PLYMOUTH, N.H. -Â The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football team are the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Champions for the first time in program history and have earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that begins on Saturday.
The Corsairs, who finish the regular season 9-1 and a perfect 8-0 in the MASCAC, defeated Plymouth State 46-21 on the road. This is the the conference championship since 2002 when the team was in the New England Football Conference (NEFC). It is also the second time ever UMass Dartmouth will appear in the NCAA's.
Junior QB
Dante Aviles-Santos was special, competing 26-of-29 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore
Angel Sanchez went for 121 receiving yards and two TD's, while senior
Luis Gonzalez rushed for two touchdowns and 53 yards, junior
Richarno Hylton rushed for 71 yards and a score and sophomore
Jalyn Aponte picked up 65 yards and a TD. Sophomore
Mike Vincent caught a TD as well.
5th-year senior
Javien Delgado led the team with six tackles, including two for a loss of yards. Senior
Josh Lacerte finished with five tackles, while sophomore
Mike Henricksen and 5th-year
Mekhi Geter each had four tackles. Junior
Logan Chappell picked off a pass and returned it for 19 yards.
As they seem to always do, the Corsairs scored on their first drive. A pair of 10-yard passes to 5th-year
Keenan Little and sophomore
Easten Coleman led to a 37-yard TD rush for Aponte with 11:52 on the clock in the first.
UMass Dartmouth picked up another touchdown on its very next drive. After long gains by Gonzalez and Sanchez, Aviles-Santos connected with Coleman for 25 yards to set up a 10-yard TD rush from Hylton to make it a 12-0 advantage at the 8:13 mark of the first.
Plymouth State cut its deficit to 12-7 early in the second, but UMass Dartmouth extended its lead to 19-7 with a three-yard touchdown rush by Gonzalez with 4:26 until halftime. The Panthers scored one more time, trimming the Corsair lead to 19-14 at the break.
UMass Dartmouth dominated the third quarter with three touchdowns to up its lead to 39-14. The first was a four-yard pass from Aviles-Santos to Sanchez, the second was an 18-yard strike to Vincent and the third was a 12-yard dot to Sanchez.
A 28-yard rush from Aviles-Santos set up a three-yard TD rush by Gonzalez to push the lead to 46-14 early in the fourth. Plymouth State would score one more time, but the championship was well in hand for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth will find out their NCAA Tournament opponent during the selection show at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Stay tuned to corsairathletics.com for updates.
