Football Falls to #18 UMass-Dartmouth

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State's Dylan Disabella (Granby, Conn.) ran for a game-high 152 yards and a touchdown, but the Owls were swamped by #18 UMass Dartmouth, 56-14 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield dips to 3-6 overall and 3-5 in the MASCAC, while UMass Dartmouth is 9-0 and 8-0 in the league.  Dartmouth was ranked 18^th in the NCAA's NPI power rankings this week.

The Corsairs scored touchdowns on 5 of their first six drives, the first on a 45-yard Dante Avilles-Santos pass to Jael Cabrera at the 11:01 mark of the first quarter.

On the next Dartmouth possession, Westfield got an interception off a tipped ball and a 59-year return from Eric Lovell (Barnstable, Mass.) that set up the Owls offense first-and goal from the three-yard line, and two plays later Westfield State senior QB Gabe Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) punched it in from a yard out to tie the game 7-7.

From there, UMD was ruthlessly efficient on offense for the rest of the half, getting two more TD tosses from Avilles-Santos, and a pair of TD runs from Kevin Brown and Jayln Aponte to grab a 35-7 lead at the half.

Westfield got a 15-yard TD run from Disabella, who appeared to be stopped around the 10-yard line, before erupting from a pack of defenders to run the ball in with 54 seconds left in the game.

The Corsairs finished with 475 yards of offense and gained 30 first downs.

Avilles Santos throw for 202 yards and four TD's on 16-21 passing before sitting out most of the second half.   Cabrera finished with six grabs for 110 yards.

Disabella finished with 152 yards on 26 carries.   Aidan Patterson (East Lyme, Conn.) gave the Owls some spark late with five runs for 53 yards.   Jacob Swinehart (Holyoke, Mass.) had two catches for 19 yards.

Andrew Lovell (Barnstable, Mass.) led the Owls defense with 10 tackles, while Mike Henricksen made nine stops to lead the Corsairs.

Westfield will close out the 2024 season next Saturday, hosting Fitchburg State, which will be the Owls senior day.