NEWTON, Mass. – Trailing by a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter, Mount Ida made several big plays to give themselves a chance to level the score in Friday night's opening game of the 2014 football season at Alumni Field. The Mustangs were unable to cash in on the turnovers they forced, however, and suffered a 21-14 defeat at the hands of the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs.
Junior Zach Samiljan (Sparta, N.J.) and senior Jovan Wilkins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), who each racked up five unassisted tackles for the Mount Ida defense, came up with defensive stops to keep the deficit at seven points and give Mount Ida back the ball late in the game.
Samiljan intercepted Corsairs quarterback Trent Barneys (Avenel, N.J.) at the Mount Ida eleven yard line as the Corsairs were about to add to their lead with 8:44 remaining in the game, and Wilkins blocked a field goal attempt with 2:28 remaining in the game and then returned the loose ball to the Mustang forty-two yard line, but neither play would lead to a tying score.
UMass Dartmouth freshman Marvey Mathurin (Woburn, Mass.) forced the fifth and final Mount Ida turnover of the game, intercepting a pass from senior quarterback Jawad Yatim (Shrewsbury, Mass.) to seal the victory with 1:26 remaining after Wilkin's block.
Mount Ida's success in the game came on the ground, sparked by the play of freshman Jaleel Battle (Buffalo, N.Y.), who, in the first game of his collegiate career, ran for 203 yards on 33 carries.
Both Mount Ida's scores came on the ground as well, a Yatim 21-yard run with 2:22 remaining in the first quarter, and a six yard run by Battle with a minute and a half left in the third, which was the final points put on the scoreboard by either team.
The Corsairs used a more balanced attack, with Barneys completing 21 of 33 passes for 210 yards. Thirteen of those receptions, and the only touchdown of the game through the air, went to Abiola Aborishade (Attleboro, Mass.), who gained 86 yards receiving and 89 yards on the ground.
Aborishade and the Corsairs needed just 23 seconds to tie the game after Yatim had given Mount Ida a lead with his rushing score when Barneys found Aborishade for a 27-yard touchdown.
The teams went scoreless in the second quarter, but a pair of scores by the visitors in the third gave them a 14-point lead. After a fumble by Yatim on Mount Ida's first possession of the second half gave the Corsairs the ball at the Mustang 24 yard line, Barneys found Kevin Wadsworth (Bridgewater, Mass.) for a 24-yard reception, and junior running back Preston Cooper (Wareham, Mass.) scampered seven yards to punch the ball into the end-zone.
Wadsworth had four receptions for 87 yards, and Cooper carried eleven times for 30 yards for the visitors.
The Mustangs took their next possession and drove the ball to the UMass Dartmouth eight yard-line, but saw their drive stall on fourth and goal. They tried a fake field goal, but freshman wide receiver Nick Hewitt (Killingly, Conn.) was pressured and had his pass intercepted by sophomore Marcel Flynn (Taunton, Mass.).
Two players later, Aborishade broke loose and sprinted 79 yards for his second touchdown of the game.
Mount Ida turned to Battle, who had over 100 yards in the first half, and he ripped off runs of 13 and 35 yards to put Mount Ida in business late in the third. Yatim and freshman Octovio Thomas (W. Hartford, Conn.) also had rushes on the drive, which ended with Battle's six yard score.
Turnovers and penalties hurt Mount Ida, who lost all three of their fumbles, including one by Battle with 5:48 left in the fourth quarter after the Mustangs defense had forced a three and out.
The home team racked up 13 penalties for 168 yards, while UMass Dartmouth had five penalties for 44 yards and, though they fumbled four times, did not lose the ball on any of those occasions.
Time of possession was slightly in favor of Mount Ida, who had 31:32 to the Corsair's 28:28.
Freshman punter Devin Broadley (Hyannis, Mass.) had an impressive night for the Mount Ida special teams unit. Broadley averaged 45.7 yards on his six kicks, including a 60-yard punt, and landed balls at the opponents one and two yard lines on separate occasions.
Sophomore Sean Chinova (Watertown, Conn.) led the Mount Ida defense with 10 tackles and a sack, including 2.5 tackles for loss, while Kalyn Smithson (Vilseck, Germany) had 5.5 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and 1.5 tackles for loss.
On the defensive side for the Corsairs, Nils Swenson (Ipswich, Mass.) had 9.5 tackles, 1.5 of them for a loss of yardage.
The Corsairs outgained Mount Ida 343 to 276, and picked up 21 first downs to the Mustang's 16. UMass Dartmouth was 6-16 on third down attempts, and Mount Ida went 5-15, with the teams combining to go 0-4 on fourth down.
Mount Ida hits the road next week for their first away game of the year, a 12:00 pm matchup with Plymouth State.
The Corsairs travel home for their home opener against Springfield, who Mount Ida will visit two weeks from tomorrow.