WESTFIELD, Mass. –   Westfield State senior running back Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) ran for 223 yards and a school-record five rushing touchdowns as the Owls steamrolled Fitchburg State, 49-0 to close out the 2023 season at Elliot Field in Fitchburg on Saturday afternoon.

Smith had TD runs of 1, 40, 9, 30, and 4-yards on the afternoon. The Owls' Jamie Shankle set the previous record in 1990 against Framingham State.  Owls Hall of Famer Tim Lightfoot matched that with four scores against MIT in 1994.

Smith did his damage today on 25 carries, gaining 8.92 yards per carry, also a school single game record for a player with more than 20 carries.  The previous mark of 8.56 was held by Jason Votzakis from the 1999 season.

Smith's big day enabled him to crack the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season. He finishes the year with 1,076 yards and 10 TD's.

Westfield dominated in nearly every category, totaling 438 total yards to the Falcons 173, and 22 first downs to Fitchburg's 10.  The Owls forced seven turnovers, highlighted by three interceptions from senior safety Christian Julian (Hingham, Mass.).

Julian's three picks also tie a school single-game record, set by Owls hall of famer Chuck Carucci in 1987, and tied by Paul Smargedlis against Fitchburg in '91, and Rick Riley, who also did it against Fitchburg in 1994.  Julian's 94 total yards on the three interception returns set yet another single game record for the Owls, breaking the mark of 93 tallied by Robert Ogden back in 1985.

Westfield scored three times in the first quarter all on runs by Smith to take control of the game.

The Owls got a 12-yard Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) to Mike Foley (S.Windsor, Conn.) TD pass, and 24-yard scoring strike from Colby Piers (Milford, Mass.) to Owen Thompson (Plympton, Mass./Silver Lake) early in the fourth quarter.

Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Mass./Archbishop Williams) led the Owls defense with nine tackles and a fumble recovery.  Cooley winds up the 2023 campaign as the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference's leader in tackles per game (11.7), and finishes the season with 117 tackles.

Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake) added seven tackles with two TFL's.

The Owls close out the year with a 3-7 record, 3-5 in the MASCAC, where the Owls finish sixth in the league.  Westfield will enter the 2024 season riding a two-game winning streak.

Fitchburg closes out its season at 0-9, and 0-8 in the MASCAC.