dartmouth has some extra time to prepare for Westfield State on Saturday, Oct. 15. Join us for festivities at Blue & Gold Weekend.
