DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football team scored early and often and the defense forced six turnovers as the Corsairs defeated Framingham State, 46-21, Saturday afternoon for the first win over the Rams since 2016.
UMass Dartmouth improves to 2-1 and 1-0 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), the Corsairs are now in the drivers seat after the first week of conference games. Framingham State drops to 1-2 and 0-1 in the MASCAC. The loss for the Rams snapped a 20-game conference winning streak.
Junior QB
Dante Aviles-Santos had another stellar performance with 321 passing yards and four TD's through the air. Making his Corsair debut, sophomore WR
Angel Sanchez exploded for 161 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions. Sophomore WR
Mike Vincent went for 88 yards and a score, while 5th-year senior WR
Keenan Little had a TD as well. On the ground, sophomore
Jalyn Aponte, freshman
Jacob Gibbons, junior
Richarno Hylton and Aviles-Santos combined for 187 yards with Hylton rushing one home for six.
Defensively, 5th-year senior
JP Mason led the team with 10 tackles and a forced fumble, while classmate
Mekhi Geter finished with eight tackles, including a sack and a forced fumble. Junior
Shane Meerbott, sophomore
Trell Best and freshman
Gary Poyser all had interceptions. Sophopmore
Sam Alicea added a sack and a fumble recovery, and senior
Josh Lacerte and sophomore
Mike Henricksen recovered fumbles as well.
It only took 57 seconds for the Corsairs to drive 49 yards and score the first touchdown of the day. Aviles-Santos found Vincent streaking in the endzone for a 24-yard strike to make it a quick 7-0 lead. Still early in the first, Aviles-Santos went deep for Sanchez for 44 yards and the pair connected again for a 22-yard TD, extending the advantage to 14-0 with 7:21 on the clock.
Framingham cut the lead in half with a touchdown, but sophomore kicker Breadyn DeMarco drilled a 24-yard field goal to make it 17-7 with 13:26 in the second. UMass Dartmouth put up two more scores before the break. Aviles-Santos found Little for a 23-yard TD, and just before halftime, Aviles-Santos threw to Sanchez who beat two defenders on his way to a 50-yard touchdown to make it 29-7.
DeMarco tacked on his second field goal with 9:04 in the third to extend the lead to 32-7. With 6:25 left in the third, Poyser picked off a pass and brought it back 55 yards to the one-yard line, fumbled, and Alicea was there to pick it up in the endzone to bring the score to 39-7. Framingham scored at the end of the third to give them 14 points. Hylton then scored the final TD of the day with 29-yard rush with 8:38 left to finish it off.
UMass Dartmouth is at Worcester State on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
