WESTFIELD, Mass. – Travon Holder (Cheney/Hartford, Conn.) rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns to lead Westfield State University to a 42-22 MASCAC football win over Worcester State in Worcester on Saturday.
Holder scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half, scoring on runs of 1, 29 and 2 yards to stake the Owls to a 22-15 lead they would not relinquish after Holder's 2-yard score with 3:16 left in the first half.
The Owls rolled up 393 yards of total offense in the game, including 286 rushing yards. Westfield's RJ Darby (Norwich, Conn.) added 78 yards on 11 carries, and quarterback Jake Cassidy (Lawrence Academy/Lynn, Mass) ran for 50 yards. Cassidy also completed 9 of 16 passes for 109 yards, including a 30-yard scoring strike to Evan Garvey (Wachonah/Dalton, Mass.).
Garvey led Owls receivers with five catches for 85 yards.
Westfield also got a 51-yard interception return for a touchdown from senior linebacker Zach Howard (Prouty/Spencer, Mass.).
Sophomore DB Alijah Ellis (Derby, Conn.) finished with 13 tackles to lead the Owls defensively.
Westfield got pressure on Worcester quarterback Noah Brum all day, finishing with four sacks; one apiece for Tyler Robbins (Valley Christian/Southwick, Mass.), Ommel Bonilla (Andover/Methuen, Mass.), Zack Kane (Wakefield, Mass.) and Alyis Woodward (Lunenberg, Mass.).
For Worcester, Brum finished 33-46 for 349 yards, with a touchdown and three interceptions. Jacob Maher caught seven passes for 111 yards. Dex Andrews scored two touchdowns on a pair of short scoring runs.
Westfield State improves to 2-2 with the win, and 1-1 in the MASCAC. Worcester State falls to 2-2 and 1-1.
Westfield will host Bridgewater State next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Alumni Field.