WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State football got touchdowns from six different players and the Owls closed out the season on a senior day high note, as the Owls blanked Fitchburg State, 50-0 in the season finale at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield State honored 14 graduating seniors before kickoff, and senior running back Shane Clark (Bellows Falls, Vt.) got the Owls off to a fast start as he accounted for all seven plays, as the Owls drove 49-yards for the opening score on a three-yard burst from Clark.
Westfield finishes the campaign with it's second straight win, as the Owls wrap up the year at 2-8 and 2-6 in the MASCAC.
Westfield boosted the lead to 14-0 on its next possession as Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) plunged in from one yard out.
From there the Owls were off to the races, posting a safety as Cade Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Dylan Zuerblis (Wethersfield, Conn.) combined on a sack in the end zone. Blake Simpson contributed a seven yard TD run and senior Kordell Parrish (Everett, Mass.) capped the first half scoring, catching a 34-yard bomb down the right side from Colby Pires (Milford, Mass.) to stake Westfield to a 29-0 lead at the half.
In the second half Westfield got a 5- yard TD scramble from quarter back Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.), Christian Julian (Hingham, Mass.) scooped up a punt on the bounce and rambled 73 yards for a touchdown, and finally Sean Willis (Schenectady, N.Y.) capped the scoring with a six-yard TD run.
Westfield got a pair of big plays on turnovers, as Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Mass) picked off a pass and returned it 34 yards to set up an Owls' touchdown, and Smith picked off a pass while seeing action at cornerback, which he initially appeared to be returned for a touchdown, but a penalty on the runback set Westfield up at the Fitchburg 10-yard line.
Cooley, the MASCAC's leading tackler, led Westfield with 10 tackles. Zuerblis and Anthony Messore (Wellesley, Mass.) added five tackles each.
Offensively, Clark finished with 78 yards rushing on 14 carries, with Smith adding 46 yards on 10 carries. The Owls dominated time of possession 35:48 to 24:12, and racked up 16 first downs to Fitchburg's six.
The Falcons were led by 17 tackles (1.5 for a loss) from Camren Topkin (Ledyard, Conn), and seven each from Logan Perez (Beaumont, Calif.) and Calvin Guillaume (Brockton, Mass.).
Elijah McKnight (Tracy, Calif.) finished with 46 yards rushing on 15 carries, and Keyshawn McCurdy caught two passes for 15 yards. The Falcons season comes to a close with a 1-9 overall record an an 0-8 mark in the MASCAC.
Westfield honored seniors Clark, Parrish, Dominc Carme (Montague, Mass.), Zachary Clark (East Granby, Conn.), Tom Connolly (Boston, Mass.), Kyle Dodge (Montague, Mass.) , Tod Holloway Jr (Ludlow, Mass.), Cullen MacNeil (Northbridge, Mass.), John Rose (Haverhill, Mass.), Peter Spinale (Ipswich, Mass.), Gabriel Velez (New London, Conn.), Julian Bass (Springfield, Mass.) and Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass.) before the game.