DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by 690 yards of total offense and stellar defense, the UMass Dartmouth football team defeated Vermont State University Castleton, 60-10 in MASCAC action on Saturday at Cressy Field. The Corsairs move to 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference play, while the Spartans are now 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the MASCAC.
The Corsairs were powered by a 20-for-27 performance by graduate student quarterback and captain
Dante Aviles-Santos, who wracked up 340 yards with five touchdowns. Classmate and running back
Marvens Jean carried the ball 10 times, recording his second straight 100+ yards rushing contest with 101 yards and a touchdown, while senior wide receiver and captain
Angel Sanchez notched two touchdowns on six receptions for 143 yards – which is a season-high in yardage.
Junior defensive lineman paced the way in tackles for the Corsairs, notching three solo for five total, while senior captain and defensive edge
Sam Alicea had three total tackled, including a sack, which gives him 21.5 in his career. That makes him the all-time sacks leader in program history.
The Spartans saw quarterback Wes Cournoyer go 10-for-29 with 133 yards and an interception. He was sacked four times by the Corsairs defense. Rusher Christian Keeling posted 18 yards on four carries, while Leonard Brice had two receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Kevin McDonough led all players with 11 tackles, including three solo. Josh Cormier posted seven tackles, including four solo, while three others recorded six tackles, including Ian Detulleo – who had four solo stops.
The Corsairs opened the game's scoring on the first drive, receiving the ball from the Spartans and taking it into the endzone on a 29-yard score by Sanchez from Aviles-Santos. UMass Dartmouth added to its advantage soon after as Aviles-Santos found junior wide receiver
Naseim Harrison for a five-yard touchdown and the 14-0 lead
Late in the frame, the visitors struck back as Caezar Williams threw the ball 51-yards deep, hitting Brice to cut the Corsairs lead to 14-7, but second quarter action saw the home team add to its lead once again as the Sanchez – Aviles-Santos connection found each other again for 30-yards and the 21-7 advantage at 14:38.
The Spartans attempted a 26-yard field goal at 5:13 but was not able to get it through as the Corsairs took over and turned it into an 8-yard touchdown from Aviles-Santos to Jean with 3:15 to go. UMass Dartmouth scored again with 1:05 to play as junior rusher
Kevin Brown split the middle, and Aviles-Santos found junior wide receiver
Jael Cabrera in the final 26 seconds for a 41-7 lead for the Corsairs at halftime.
Out of halftime, UMassD picked up where it left off on offense, as senior rusher
Jalyn Aponte drove the ball in seven yards to the endzone for a 47-7 Corsairs advantage. On the next possession, the Spartans were able to drive home a field goal to push the score to 47-10, but the home team added a one-yard touchdown run from Jean and a 5-yard dash from sophomore
Mekhi Wilson to close out the game's scoring in the fourth quarter.
UMass Dartmouth is right back in action on Friday with its second game of the season under the lights. The Corsairs head over to Buzzards Bay for a 7pm showdown against MASCAC-rival Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
