Owls Football Welcomes #18 UMass-Dartmouth on Saturday

Welcome back to Alumni Field as the Westfield State football team takes on the Corsairs of UMass-Dartmouth in a MASCAC matchup. The Owls come into this one with an overall record of 3-5 and 3-4 in the MASCAC, while UMass-Dartmouth is 8-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play. After last week's win to improve to 8-0, the NCAA power index has placed the Corsairs in the top 25 rankings as they are at 18.    

Kickoff is 12 noon at Alumni Field in Westfield, Mass.

LAST WEEK: The Owls secured a win on Halloween as they hit the road and took on the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Westfield's 13-10 victory was their third of the year, as the Owls produced over 200 yards from the rush game. Dylan Disabella was the workhorse back this week as he produced 106 yards on 16 attempts and a touchdown. Quarterback Gabe Fernandez took to the ground on Thursday night as he rushed for 58 yards on 13 attempts. Budder Ferreira led the Owls defense with 13 total tackles with four of them being tackles for loss. The Westfield defense forced two fumbles with senior Dylan Clark being credited for a recovery.

UMass-Dartmouth took on Western Connecticut, the second ranked team in the MASCAC Saturday as the Corsairs won 41-30 on their senior day. UMass-Dartmouth combined for 509 yards of total offense with 323 coming through the air. League leading quarterback Dante Aviles-Santos threw three touchdowns in 24 completions for 323 yards. Two of his wide receivers, Angel Sanchez and Jael Cabrera, both accumulated over 100 yards receiving and accounted for two of the three touchdowns. Jalyn Aponte was the Corsairs leading rusher with 101 yards on the ground on 14 rushes with two touchdowns.

THE SERIES: The Owls are 5-12 all-time against the Corsairs including an overtime loss last season.

WESTFIELD STATE ON OFFENSE: The Owls are currently averaging 258.4 yards per game from the offense, which is sixth in the conference but average 150.8 yards from the ground. The rush game has been the specialty of this Owls offense as they are fourth in rushing touchdowns along with second in rushing attempts. Sean Willis has led the Owls from the ground all season as he has 450 rushing yards on 121 attempts for an average of 3.7 yards per carry. Willis is tied for eighth in the MASCAC for touchdowns (4) and yards per game(56.3) along with seventh in total rushing yards (450). Disabella has stepped up in recent weeks for 373 yards on 82 carries for an average of 4.5 per carry and three touchdowns.

Fernandez handles a majority of the signal calling as the starting quarterback. Fernandez has thrown for 614 yards on 44 completions with four touchdowns. Fernandez is seventh in the league for total passing yards on the second to least amount of passing attempts among starters. Ryan Scott has also seen his fair share of reps under center as he has 245 yards on only 16 completions and a touchdown.

WESTFIELD STATE ON DEFENSE: The Owls allow 264.6 yards to opposing team's offenses, which ranks third best in the league. Blake Simpson is the leader in tackling for Westfield as he has 47 total tackles this season and he also leads the team in tackles for loss with 8.5. The Owls have four players with at least two sacks this season (Ferreira 4.5, Cade Nelson 3.5, Dylan Zuerblis 2.5, and Corey Henderson 2).

Westfield is third in total takeaways in the conference this season with 16. Tafari Proctor leads the interception category for the Owls with three, which is tied for sixth in the conference. Andrew Lovell leads the Owls in takeaways, as he has two interceptions and a pair of fumbles recovered, for four total.

WESTFIELD STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Cooper Harvey is the kicking specialist as he is 12 for 14 on extra point attempts for a 86% completion rate. Harvey has also tallied a field goal to the resume for a total 15 points for the Owls this year. Andrew Currier has kicked a field goal as he is one-for-one from 25 yards out.

Logan Gallagher has 138 total return yards this season including 126 off kick off returns, which he averages 18 yards per return. Curtis Dion is right behind him with 123 return yards with 100 coming off kickoffs, averaging out to 16.7 yards per return.

UMASS-DARTMOUTH ON OFFENSE: The Corsairs have the best offense in the MASCAC as they lead the conference in every offensive team stat except for total passing yards, as they are second to Western Connecticut.

The Corsairs average 244 yards on the ground per game, with a dual-headed monster in the back field in the form of Kevin Brown and Aponte. Aponte has 480 rushing yards on 76 carries for an average of 6.3 yards per attempt. Aponte has a one-yard lead on Brown as Brown has 479 rushing yards with 11 less rushing attempts. Brown leads the MASCAC in yards per carry with 7.4 along and is tied for second in rushing touchdowns with nine.

There is only man that handles the air raid and that is Aviles-Santos. Aviles-Santos leads the MASCAC in almost every passing statistic except for completion percentage as he is second and yards per completion as he is tied for third. He has thrown for over 2,000 yards, 159 competitions, and has a 32-3 touchdown-interception ratio. Aviles-Santos threw for 342 yards and six touchdowns week six at Worcester State for a 58-7 victory.

UMASS-DARTMOUTH ON DEFENSE: UMD gives up the fewest points per game (12.3), least amount of yards per game (240.5), and forced the most turnovers (21). Mike Henrickson leads the Corsairs in tackling efforts as he has 60 total tackles. UMD has six guys with at least four tackles for loss on the season (Josh Lacrete 9, Henrickson 6.5, Cydell Sanchez 4.5, Sam Alicea 4, Michael Deleon 4, Kairis Codio 4). Jackson Wellman and Codio lead the Corsairs with a sack and a half a piece.

UMD's Shane Meerbott and Johnathan Brightman share the team lead with four interceptions. Both of them are in a four way tie for second-place in the conference in that category. Five Corsairs have recovered fumbles this season (Lacrete, Alicea, Deleon, Jordan D'Amico, and Giovanni Nigro).

UMASS-DARTMOUTH ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Alex Moses and Connor McManus share kicking responsibilities as Moses is two-for-three on field goals with a long of 43 and McManus is one-for-two with a 30-yard make. Moses has taken the majority of point after attempts as he is 31 for 40 this fall while his counterpart is 15 for 22. UMD leads the MASCAC in extra points after touchdowns with 46.

Sanchez leads the Corsairs in return yards as he has 124 yards on just seven attempts this season, averaging 17.71 yards per return. Sanchez is second in the MASCAC for total yards returned with 124.

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 finish off the regular season at home on Alumni Field as Fitchburg State comes to town on Saturday, November 16 at noon for Westfield's senior day.

UMass-Dartmouth will finish the regular season on the road as they head north to face Plymouth State Saturday, November 16 at noon.