Football Has Record Breaking Day in 48-27 Win Over Westfield State
Westfield, Mass. – Senior quarterback Kurt Leone (Marshfield, Mass.) completed 15 of 22 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown to power Framingham State University to a 48-27 New England Football Conference Bogan Division victory over Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon in Westfield.
The Rams - who snapped a 14-game winless streak vs. Westfield dating back to 1995 – improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Bogan Division. Westfield dropped to 3-5 and 2-3 following its Alumni Weekend game.
Junior wide receiver James McCarthy (Newton, Mass.) was the recipient of all four of Leone's scoring strikes. McCarthy caught five passes for 145 receiving yards, scoring twice in both the first quarter (10 yards, 28 yards) and third quarter (38, 26).
The Rams, who tied the FSU single season win record this afternoon, broke several school records in the game. The Rams have now scored 271 points this season which moves them ahead of the 1990 Rams who scored 233 in the season. Leone now has 24 touchdown passes on the season which is a new single season record, while McCarthy added three more records – touchdown receptions in a season, points in a season, and touchdowns in a season – to his resume.
The explosive Rams racked up 567 yards in total offense (329 passing, 238 rushing) while holding the Owls to 170 yards in total offense. David Leach (Chelmsford, Mass.) rushed for an even 100 yards on 11 carries and Shawn Miller (Tyngsboro, Mass.) rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown.
With Leone rifling lasers down the field, the Rams led 17-0 after the first quarter. They led 24-0 with 10:08 remaining in the first half following a three-yard TD run by Miller. Westfield made the halftime score 24-7 on a three-yard TD run by Evan Berneche (Chicopee, Mass.).
Following a pair of Leone-to-McCarthy scoring strikes and a safety, Framingham increased its lead to 40-7 with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter. Westfield trailed 40-13 after three quarters following a five-yard TD run by backup quarterback Dylan Smith.
A four-yard TD by Leone and two Berneche touchdowns (33 yard pass, 2-yard run) closed out the scoring in the final stanza.
Berneche scored three touchdowns, rushed for 74 yards on 21 carries, and caught three passes for 41 yards.
The Rams return to action next Saturday as they travel to Coast Guard for a noon kickoff.