Silva Tosses Five TDs and Rushes for One as Football Defeats Nichols 54-13
Framingham, Mass. – Freshman quarterback Matt Silva (Dracut, Mass.) tied a school record with five touchdown passes and rushed for another as the Framingham State University football team defeated Nichols College 54-13 in non-conference action tonight at Bowditch Field. With the win, the Rams even their record at 1-1, while the Bison fall to 0-2.
Silva, who was making his first collegiate start, completed 14 of 14 pass attempts for 234 yards with no interceptions in just one half of action. With sis five touchdown passes to three different receivers Silva now shares the single game touchdown pass record with three former Rams. Silva rushed for 58 yards on five carries and scored the Rams first touchdown of the game on a 13-yard scramble with 7:16 remaining in the first quarter. Silva was also 6-of-7 kicking extra points in the game.
The Rams set a new school record for points in a game on sophomore Melikke Van Alstyne's (Salem, Mass.) four yard touchdown run in the third quarter. The Rams previous record for points in a game was 49 which was set during the 1973.
Van Alstyne rushed for a game-high 122 yards on 18 carries with two scores, while senior wide receiver James McCarthy (Newton, Mass.) was Silva's main target with eight catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Alex Avery (Milford, Mass.) made three receptions for 85 yards with two scores, while freshman Jared Gauthier (Dracut, Mass.) also had three catches for 41 yards including a one handed touchdown reception in the first quarter.
The Bison took the opening kickoff and drove covered 49 yards in 13 plays setting up the game's first score, a Bill Crory 38-yard field goal with 9:40 left in the first. It was all Rams after that as they scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions to open a commanding lead at the half.
The Rams defense came up with three interceptions in the first half setting the offense up with a short field that ultimately led to three of those scores. Sophomore Kyle Shonio (Swampscott, Mass.) intercepted Jacob Shoup and returned it 19 yards setting up the first of Silva's touchdown tosses to McCarthy.
Freshman Ony Ramos (Lawrence, Mass.) intercepted Bison backup quarterback Dan Snyder and returned the ball to the Nichols 24 yard line. After a 19-yard rush by Silva, he connected with McCarthy for the second time in the game and for the second time in less than a minute putting the Rams up 20-3 with 3:49 remaining in the first.
Senior Mark Nunes (Taunton, Mass.) had the Rams other interception which set up a 69-yard touchdown strike from Silva to Avery that put the Rams in front 41-13 in the second quarter.
The Rams amassed 469 yards of total offense in the game to 260 yards for the Bison. Framingham State held a 374 to 144 advantage in total offense in the first half alone.
Snyder finished the game 9-of-29 for 119 yards with two interceptions for the Bison, while Shoup completed 4-of-11 for 71 yards with one pick.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, September 17th at Salve Regina with kickoff slated for noon, while the Bison travel to Worcester State on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.