Football Suffers Heartbreaking Overtime Loss at UMass Dartmouth, 35-34
Dartmouth, Mass. – The Framingham State University football team rallied from a 20 point deficit to force overtime, but a two point conversion by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth propelled the Corsairs to a 35-34 victory over the Rams this evening Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference action.
The Rams are now 3-2 on the season and are 2-1 in the MASCAC. The loss ends a 34-game conference winning streak for the Rams who were last defeated by a conference opponent, Worcester State, on November 5th, 2011 when the Rams were part of the New England Football Conference.
The Rams trailed 27-7 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after a Mike Slaughter 92-yard touchdown run. Two minutes later, junior Stephen Beahn (Spencer, Mass.) found the end zone from one yard out to cap a six play, 59 yard drive. Freshman Shawn St. Marie (Wilbraham, Mass.) converted the extra point and the Rams trailed 27-14 with 8:06 on the clock.
After a Corsair punt, The Rams pulled within one score when sophomore Quron Wright (Worcester, Mass.) found the end zone on a two yard run with 3:47 left on the clock. St. Marie's kick missed and the Rams trailed 27-20.
UMass Dartmouth took over on their own 23 yard line following the kickoff. After gaining a pair of first downs, the Rams used their timeouts and defense came up with three stops forcing a punt on 4th and seven from the Rams 49 yard line with 28 seconds remaining in regulation. Sophomore Napoleon Miller (Boston, Mass.) fielded the punt at the 10 and returned it a school record 90 yards for the game-tying touchdown. St. Marie converted the point after and the game headed to overtime.
The Corsairs won the toss in overtime and elected to play defense first. The Rams needed just four plays to find the endzone on a three yard run by Wright. St. Marie converted the point after and the Rams had their first lead of the day, 34-27.
On the Corsairs possession after a one yard gain on first down, Cory Burnham connected with Abbi Bamgbose for a 24 yard touchdown. The hosts elected to go for two and Bamgbose found the end zone for the victory.
Wright finished the game as the Rams leading rusher with 90 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns, while Miller finished with 10 catches for 100 yards. Freshman Adam Wojenski (Stratford, Conn.) completed 16-of-30 for 200 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
Defensively, the Rams were led by 12 tackles from sophomore Clayton Minnich (Westerly, RI) and 10 apiece from senior Aaron Owens (Springfield, Mass.) and junior Campbell Marchant (East Longmeadow, Mass.).
The Rams are back in action when they host Westfield State next Saturday at noon.