Westfield, Mass. – The Westfield State football team concluded the 2021 regular season with a 38-20 victory over Fitchburg State on Saturday afternoon from Elliott Field. The Owls pounded the rock all game, rushing for a total of 346 yards and 5.8 yards per carry in the contest. The win was the Owls first of the season.
The Owls opened the scoring with a nine-play, 82-yard drive that lasted 2:41. Senior running back Shane Clark (Bellows Falls, VT) had a big rush for 46 yards in the drive capped by a 12-yard pass from quarterback Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) to sophomore Danny Farrell (Milford, Mass.) for the early 6-0 lead.
The Owls extended the lead (13-0) on the first play of the second quarter. From seven yards out, Fernandez found senior Jamar Johnson (Lynn, Mass.) in the endzone for the touchdown. Fernandez pushed the Owls score to 19-0 with 40 seconds left in the first half with a quarterback sneak over the endline.
In the second half, the Owls scored three rushing touchdowns with three different running backs. Clark capped off a six-and-a-half-minute drive with a nine-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 25-0. Senior Justin Jean-Charles (Springfield, Mass.) added a five-yard touchdown in the closing minutes of the third quarter. First-year back Blake Simpson (Bellingham, Mass.) scored his first collegiate touchdown in the fourth quarter, scoring from a yard out.
Clark led the Owls with 98 rushing yards followed by Simpson with 77. Sophomore Lee Colon (Holyoke, Mass.) and Fernandez each eclipsed 50 yards rushing.
Fernandez threw for just 66 yards, but was efficient as he connected for two touchdowns on 8-15 passing. Farrell led the Owls receiving core with 29 yards.
Defensively, the Owls were stout as they did not allow a score until mid-way through the third quarter. Junior linebacker Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet, leading the Owls in tackles (6) while producing the team's lone sack. He also recovered a fumble in the second quarter. Junior linebacker Daniel O'Leary (Walpole, Mass.) picked off Fitchburg quarterback Joseph Haskins to halt a potential scoring drive to end the half.
The key to the victory for the Owls was the ground attack as 346 of the team's 412 total yards of offense came in the run game. Overall, Westfield State out-gained Fitchburg 412-278 and controlled the clock by racking up 33:45 of possession time as opposed to 26 minutes from Fitchburg.
Westfield State concludes their season on a winning note to finish the season at 1-9 and 1-7 in MASCAC play.