Football Wins MASCAC Title with 27-17 Win over Bridgewater State
Bridgewater, Mass. – The Framingham State University football team clinched their sixth straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Championship with a 27-17 victory over Bridgewater State University this afternoon at Swenson Field.
With the win, the Rams improve to 8-1 on the year and remain unblemished at 7-0 in the MASCAC. By virtue of today's victory the Rams receive the MASCAC's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division III Football Championship. This is the first season that the MASCAC has an automatic bid in football.
The Bears, who entered the game with only one loss in the conference, had a chance to move into the top spot in the conference standings with a victory, but instead fall to 6-3 on the year and 5-2 in the conference.
Senior quarterback Matt Silva (Dracut, Mass.) paced the offense completing 21-of-30 for 253 yards with three touchdowns and no picks. With his second touchdown pass of the game, a five-yard pass to senior Tevin Jones (Springfield, Mass.), Silva established a new single season touchdown mark with his 34th of the year. Silva surpassed the old mark of 33 which was established by Kurt Leone in 2010.
Senior Marcus Grant (Carver, Mass.) led the receivers with six receptions for 101 yards, while Jones' six catches netted him 63 yards and included a pair of touchdowns. Freshman Napoleon Miller (Boston, Mass.) also recorded six catches for 52 yards.
The Rams trailed 10-7 at the half, but put 17 points on the board in the third quarter to open up a 24-10 lead. Silva and Jones connected from five yards out with 7:34 remaining to cap an eight play, 71 yard drive that put the visitors on top for good.
The Rams defense forced a three and out and the Bears had to punt. Freshman Quron Wright (Worcester, Mass.) returned the punt 41 yards and after a Bridgewater penalty the Rams had the ball on the Bears eight yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Silva connected with running back Jalen Green (Brockton, Mass.) for an eight yard score.
The Rams defense once again came through forcing a three and out and a short punt gave the Rams the ball on Bridgewater's 32 yard line. The Rams moved the ball down to the 13 yard line, but were stopped on a third and six by the Bear defense. Senior Sean Wlasuk (Peabody, Mass.) converted a 28 yard field goal with 1:36 left in the third.
Wlasuk would add his second field goal of the day in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 27-10. Wlasuk missed the initial attempt, but a penalty on the Bears gave Wlasuk a second chance to convert from 20 yards out.
Bridgewater State answered with a three play, 75 yard drive highlighted by a 71 yard touchdown pass from Danny Higgins to Michael Viola to cut the Rams lead down to 10 with 9:23 remaining.
The Rams followed with an 11 play drive that took 6:31 off the game clock and gave the Bears the ball back on their own 10 yard line with 2:52 left in the game. The Bears had a first down on the Rams 35 yard line after a 31 yard gain from Higgins to Travis Bassett with just over 1:30 remaining in the game. After an incompletion on first down, a sack for a loss of 11 yards by senior Quentin Jones (Springfield, Mass.) on second down put the Bears in third and long. Sophomore Thomas Burns (Attleboro, Mass.) came up a pass break up on third down and classmate Svenn Jacobson (Cumberland, ME) came up with one on fourth down with 40 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Jacobson led the Rams defense with eight tackles, all solo, and a pass break up, while senior Tyllor McDonald (Lynn, Mass.) and sophomore Campbell Marchant (Longmeadow, Mass.) added six apiece. Jones finished the game with five tackles including a pair of sacks.
The Rams close out the regular season next Saturday on the road when they travel to Worcester State for a noon kickoff.