Box Score
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior receiver David Benoit (Ludlow) caught touchdowns passes of 42 and 25 yards as the opportunistic Owls overcame an early deficit for a 32-16 New England Conference Football (NEFC) victory over Fitchburg State on Saturday, Oct. 31.
The Owls improved to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the NEFC Bogan Division with their fourth straight victory. In addition to celebrating Senior Day with its come-from-behind win, Westfield veteran head coach Steve Marino notched his 100th career victory. The 20th year head coach now has a 100-93-1 record at Westfield.
Fitchburg led 10-0 for most of the first half, then Westfield scored 16 unanswered points to take a 16-10 halftime lead.
The big play that began the Owl comeback was a blocked by punt Ryan O’Connell (Athol). O’Connell scooped up his blocked punt and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to make the score 10-7 with 6:12 remaining in the first half.
Minutes later, the Owls got their first of several short-field scoring opportunities with a nine-play, 30-yard drive that was capped by Chris Stengel’s 29-yard field goal; it knotted the score at 10-all with 2:14 remaining.
The biggest play of the game occurred on the final play of the first half. Westfield forced Fitchburg to punt and took over at its 41 with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
On the final play of the half and the ball at the Falcon 42, Benoit snagged a sensational one-handed catch between two defenders at the Fitchburg 5, broke a tackle and scored with no time left on the clock. The PAT was wide and Westfield led, 16-10, at halftime.
Westfield then scored 16 straight points in the third quarter to put away the game. Linebacker Bryan Anderson set up the first score, a 2-yard run by fullback Steve Ohlson, by intercepting a pass deep in Falcon territory and returning it to the 7.
Westfield made the score 25-10 when it tackled Fitchburg running back Steve Austin in the end zone for a safety with 5:35 left in the third quarter.
The Owls scored their final points with 1:21 left in the third stanza when Benoit caught a 25-yard TD pass from sophomore quarterback Kyle Anderson (Westminster) to cap a 4-play, 58-yard drive.
Jeremy Kimbler scored both touchdowns for the Falcons. He scored on a 15-yard pass over the middle to give Fitchburg a 10-0 lead early in the second half. And playing quarterback for most of the second half with starting signal caller Jordan Cannava sidelined with an injury, Kimber scored on a 1-yard run with 1:40 left in the game.
Fitchburg out-gained Westfield, 330-235, in total offense, but the Owls did not commit a turnover. Fitchburg committed two turnovers.
Westfield also excelled with its special teams. Chris Stengel had a sensational day, punting 10 times for a 45.5 yard average. Six of his punts were inside the 20, four traveled 50 or more yards, 1 was a touchback, and two were fair catches. In addition, Stengel kicked off five times, averaging 56.8 yards, with two of his kickoffs (72 and 73 yards in the air) going into the end zone backed by a strong wind. Finally, he made 3-of-4 PATs and a field goal.
Owl sophomore running back Luke Johnson led all rushers with 67 yards on 15 carries despite missing most of the second half with an injury. He now has 998 rushing yards this season.
Anderson only completed 5 of 15 passes for 75 yards, with Benoit catching four passes for 75 yards. The sophomore signal caller has now thrown for 1,045 yards this season.
Cannava completed 13 of 23 passes for 174 yards before exiting the game following his key interception that set up Westfield’s first third-quarter score.
Kimber had 5 receptions for 79 yards and rushed for 38 yards on 11 carries. He completed 4 of 10 passes for 58 yards.
Linemen Nick Gniadek and Matt Fall led the Owls’ balanced highly-ranked defense with six tackles apiece. Ten Owls were credited with four or more tackles in the team-oriented defense that posted 10 tackles for losses.
Jason Proule walks to the center of the field with his parents, Teresa and David Proule, during Senior Day pre-game ceremonies.