Big 2nd Quarter Lifts Corsairs

UMass Dartmouth put together four scoring drives in the 2nd quarter as they took control en route to a 54-7 victory over Alfred State in the season opener for both teams.

The Corsairs scored on the opening drive of the game to account for the lone scoring of the 1st quarter. Neither offense could get anything going for the rest of the quarter but UMass Dartmouth got the passing offense going as Stephen Gacioch connected on four touchdown passes in the 2nd quarter to make it 33-0 at the half.

The offense continued to click for UMD as they scored three more times before the Pioneers got on the board when Dashown Wilson (Bronx/Dewitt Clinton) connected with Darrius Nichols (Brooklyn/South Shore) on a 38-yard pass play with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game. 

Ronnie Clark (Philadelphia/Indian River) rushed for 96 yards on 15 carries including a long of 36 yards while Taj Harvey (New York/East Harlem) rushed for 42 yards on seven carries.

Gacioch finished the day 19 for 28 for 338 yards and six passing touchdowns to lead UMass Dartmouth. Leroy Brown led the receivers with four catches for 134 yards and a score while Brendan Cuthill caught two scoring passes.

Andrew Pierre-Paul (Brooklyn/Erasmus Hall) and Paul Portorreal (Buffalo/Cheektowaga) led the Pioneers defense with nine tackles each. Elijah Rimpel (Queens/Bayside) registered three of the teams five sacks on the day while Rylie Van Fleet (Maine Endwell) intercepted a pass.

Tony Slaughter led the Corsair defense with seven tackles while Joshua Lacerte recorded two of the teams seven sacks.

The Pioneers open up the home portion of their season next Saturday when they host Hartwick at 5 p.m.