Owls Drop Heartbreaker to Nichols, 30-29

WESTFIELD, Mass. –   Nichols College's Zahir Booker (Philadelphia, Pa.) rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns and the Bison got a late interception to seal the win in a 30-29, come from behind win over Westfield State in the season-opener for both teams at Alumni Field on Friday night.

Westfield led 20-3 at the half after parlaying a pair of Nichols fumbles into the big lead.   A 90-yard scoop and score fumble recovery for a touchdown from Westfield's first-year DB Bearret Henderson (Gardner, Mass./Narragansett) thwarted a Bison drive in the closing minute of the first half to stake the Owls to a big lead.

Westfield got a 7-yard TD run from transfer running back Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.), and a two-yard TD plunge from QB Gabriel Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) to build the lead in the opening 30 minutes.

 The Bison answered quickly with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Xavier Powell (Oakville, Conn./Watertown) to Maverick Freeland (Spring Branch, Tex.) just 1:08 into the second half to trim the Owls lead to 20-10.

Westfield boosted the lead back to 27-10 as Fernandez scrambled and found Michael Foley (S. Windsor, Conn.) with a 29-yard launch down the right sideline that Foley snared near the back pylon of the endzone.

Nichols' Booker added a 14-yard TD run to clip the lead back to 27-17 late in the third quarter. 

In the fourth, Nichols sandwiched an 18-yard Powell-to-Kevin Furioli (N. Providence, RI/Lasalle) TD pass, and what proved to be the game winning score from Booker on a 1-yard run, around a Henderson blocked PAT return for a defensive 2-point conversion for the Owls.  

Booker's plunge with 3:37 left in regulation and the extra point from Daniel Donovan-Blanford (Delphos, Ohio) put the Bison up 30-29.

Phil Dinov (Mansfield, Mass.) picked off a Westfield State pass on the first play of the ensuing drive, and the Bison held on to the ball for the final 3:20, grinding the ball down to the Westfield five-yard line in nine plays and ran out the clock to secure the win.

Both teams struggled with turnvers, as the Bison fumbled seven times in the game, losing three, and tossed one interception.    Westfield lost a fumble and had two balls picked off in the second half to aid the Bison comeback effort.

Nichols out-gained Westfield 453-264 yards.   Time of possession was nearly even on the day, but the Bison converted 8 of 16 third-down opportunities and held the Owls to just two of nine.

For Nichols, Powell finished an efficient 11-20 with 156 yards passing, splitting time with Kyle Keckler (Birdsboro, Pa.) (7-14, 147 yards) under center.  Freeland caught a pair of balls for 91 yards.

For Westfield, Smith rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown, and Foley caught two passes for 68 yards and a TD.

Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake) and Christian Julian (Hingham, Mass.) each recorded 11 tackles for the Owls.  Julian added a 29-yard interception return, and Danahy had 4.5 TFL's and forced a fumble. Cullen MacNeil (Northbridge, Mass.) finished with 10 stops, forced and recovered a fumble.

Joshua Sayer (Lowell, Mass. / Catholic) led Nichols with seven tackles and forced a fumble.

Westfield State will be back in action next Saturday, as the Owls will travel to local rival Western New England University for a 1:00 kickoff in the annual Presidents' Cup rivalry game at Golden Bear Stadium in Springfield, Mass.