WESTFIELD, Mass. - Plymouth State junior quarterback Braden Lynn (Littleton, Mass.) launched a 53-yard hail mary pass as time expired, and his prayer was answered as freshman tight end Jacob Morris (Kennebunk, Maine) came down with the ball in the front right corner of the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Panthers a 20-19 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference football win over Westfield State on Saturday afternoon.
Westfield had grabbed the lead 19-14 less than a minute earlier when Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) plunged in from four yards out with 36 seconds left in the game.
Plymouth improves to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the MASCAC, while Westfield State is now 1-7 and 1-5 in the conference.
The Panthers winning drive was set up by a 24-yard kick return from Willie Lombard (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) that gave PSU a 1st and 10 at their own 26-yard line with 29 seconds and one timeout left.
Lynn sandwiched two short completions around a 4-yard scramble run. The Panthers faced 1st and 10 from their own 47 with 7.4 seconds left after burning their final timeout. Lynn dropped back and rolled right to buy time, then launched a missile to the goal line, where 6-foot-5 inch freshman TE Morris elevated in a crowd of defenders to snare the ball, coming down in the end zone and holding on for the touchdown.
Lynn finished 22-32 passing for 265 yards, with two TD's and two interceptions. Lombard carried the workload on the ground with 27 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown. Jake Donahue (Hudson, NH/Alvirne) caught 10 balls for 113 yards for Plymouth.
Westfield was led by senior QB Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.), who completed 16 of 28 passes for 228 yards and a TD, and engineered Westfield's final drive, driving the Owls from their own 27 with less than two minutes left for the go-ahead score. Owen Thompson (Plympton, Mass.) was Fernandez' favorite target on the day, catching six balls for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Westfield's Smith was limited to 24 yards on 14 carries, but contributed two short touchdown runs. Michael Foley (S. Windsor, Conn.) caught four passes for 69 yards.
Owls' senior safety Christian Julian (Hingham, Mass.) made 10 tackles, and had a pair of interceptions, including one with a 54-yard return that set up Westfield's scoring drive just before halftime that let the Owls take a 13-7 lead into the half.
Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Mass./Archbishop Williams) racked up 13 tackles for the Owls, and Budder Ferreira (Haverhill, Mass./Whittier Tech) added 10.
Luc Normandeau (Dover, NH) led the Panthers defense with 11 tackles and a half-sack. Evan Wilson (Derry NH/Pinkerton) contributed nine stops.
Westfield State will be back in action next Saturday with a noon kickoff against Worcester State in what will be the Owls senior day.
Plymouth will next host Mass Maritime on Saturday, November 4 at 12 noon.