Owls Football Falls To WestConn on Family Day

WESTFIELD, Mass.  – Western Connecticut State's Keion Jones (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) passed for 270 yards and Dae'Shawn Allen (White Plains, N.Y.) caught nine passes for 108 yards and a TD as the Wolves topped Westfield State, 31-13 in a MASCAC football game at Alumni Field on Saturday.

WestConn improves to 2-1, and 2-0 in the MASCAC, while Westfield is now 1-2 and 1-1 in the conference.

Westfield fell behind 10-0 early after the Owls fumbled for turnovers on their first three series.

WestConn QB John Giller (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) ran for a 2-yard TD on the Wolves first drive, which started at the Owls' 16-yard line, then Anthony Weidtman (Nesconset, N.Y.) booted a 30 yard field goal to cap the third drive, which began at Westfield's 32-yard line.

In between, Owls first-year CB Eric Lovell (Barnstable, Mass.) picked off a pass on the first play of Western's second drive, which began at the Owls 25, to thwart another potential score.

From there, Westfield bounced back with a big play, as Gabe Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) found RB Dylan Disabella (Granby, Conn.) for 71 yards on a pass-run completion to get the ball to the WestConn 5-yard line, before Westfield's Sean Willis (Schenatady, N.Y./Mohonasen) bulled in from two yards out to trim the lead to 10-6 before the extra point try was blocked by Milleq Green (Bridgeport, Conn.).

Westfield grabbed a 13-10 lead on another run from Willis, as he burst through the line and then down the right side for a 37-yard score.    Cooper Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) added the point-after kick.

The Wolves bridged the first and second quarter with an 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive that Jones capped with a 32-yard scramble for a touchdown after he was flushed out of the pocket on a pass play for a 17-13 lead. 

Westfield's defense kept the lead in check late in the half, forcing a missed field goal try with 55 seconds left in the half.

West Conn marched down the field on the opening drive of the second half, getting a 38-yard completion from Jones to Allen, that had a 15-yard penalty tacked on to set the Wolves up at the Westfield 7-yard line, then Giller capped the drive with a 7-yard TD toss to Allen.

Westfield put together a 13-play, 62-yard drive that ended with a blocked field goal try, and then Western used another big play, a 43-yard Jones pass to Zach Soriano to get the ball to the 11, before Kamryn Holmes (Branford, Conn.) ran it in on the next play for a 31-13 Wolves lead.

The two team traded the ball back and forth from there with a fumble and three interceptions between the two clubs, and the Wolves ran out the final 4:36 with a seven play drive to erase all the time off the clock.

Westfield was led by 81 yards rushing and two TD's from Willis.  Disabella finished with 99 receiving yards on four catches, and 23 yards on four rushes, and had a long TD run called back by a holding penalty.  The Owls had another TD called back in the second half on a pass play on an illegal block call.

Tafari Proctor (Amherst, Mass.) led Westfield's defense with nine tackles and an interception.  Andrew Lovell (Barnstable, Mass.) finished with eight tackles, while brother Eric had six stops and a 22-yard interception return.

WestConn got 86 yards on the ground fron Holmes.   Zach Soriano (Middle Island, N.Y.) finished with three catches for 76 yards.

Dominic Rienzi (Brewster, N.Y.)  anchored the Wolves defense with nine tackles.   Milleq Green had four tackles and blocked a pair of kicks. Tafari Johnson (Bronx, N.Y.) had a pair of fumble recoveries.

After three straight home games to open the season, Westfield State will hit the road next Saturday to face Worcester State at 2:30 p.m.