Framingham State University hosts Westfield State University on Saturday at 12:00 pm at Bowditch Field in Framingham, Mass. in a MASCAC Conference football game.
LAST YEAR: The Rams survived in a close 14-11 win over the Owls. The Owls held the Rams to just 74 yards passing. Framingham State's Devaun Ford led all rushers with 126 yards on 24 carries. Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass) threw for 156 yards and a touchdown for the Owls. Michael Foley (South Windsor, Conn) had 91 yards on just two catches and a touchdown, with Owen Thompson (Plympton, Mass) hauling in five balls for 40 yards. Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Mass) had a game high 18 tackles with Cam Danahy (Plympton, Mass) adding on 12 tackles.
LAST WEEK: The Owls fell to the Wolves of Western Connecticut with a score of 42-0. Graduate Student Chad Blaszky rushed for 178 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns for the Wolves. Junior Quarterback John Giller threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns, while adding on 33 yards rushing and a touchdown.
WESTFIELD STATE ON OFFENSE: Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) ran for 69 yards on 22 rushing attempts moving his season average to 86 yards a game and 4.2 yards per carry. Smith has the fourth highest rushing yards per game in the MASCAC. Senior Corey Jackson (West Hartford, Conn.) leads all receivers for the Owls with a total of 12 catches for 87 yards, bumping. Danny Farrell (Milford, Mass.) has four catches for 37 years on the season.
WESTFIELD STATE ON DEFENSE: Tyler Cooley led all tacklers with 10, moving his season average to 12.3 tackles per game which leads the MASCAC. Cooley added on a sack as well, with Cameron Danahy, Alec Rodriguez (Westfield, Mass), and Dylan Clark (Bellows Falls, Vt) all having six tackles each. Clark and Dylan Zuerblis (Wethersfield, Conn.) each had a sack for Westfield State. Sophomore defensive back Zachary Allen (Chelmsford, Mass.) picked off Western Connecticut's John Giller, with his first interception of the year.
WESTFIELD STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS. Owen Thompson punted five times for the Owls with an average of 35 yards per punt. Thompson was able to put three of his punts inside the Western Connecticut 20-yard line. Christian Julian (Hingham, Mass) returned two kicks for 51 yards for the Owls.
FRAMINGHAM STATE ON DEFENSE: The Rams are allowing 31 points per game on defense in their first two games. In their previous matchup with UMass-Dartmouth, they allowed a total of 5.9 yards per play. The Rams leading tackler in linebacker Jared Martino who is averaging 11.5 tackles per game, which is the 2nd most in the MASCAC.. Senior Chase Buono is averaging 5.5 tackles per game for the Rams.
FRAMINGHAM STATE ON OFFENSE: The Rams have struggled in their first two outings scoring a total of seven points in their first two matchups. One bright spot for the Rams is their senior running back, Devaun Ford, who has rushed for 190 yards averaging 95 yards per game, which is second in the MASCAC. The Rams' leading receiver is Junior Manny Lara who has hauled in a total of six catches for 59 yards this season.
LIVE COVERAGE: The game will be streamed live on WestfieldStateOwls.com and on the MASCAC.tv channel, which is available on Roku and Apple TV Devices. Live stats are available on WestfieldStateOwls.com
A LOOK AHEAD: The Owls will continue conference play as they host the Buccaneers of Mass Maritime on Saturday, September 30 at 12:00 p.m. as part of Westfield's Family and Champions weekend. Framingham State will travel to Plymouth State on Saturday, Sept. 30 for 12:00 noon kickoff.
-- Written by Anthony Franco, sports information intern