Owls Football Hosts Framingham for Homecoming - Kickoff 2 pm Saturday

Westfield State celebrates its 185^th anniversary and the Owls football team hosts Framingham State University as part of homecoming 2024 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game on Saturday, October 19.  Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m.  Westfield enters the game with a 2-3 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the MASCAC, while Framingham comes in 1-4 overall and 1-3 in the league.

LAST GAME:  Westfield's last game came on Saturday, October 5 as the whole MASCAC had a bye week the weekend of October 12. On October 5, the Owls went up to Vermont State Castleton for the first-ever matchup between the schools and suffered a 24-10 loss. Westfield's lone touchdown came from the ground from Sean Willis. Willis headlined the offense as he rushed for 55 yards on 18 attempts with a touchdown. While Westfield was plagued by five turnovers, the defense kept the Owls in the game until late, and the Owls had several possessions with a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter before a late pick-6 sealed the game for Castleton.

The Rams last matchup was also on October 5 against Fitchburg State, with Framingham emerging with their first win of the year 25-22.

LAST YEAR:  Framingham State needed a last-second blocked field goal to survive, defeating the Owls 9-8 on a tough weather day with steady rain and winds in Framingham.   Gabe Fernandez finished 12-29 passing for the Owls, with Will Brewster catching three passes for 62 yards and Michael Foley snaring five passes for 55 yards and the Owls lone TD.   Westfield scored a two point conversion on a busted play with Blake Simpson catching the conversion from Owen Thompson.

THE SERIES: The Owls are 24-17 all-time versus Framingham State dating all the way back to 1982.

WESTFIELD STATE ON OFFENSE: Westfield averages 269.6 yards per game on offense with 149.0 on the ground rush. Sean Willis is the leader in rushing for Westfield as he has 422 yards this year on 107 attempts rushing for an average of 3.9 yards per carry. Willis is third in the MASCAC in total yards this season (422), fourth in yards per game (84.4), and fifth in rushing touchdowns (4).

The Westfield passing game has averaged 120.6 yards per game through the air attack. Gabe Fernandez leads the pack in passing as he has thrown for 483 yards on 31 completions and three touchdown passes. Dylan Disabella is the Owls leading receiver with 210 yards on 11 catches for an average of 19.1 yards per catch

WESTFIELD STATE ON DEFENSE:   Westfield's Blake Simpson leads the team in total tackles with 29, Cade Nelson leads in tackles for loss with six, and Budder Ferreria leads the team in sacks with 2.5. Nelson's ranks fourth in the conference in tackles for a loss and Ferreria's sacks have him tied for sixth in the conference.

Last week, the Owls held the Spartans to under 225 yards of total offense and held them to 17 rushing yards. The front eight pressure got home often as Westfield sacked Spartans quarterback Wes Cournoyer four times, including two-and-a-half sacks from Owls linebacker Budder Ferreria. Westfield also had 11 tackles for loss from eight different defenders.

Westfield defensive back Andrew Lovell, came down with his second interception of the year and recovered both fumbles lost by Castleton in earning the conference's rookie of the week award. Lovell is part of a ten-way tie for second place in interceptions in the MASCAC. Westfield's Tafari Proctor is also in that ten-way tie with two interceptions this season.

WESTFIELD STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Cooper Harvey's kicking responsibilities for the Owls last week were successful as he was one-for-one with point after attempts as well as one-for-one in field goal attempts for a total of four points against Castleton.

The Owls had three kick returners against the Spartans which was headlined by Curtis Dion with three kicks returned for 47 yards with his longest being 35 yards.

FRAMINGHAM STATE ON OFFENSE:

The Rams had 311 yards on offense with 273 of it coming through the air raid attack last time out against Fitchburg State.   Framingham is fourth in the conference for passing yards per game at 186.8 and third in the conference with passing touchdowns at eight. The Rams used three different quarterbacks, with Luke Thompson leading the pack with 141 yards on just three completions and two passing touchdowns. Elijah Nichols is the team's leading receiver with 321 yards on 22 grabs this year. Nichols is fifth in the MASCAC in total yards (321) and yards per game(64.2), is fourth in yards per catch(14.6) and his five receiving touchdowns are tied for second in the conference.

Last week Framingham only had 38 yards on the ground with the leading rusher role being left to Thompson with 17 yards on four attempts. Joshua Ramos is the Rams leading rusher on the season, as he has 170 yards on 35 attempts for an average of 4.9 yards per carry. Ramos has only played in three games so far but would be fourth in the MASCAC for yards per carry, tenth in the MASCAC for yards per game, and 15th in total yards if he had played in enough games to be listed in the league leaders.

FRAMINGHAM STATE ON DEFENSE: On the defensive side of the ball, Framingham's tackle leader is Carl Renaudin with 37 total tackles, which is sixth in the MASCAC. Kymauny Roland leads the team in tackles for loss with six and is tied for sack leader on the team with Nick Quintina at two sacks. Roland's six tackles for loss is good for fourth in the MASCAC, tied with Westfield's Nelson.

The Rams have three interceptions as a team - from Juan Reynolds, Khalil Erazo, and Mitchell Purter. Erazo leads the team with seven pass breakups which is first in the MASCAC. Roland also has the only fumble recovered by the Framingham defense all season.

FRAMINGHAM STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Matthew Farley is the kicking specialist for the Rams as he is one-for-one on field goal opportunities this season and is six-for-eight for a total of nine points this year.

Ty Kelley handles most of the kick returning duties as he has returned seven kicks this season for 115 yards for an average of 16.4 per kick and a longest of 20 yards.

COVERAGE: Live stats and video are available at WestfieldStateOwls.com.  The game is also live streamed via the MASCAC.tv app on AppleTV, Roku, AmazonFire, and most major streaming devices. Westfield State University students Zach Bianco and Brayden Cutler are on the call for the stream.

NEXT WEEK: Westfield will hit the road next week as the Owls head north to Plymouth State for a MASCAC matchup that will kickoff at noon on Saturday, October 26. Framingham State will return home next Saturday, October 26, for a MASCAC matchup against Massachusetts Maritime Academy for a noon kickoff.