Westfield State University hosts UMass Dartmouth on homecoming on Saturday at 2:00 pm at Alumni Field in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game. UMass Dartmouth was ranked fifth in this week's New England Division III Coaches Poll. The Corsairs come into the game with a 5-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the MASCAC, while the Owls are 1-4, and 1-2 in the MASCAC.
LAST YEAR: UMass Dartmouth beat the Owls with a final score of 34-7. The Owls only score was a 20-yard pass from Colby Pires (Milford, Mass.) to Dylan Disabella (Granby, Conn.) early in the fourth quarter, with Disabella crossing the goal line with a spectacular leap into the end zone. He caught seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. For the Corsairs, quarterback Dante Aviles-Santos threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Luis Gonzalez ran for three touchdowns, and Angel Sanchez had a game high nine catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. On defense, Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Mass.) had a game high 18 tackles and a forced fumble for the Owls.
LAST WEEK: Westfield State had its bye week on Oct. 7. The Owls defeated Mass Maritime 17-10 on Family & Champions Weekend in their last game on Sept. 30, getting their first win of the 2023 campagin. Owls' linebacker Alec Rodriguez (Westfield, Mass.) intercepted a pass, and as he was being tackled, handed the ball off to Max Margeson (Littleton, Colo.) who ran it in for a touchdown early in the third quarter. The memorable interception proved to be the game-winning touchdown. Margeson was named as the MASCAC Defensive Player of the Week. UMass-Dartmouth topped Mass Maritime 26-0, with QB Dante Aviles-Santos passing for 278 yards and a TD.
WESTFIELD STATE ON OFFENSE: Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) got the start for the second week in a row and completed 14 of 25 passes for 138 yards in the win over Maritime. Danny Farrell (Milford, Mass.) caught six of those passes for 65 yards. Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) ran for 77 yards on 25 carries, moving his season average to 75.8 yards per game, which is third in the MASCAC.
WESTFIELD STATE ON DEFENSE: The Owls held Mass Maritime to 10 points and just 66 yards rushing. Cooley led the way with 13 tackles, with linebacker Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass.) adding on nine tackles. Cade Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Dylan Zuerblis (Wethersfield, Conn.) both had a sack each for the Owls. Cooley sits at the top of the MASCAC averaging 11.2 tackles a game.
WESTFIELD STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Freshman kicker Cooper Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) was named as the MASCAC rookie of the week (for Sept. 30) as he drilled his only field goal attempt from 39 yards out while tallying two extra points. Christian Julian (Hingham, Mass.) had a career-long 52-yard kickoff return that set up one of the Owls touchdown drives, which bumped his season average up to 22.9 yards per return. Owen Thompson (Kingston, Mass.) punted six times for 197 yards with an average of 32.8 yards per punt.
UMASS DARTMOUTH ON OFFENSE: The Corsairs are second in the MASCAC, scoring 37.3 points per game. Senior quarterback Dante Aviles-Santos is averaging 245 passing yards per game and leads the conference in touchdowns with 12. Their leading rusher is graduate student Luis Gonzalez who averages 69 yards per game and has seven touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Angel Sanchez is second in the MASCAC in yards per game with 87.
UMASS DARTMOUTH ON DEFENSE: Linebacker Jackson Wellman leads in tackles for the Corsairs with 46 and also has an interception. Sam Alicea has five sacks on the year, and defensive back Trell Best has 40 tackles on the year as well.
HOMECOMING: Before and after the game, Westfield State invites their alumni to join their Tent Tailgating Village at the Woodward Center next to the softball field. Gather your friends, coolers, picnics, and your 10x10 tailgating tent for an afternoon of Owl Pride! Space is limited, you can register for the tailgate on westfieldalumni.org. While students and community members under 21 may attend, registrants must be 21+. Also, the Gameside tent will be open during the game at Alumni Field with food and beverages available for purchase.
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: Westfield State will travel to Bridgewater to take on the Bears on Saturday, October 21 at 4 pm. UMass Dartmouth will host Fitchburg State on Saturday, October 21 at 4 pm.