Football Falls To Western New England, 50-14

Springfield, MA --- Sophomore Kemani Jones (Milton, MA) highlighted Worcester State with a pair of touchdowns and 60 all-purpose yards, but the Lancers were defeated 50-14 in the NEFC cross over game by Western New England on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium.

Western New England (2-1) started off with the quick 10-0 lead midway through the first quarter as second-year Tucker Schumitz (Milford, CT) took back the opening kickoff 99-yards and classmate Nick Fox-Edele (Springfield, MA) booted a 38-yard field goal.

Keyed by a 46-yard hookup between senior Corey Spencer (Malden, MA) and junior AJ Scerra (Marlboro, MA) answered with a one-yard rumble by Jones to make the score 10-7 with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

But the Golden Bears scored 17 unanswered points in the quarter to take over a commanding 27-7 advantage. The hosts were paced by a one-yard plunge from senior John Kravic (Red Hook, NY), a 30-yard interception return by fourth-year Michael Graham (Norwalk, CT) and a 30-yard field goal by Fox-Edele.

The Lancers (2-1), however, made it a two-possession game just before the end of the first half by running an effective two-minute drill.

Taking over with the ball on their own 27 and 3:04 on the clock, Spencer was five-for-six on the drive and finished it off when Jones hauled in a 31-yard reception out of the backfield for the 28-14 score at the intermission.

Western New England came out of the gate in the second half on fire and play effective defense to keep the Lancers off the scoreboard for the remainder of the contest.

Fox-Edele converted his third field goal of the afternoon for a 26-yarder before sophomore Andrew Treschetta (Warwick, NY) took advantage of one the two WSU fumbles in the quarter for a 55-yard touchdown recovery.

In the fourth, the Golden Bears finished off the contest on a three-yard run by second-year Mike Ozzella (Medway, MA) and a freshman Justin Duval (Adams, MA) 13-yard scamper.

The hosts forced their third interception of the game at the tail end of the contest and 76 yards of total offense to help shutdown the Lancers.

For the game, Western New England limited the top rushing offense in the NEFC (286.0 YPG) to just 37 yards. As a team the Golden Bears also had six sacks and 13.5 tackles for a loss.

Offensively, Scerra led the charge by catching four passes for 89 yards while freshman Nick Riley (Stratford, CT) added six receptions for 47 yards.

Junior Bryan Narcisse (Medway, MA) had a game-best 11 tackles as classmate Matthew Begley (E. Bridgewater, MA) chipped in with 10 stops and a fumble recovery. Sophmore Zack Skerry (Milford, MA) also pitched in with seven tackles, one sack and a forced miscue.

Senior Graham Asum (Marlboro, MA) set a new school record with 191 kickoff yards on eight returns for the Lancers (23.8 yards per return). He eclipsed the previous mark of 173 yards which was held by Chris Butts and set in their matchup with UMass Boston in 1992.

The matchup for both teams was the first since a 35-12 win for the Lancers in 1994. WSU had held the 4-0 edge in the series entering the game that included the first varsity win in 1985.

Both teams will open their respective division schedules on Saturday at home. Worcester State entertains Westfield State at 1:30 while the Golden Bears host Salve at 1 o'clock.