Westfield State University hosts Mass Maritime on the Owls Family & Champions weekend on Saturday at noon at Alumni Field in a MASCAC Conference battle. During the game there will be a Game-Side Block Party, which will include lawn games and beer to enjoy with other fellow Owls fans. After the game there will be a Brews and BBQ Fest on the Green in the middle of campus from 3:00 - 7:00 pm. Come join us and enjoy carnival games, inflatables, a vendor fair, a BBQ, live music, and a beer garden for 21+.
LAST YEAR: The Buccaneers survived a hard-fought game against the Owls. Mass Maritime came back after being down 9-0 at halftime. Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) led in rushing for the Owls with 52 yards on 15 rushes, which included a 26-yard touchdown. Cullen Macneil (Northbridge, Mass.) led in tackles with 8 and three tackles for loss. Buccaneers quarterback Marc Murphy threw for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Ja'iel Johnson added 81 yards rushing on 20 attempts and a touchdown for the Buccaneers.
LAST WEEK: The Owls fell to Framingham State with a final score of 9-8. A last second field goal was blocked by the Rams to secure the win. For the Rams running back Devaun Ford had a game high 158 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. Receiver Manny Lara added four catches for 62 yards for the Rams.
WESTFIELD STATE ON OFFENSE: Quarterback Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) got the start for the Owls and threw for 162 yards, which included a 22-yard touchdown to his guy Michael Foley (South Windsor, Conn.). Will Brewster (Westfield, Mass.) led in receiving for the Owls catching three passes for 62 yards. Smith is fifth in the MASCAC in rushing averaging 75.5 yards per game. Colby Pires (Milford, Mass.) maintains his completion percentage of 49.2%.
WESTFIELD STATE ON DEFENSE: The Owls held the Rams to just nine points and forced three fumbles on defense. Linebacker Cam Danahy (Kingston, Mass.) intercepted a pass and Dylan Clark (Bellows Falls, Vt.) and Max Margeson (Littleton, Colo.) both forced a fumble each. Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Ma) and Ethan Russell (Montague, Ma) recovered the fumbles for the Owls. Cooley is second in the conference in tackles averaging 10.8 per game.
WESTFIELD STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Owen Thompson (Kingston, Mass.) punted 7 times for 247 yards averaging 35.3 yards per punt. Thompson also improvised on a point after completing a pass to Blake Simpson (Bellingham, Mass.) for the two-point conversion. Curtis Dion (Seymour, Conn.) is averaging 21.2 yards per kickoff return on the year.
MASS MARITIME ON OFFENSE: The Buccaneers are averaging 19.3 points per game rushing for 183.3 yards per game and passing for 70 yards per game. Running Backs Zach Proctor, Saverio Relle II, and fullback Chase Dombroski all carry the ball for the Buccaneers, combining for a total of 349 yards and four touchdowns.
MASS MARITIME ON DEFENSE: Mass Maritime has led up 18 points per game allowing 218 yards passing and 147.7 yards rushing per game. Defensive back Liam Hines leads in tackling for Mass Maritime averaging 5.3 tackles a game. Linebacker Joshua Cannon averages 4.7 tackles a game and has one interception on the year. Senior defensive linemen Chris O'Brien has averages 3.3 tackles a game and has one sack on the year.
LIVE COVERAGE: The game will be live streamed on WestfieldStateOwls.com and on the MASCAC.tv channel, which is available on Roku and Apple TV devices. Westfield State students Zach Bianco and Brayden Cutler will have the call of the game. Live stats are available on WestfieldStateOwls.com.
A LOOK AHEAD: After a bye week, the Owls will host UMass Dartmouth on homecoming on Saturday, October 14 at 2:00 pm. The Buccaneers of Mass Maritime will travel to UMass Dartmouth on Saturday, October 7 at 4:00.
written by Sports Information Intern: Anthony Franco