FRANKLIN, Mass. – Behind seven touchdowns, including six rushing, the UMass Dartmouth football team defeated Dean College, 48-7 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday at Dale Lippert Field. The Corsairs move to 4-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play, while the Bulldogs move to 0-8 with an 0-7 mark in the MASCAC.
The Corsairs opened the game's scoring at 12:57 as sophomore quarterback
Daunte Melton rushed it in for the one-yard score. Less than four minutes later, junior running back
Mekhi Wilson carried it in for two yards – pushing the score to 14-0.
In the final minute of the quarter, the Corsairs found the endzone once again as Melton hit senior wide receiver
Jael Cabrera for a 23-yard score as the team's headed into the second quarter with a 20-0 score on the board.
UMass Dartmouth opened the margin to 27-0 in the second quarter on their opening drive (14:53) as senior
Napoleon DeBarros ran it in from eight yards out. The Corsairs added to their advantage on the next drive with a wild play.
Rookie rusher
Luke Turco started the play, carrying it for three yards before fumbling the ball on a hard hit. As it came loose, rookie wide receiver
Markus Andrews was there, picking it up and rushing it 36-yards into the endzone for a 34-0 lead.
Senior rusher
Malik White was next to net a TD, rushing it in from four yards out with 1:48 remaining in the frame. The Corsairs added held solid on the next drive, shutting down the Bulldogs drive to head into halftime with a 41-0 advantage.
In the third quarter, senior
Fernando Rodriguez netted his first touchdown as a Corsair, carrying it in from two yards out with 3:43 to move the score to 48-0. Dean got on the scoreboard at 5:31 of the fourth with quarterback Nick Levine rushing it in from three yards out to cap the scoring.
Melton went 9-of-12 with 139 passing yards and one touchdown. Senior quarterback
Matt Kirrane was 3-of-3 with 22 yards, while junior
JC Petrongolo went 2-fo-3 with 15 yards. Rounding out the time in the pocket was rookie
Logan Gelinas, who was 1-of-1 with eight yards.
Wilson carried the ball 17 times for 126 yards – marking his sixth 100+ yard game in eight contests this season – with a touchdown. Turco had nine carries for 85 yards, while DeBarros posted nine carries with 66 yards and a score. Andrews had 36 yards with a TD, while Rodriguez carried it 10 times for 33 yards with a touchdown.
In the air, rookie wide out
Jayden Francois had four catches for 82 yards, while Cabrera had one catch for 23 yards and the lone passing touchdown.
Defensively, rookie defensive back
Prince Exavier led the way with eight tackles, including three solo with a break up. Senior defensive edge
Alex Santini posted five tackles, including 0.5 sacks for a loss of five yards, while senior linebacker
Lamar Beaton also had five tackles with two break ups and a quarterback hurry.
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday, hosting Westfield State at Cressy Field. Game time is set for 12pm.
