DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Junior QB
Dante Aviles-Santos threw for a career-high six touchdowns with 333 yards on 20-of-25 passing Friday night in the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football teams' 48-21 victory over Western Connecticut State.
On the receiving end of Aviles-Santos' TD tosses were sophomore
Angel Sanchez, who hauled in two touchdowns and added 141 yards on seven catches, junior
Malakie Simao (67 yds.), sophomore
Easten Coleman (43 yds.), 5th-year
Keenan Little and junior
Ammon Schirling. On the ground, senior
Luis Gonzalez rushed for 112 yards and a TD, while junior
Richarno Hylton added 67 yards and a rush for six.
The Corsairs (4-1, 3-0 MASCAC) totaled 514 yards on offense, while the defense held the Wolves (2-3, 1-2 MASCAC) to 285 yards. Junior
Trell Best led UMass Dartmouth eight tackles, including five solo, while 5th-year senior
Javien Delgado and senior
Josh Lacerte each had six tackles. Senior
Stevie Kolodko finished with 1.5 sacks for a loss of 12 yards.
Now becoming routine, the Corsairs scored on their first drive of the game. After winning the coin toss and selecting to receive, Aviles-Santos connected with Sanchez for completions of 16 and 29 yards. Gonzalez then pounded home a five-yard TD rush to make it a 7-0 lead with 13:10 on the clock.
UMass Dartmouth scored on its very next drive. After a group sack by Kolodko and Lacerte forced a punt to set up the Corsairs on their own 41-yard line, Hylton broke free for an 18-yard rush. Aviles-Santos then dropped-in a perfect pass from 34 yards away to Simao in the corner of the endzone to extend the advantage to 14-0 with 8:44 to go in the first. West Conn would score on a one-yard rush to cut its deficit to 14-7 by the end of the first.
The Wolves evened the score early in the second quarter with a 13-yard touchdown pass. The Corsairs then took back the lead with 7:09 in the second when Aviles-Santos found Sanchez for a 10-yard diving TD grab which was set up with a 33-yard reception by Simao and a 10-yard rush from Gonzalez. Aviles-Santos then closed the half with a 43-yard bomb to Coleman to bring the score to 27-14 at the break.
The first drive of the second half was capped off with a 15-yard touchdown pass and catch to Little on fourth down to extend the lead to 34-14. West Conn scored its final TD of the night on a rush with 3:34 to go in the third.
The final two scores for the Corsairs came on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter. Aviles-Santos first connected with Schirling for a four-yard score, and then it was Sanchez who reeled in a one-handed grab for 64 yards, the longest TD of the night, to finish things off.
UMass Dartmouth is on the road next for a Thursday night game at Mass. Maritime. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
