Owls Bewitch Buccaneers on Halloween Night, 13-10

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State senior RB Dylan Disabella (Granby, Conn.) ran for 107 yards and a TD to lead Westfield State to a 13-10 MASCAC football victory over Massachusetts Maritime Academy at Clean Harbors Stadium in Buzzards Bay, Mass. on Halloween night.

Westfield is now 3-5 overall, 3-4 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Mass Maritime is 4-4 and 4-3 in the MASCAC.

Westfield methodically ground out the win with 203 yards rushing on the day, getting 58 from QB Gabe Fernandez (Holyoke, Mass.) and 26 from RB Sean Willis (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen).

Westfield took a 7-0 lead with 3:03 left in the first half, capping off a 15-play, 62-yard drive with a 1 yard TD plunge from Fernandez.

MMA finally got on the scoreboard midway through the third period with a 28-yard field goal from James Sansone.   The field goal was set up by a 51-yard run from Daniel Molloy that pushed the ball down to the Owls nine-yard line, but the Westfield defense stiffened with Budder Ferreira (Haverhill, Mass./Whittier Tech) dropping MMA QB Evan Pierce for a loss on third down to force the field goal try.

A Westfield fumble on the next possession gave the Buccaneers a short field at the Owls 25-yard line, and five plays later Pierce bulled his way into the end zone from five yards out to give Mass Maritime a 10-7 lead.

Westfield answered with a big play of their own on the ensuing series, with Disabella ripping through a hole in the middle of the Maritime defense for a 49-yard touchdown run with 13:11 left in the game.  The Owls point after try was blocked after a bad snap.

The Buccaneers got the ball back with a chance to tie or win with 2:20 left on the clock in the fourth quarter at their own 20-yard line, and marched it into Westfield territory, before the Owls' Dylan Zuerblis (Wethersfield, Conn.) sacked Pierce on fourth and six from the Owls 36 yard line to end the game.

Westfield's defense answered the bell all night, holding Maritime to just 194 yards of total offense. Ferreira haunted the Bucs with 13 total tackles, including four for losses as he repeatedly jumped the snap count and found gaps in the Buccaneers o-line.  Blake Simpson (Bellingham, Mass.) added six stops, two behind the line of scrimmage.

Molloy led MMA with 99 yards rushing on the day.  Pierce finished 4-7 passing for 42 yards.

The game was the lone Division III game in the nation today on a rare Thurdsay night matchup, which fell on Halloween night.   The teams caught the benefit of an unseasonably warm day, with near record temps throughout the Northeast during the day, and a kickoff temperature around 65 degrees.

The game was briskly played with both teams employing a triple-option style offense.     The two teams combined for just 16 passing attempts.

Westfield will close out the season with a pair of home games, next Saturday hosting UMass-Dartmouth, the third-ranked team in New England, on Nov. 9 with a noon kickoff at Alumni Field.