DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by a milestone mark from junior rusher
Mekhi Wilson, the UMass Dartmouth football team battled back to defeat Westfield State, 33-13 in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) action on Saturday. The victory moves the Corsairs to 5-4 overall and 5-3 in conference play, while the Owls move to 2-7 and 2-6 in the MASCAC.
It was a tale of two halves on Saturday as the visiting Owls dominated the first half, but were unable to hold off the Corsairs in the second. Trailing by a 13-6 margin at halftime, UMass Dartmouth got things going at 5:12 of the third quarter as junior quarterback
JC Petrongolo found rookie wide receiver
Jayden Francois for a 23-yard score to knot the game at 13-13.
The Corsairs went big again with 1:38 remaining as Petrongolo sailed the ball into the outstretched hands of junior wide receiver
Naseim Harrison, who was able to cross the goal line for the 30-yard touchdown reception and a 20-13 lead.
In the fourth quarter, senior wide receiver
Jael Cabrera put up the next score at 7:50, making it a 26-13 game off an 18-yard pass by Petrongolo, while rookie rusher
Luke Turco capped the game's scoring with 1:50 remaining, rushing the ball in from five-yards out to move the score to 33-13.
Westfield State, which got first half touchdowns from Will Brewster (19-yards) and Cutis Dion (56-yards) got the ball back but the UMD defense held strong as the Owls turned it over on downs. Petrongolo took a knee on the next drive to conclude the game.
The game was highlighted by Wilson, who carried the ball 22 times for 126 yards on the ground. Entering Saturday's game, he needed just 50 yards to reach 1,000 yards on the season, eclipsing the mark in the third quarter of action. Wilson becomes just the sixth player in program history to achieve over 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. He is the first to hit the mark since Eddie Sheridan (1,078) in 2016. It also marked the seventh time this season the Wilson has rushed for 100+ yards.
Petrongolo took over following the exit of sophomore quarterback
Daunte Melton, finishing with 223 passing yards while going 15-of-22 on the day. He had three touchdowns and one interception. Melton was 5-of-13 with 73 yards.
Turco finished with 86 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown, while in the air, Francois eclipsed the 100-yard mark, finishing with 104 yards on five receptions with a touchdown. Cabrera hauled in seven catches for 67 yards and a score, while Harrison had 30 total yards on one reception for the TD.
Defensively, the Corsairs were paced by their captain, senior defensive lineman
Kairis Codio as he posted 13 tackles, including six solo. He had 1.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards and had a .5 sack for a loss of three yards with a forced fumble. Junior defensive edge
Owen Dunker posted six tackles, including .5 sack for four yards with a fumble recovery and a quarterback hurry, while senior linebacker
Lamar Beaton and defensive lineman
Michael Deleon also both had forced fumbles in the game.
UMass Dartmouth compiled 501 yards to total offense, including 296 in the air and 205 on the ground. They held the Owls to just 166 yards of total offense, including just 73 rushing yards in the game.
The Corsairs return to action on November 15 when they host MASCAC-rival Plymouth State at 12pm on Cressy Field. The game marks Senior Day for UMD as they honor their Class of 2026 graduates in a pre-game ceremony.
