WORCESTER, Mass. – Powered by a six-touchdown day from graduate student quarterback
Dante Aviles-Santos and 137 receiving yards with three touchdowns from
Angel Sanchez, the UMass Dartmouth football team defeated Worcester State University, 58-7 in MASCAC action on Saturday afternoon. The Corsairs move to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play, while the Lancers are now 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the MASCAC.
The Corsairs got things going early as Aviles-Santos found rookie wide receiver
Jael Cabrera for a 30-yard pass, putting the visitors up by a 7-0 margin at 11:15. With just 34 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Aviles-Santos found Sanchez, hitting the senior wide receiver with a 50-yard bomb for the score and a 14-0 advantage.
Second quarter action saw a pair of 14-yard touchdowns thrown by Aviles-Santos, hitting Cabrera once again at 9:17 of the frame, before once again hitting Sanchez with 2:41 remaining in the half. The Lancers struck with 1:01 on the clock as Cam Ayotte hit Deion Osei-Sarpong with a 41-yard throw, but UMass Dartmouth countered with five seconds remaining as graduate rusher
Marvens Jean ran in a 1-yard carry for a 34-7 lead at halftime.
Out of the break, Sanchez caught another TD, hauling in a short 1-yard pass from Aviles-Santos as sophomore kicker
Alex Moses nailed a 43-yard field goal with 3:28 in the third for a 44-7 Corsairs advantage. UMass Dartmouth hauled in one final score before the end of the frame as Aviles-Santos found junior wide receiver
Naseim Harrison for a 9-yard score and a 51-7 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Corsairs added a touchdown to open the fourth quarter of action as sophomore running back
Mekhi Wilson ran into the endzone with a 26-yard carry and the final score for either team on the day.
Aviles-Santos was 26-of-32 with 342 yards, six touchdowns and one interception on the day, while sophomore quarterback
JC Petrongolo came on in relief. On the ground, junior rusher
Kevin Brown carried the ball six times for 101 yards, while Jean added 69 yards on six carries with a touchdown.
In the air, Sanchez pulled in nine passes for 137 total yards and three scores, as Harrison added 68 years and a touchdown with four receptions. Cabrera also paced the receiving core, adding 50 yards and two scores on three catches. Overall, the Corsairs receiving core posted 354 yards in the air and six touchdowns.
Defensively, UMass Dartmouth was paced by fifth-year linebacker
Jackson Wellman, who recorded six total tackles, including three solo. He had a tackle for a loss of six yards and 0.5 sacks for a loss of five yards. Junior defensive lineman
Kairis Codio added five tackles (two solo) with half a tackle for a loss of five yards and the half sack for a loss of five, while fifth-year defensive edge
Josh Lacerte posted four tackles, including two for a loss of 12 yards and a sack for a loss of nine with a pass breakup. The Corsairs defensive unit limited the Lancers to just 205 yards of total offense.
Additionally, Moses was 3-for-4 in point-after-attempts, while rookie
Connor McManus was a perfect 4-for-4 in PAT's for the game.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the field on Saturday, October 26 welcoming MASCAC-rival Bridgewater State to Cressy Field. Game time is set for 5:30pm on Blue & Gold Weekend.
