Framingham Foils Owls Homecoming, 21-7

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior Dylan Disabella (Granby, Conn.) ran for 130 yards and caught a touchdown pass in his debut as the Owls' feature back, but it wasn't enough as Framingham State foiled the Owls homecoming with a 21-7 win.

Both teams are now 2-4 on the season and 2-3 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Westfield got on the scoreboard first, with QB Gabe Fernandez  (Holyoke, Mass.) finding Disabella for a 13-yard scoring strike with Disbella leaping into the endzone to punctuate a 9-play, 82 yard drive.

Turnovers again punished the Owls, as Framingham's first score came on an 11-yard Carl Renaudin (Waltham, Mass.) scoop and score fumble recovery touchdown, on a busted toss run for the Owls.

Westfield had a chance to take a lead into the half, after Tafari Proctor (Amherst, Mass.) intercepted his third pass of the season, and returned it 59 yards to the Framingham 3, but on the ensuing play Framingham forced a fumble and the Rams recovered to keep the score 7-7 heading to the half.

The Rams grabbed a 14-7 lead midway through the third quarter with a 25-yard TD toss from Luke Thompson(West Islip, NY) to Elijah Nichols (Burlington Twp., NJ), capping an 11-play, 79-yard drive.

Early in the fourth quarter, Westfield had a chance to tie as the Owls marched the ball from their own 28 yard line all the way to the Framingham four yard line, but the Rams forced a fumble with Ronyel Pena (Lawrence, Mass.) slashing between the Owls offensive line to force a fumble.

Framingham added a 2-yard touchdown run from Jaheim Daniels (Norwaklk, Conn.) with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach, after the Rams defense forced a 4-and-out from the Owls. Westfield had their backs against the wall with a drive that started inside their own 10-yard line with less than two minutes to play.

Disabella had a big day on the ground in his first action as the feature back in the Owls triple-option attack.  He played two seasons as a tight end for the Owls before moving to wing back in the offense this season, but moved behind the quarterback for today's game for the first time with Owls regular starter Sean Willis out with an injury.  The Owls played with three offensive regulars sidelined by injury today.

Fernandez finished 7-20 passing for 66 yards, with 1 td and 1 interception.  Jacob Swinehart (Holyoke, Mass.) caught two passes for 23 yards and added six carries for 27 yards.

Blake Simpson (Bellingham, Mass.) and Corey Henderson (Gardner,, Mass.)  led the Owls with eight tackles each. Henderson added a sack and Cade Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass.) had 1.5 sacks for the Owls.

Framingham QB Thompson finished 11-27 passing for 169 yards with a TD and an interception.  Nichols led the Rams with eight catches for 90 yards and a TD.   Daniels finished with 52 yards rushing on seven carries.

Pena was the man of the hour for the Framingham defense, getting in on 17 tackles (9 solo), with four for losses and a sack.  Renaudin had the fumble recovery for TD and a 22-yard interception return.

The Owls ran 75 offensive plays to the Rams 52, and Westfield outgained the rams 246-219 and held a 37-23 edge in time of possession, but the key turnovers hampered the Owls chances to win.

Westfield will travel to Plymouth State for a MASCAC game next Saturday, Oct. 26 at noon.  Framingham will next host Mass Maritime on Noon on Oct. 26.