Westfield St. 44, Nichols 21
Dudley, Mass. – Vendetti Field
Friday, September 4, 2015
All-Time Series & Streaks
The Bison fell to 10-16 all-time against the Owls. NC has dropped two-straight and nine of the last 10 to its visitors from Western Mass.
Three Stars of the Game
1 – Sophomore Evan Cain (Westfield St.) (Hudson, Mass.) – seven receptions for 158 yards and two touchdowns, including an 81-yard TD catch in the second quarter
2 – Senior Eric Washburn (Westfield St.) (Lisbon, Conn.) – completed 14-of-20 for 244 yards and three scores
3 – Junior Grant Klimek (Nichols) (Toms River, N.J.) – 21 rushes for 121 yards (5.8 ypc) and one TD; 2 receptions for 19 yards and one TD
Scoring Drives
First Quarter
NC – Klimek 3 yard run (Hayes kick); 6-70-2:24; 7-0
Second Quarter
WSU – Smith 16 yard pass from Washburn (Orellana kick); 10-71-4:55; 7-7
WSU – Tejeda 17 yard INT return (Orellana kick); 7-14
WSU – Cain 81-yard pass from Washburn (Orellana kick failed); 3-81-0:58; 7-20
WSU – Sweeney 1 yard run (Orellana kick); 9-49-4:48; 7-27
Third Quarter
WSU – Holder 27 yard run (Orellana kick); 11-75-5:39; 7-34
NC – Klimek 21 yard pass from McCourt; 4-35-1:33; 14-34
Fourth Quarter
WSU – Cain 39 yard pass from Washburn (Orellana kick); 3-49-1:20; 41-14
NC – Warren 81 yard pass from McCourt (Haynes kick); 1-81-0:20; 21-41
WSU – Orellana 25 yard FG; 14-70-7:22
Key Stat of the Game
Westfield State converted on 11 of its 18 third-down opportunities – including 8-of-13 through three quarters – and held the Bison to 1 of 11 on third down.
Turning Point
Following WSU senior Colin Smith's (Groton, Conn.) 16-yard TD reception to tie the game at seven early in the second quarter, sophomore William Tejeda (Acton, Mass.) picked off Nichols senior signal-caller Bryan Hummel (Dedham, Mass.) on the ensuing possession and returned it 17 yards for a score to put the Owls ahead for good. Westfield State went on to score 34 unanswered points.
Quick Hits
-Sophomore Michael McCourt (New Fairfield, Conn.) came on in relief of Hummel in the second quarter and finished his evening 5-of-12 for 143 yards and two scores – one of which was an 81-yard hookup with classmate Derrick Warren (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).
-Junior back Bryan Waruhiu (Dracut, Mass.) carried the rock 23 times for 99 yards (4.3 ypc) to lead the Owls in rushing.
-Sophomore Brett McEvoy (Wrentham, Mass.) led all tacklers with 14 stops (nine solo) – three of which went for a loss. Junior William Contois (Palmer, Mass.) racked up 10 of his own while both he and freshman Alex Swaby (New Britain, Conn.) each recorded a sack.
-Westfield State piled up 432 yards of offense while Nichols compiled 336.
-The Owls held the ball for over 38 minutes – including all but 2:21 of the fourth quarter.
-Both Westfield State and Nichols scored on a passing play of over 80 yards.
Quotes
"There was a great energy and excitement both with our kids and our fans tonight. Unfortunately, we lost senior Kris Williams (East Hartford, Conn.) on the first play with an injury. He's been a leader throughout camp and that was a tough way to start the season. The guys stayed focused and went down and scored early. The bottom line is Westfield State hit some big plays early and put us in a hole. We fought back every time they scored when they looked like they were going to pull away. Mikey (McCourt) came in and did a nice job for us tonight." – Nichols head coach Dale Olmsted
"We were dealt a tough blow at the start when we lost one of our seniors and a leader on defense. I thought we got it together. We played as a team and had a strong start. They just made too many big plays and we didn't have enough of them. We're on to Anna Maria now. We're going to keep working hard because the season is nowhere near over. We have nine games to go. The atmosphere was great tonight. Coming down out of the new locker room and seeing all of our fans here for a night game, you can't beat it." – Nichols junior captain Matt McEvilly
Next up
Nichols – Saturday, September 12 @ Anna Maria, 1:00 p.m.
Westfield St. – Friday, September 11 vs Western New England, 7:00 p.m.