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20211009 - FB at WestConn
16
Winner Plymouth St. PSU 1-4, 1
13
WestConn WCSU 3-3, 2
Winner
Plymouth St. PSU
1-4, 1
16
Final
13
WestConn WCSU
3-3, 2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
PSU Plymouth St. 6 3 0 7 16
WCSU WestConn 0 7 0 6 13

Game Recap: Football | | Christopher J. Kilmer, Asst. Director of Communications for Athletics

FB: Moody’s late TD run lifts Panthers over WestConn

DANBURY, Conn. – Senior Manny Sanchez (Hartford, Conn.) ran for 136 yards and classmate Gavin Moody (Concord, N.H.) scored the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter as Plymouth State University played spoiler to Western Connecticut State University's Homecoming game, 16-13, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) football game at the Westside Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sophomore Willie Lombard (Bridgewater, Mass.) gave the Panthers a first quarter lead after his five-yard TD scamper, but PSU was unable to convert the extra point. Senior Dan Carey (Plymouth, N.H.) knocked home a 24-yard field goal try on the next possession as PSU extended the lead to 9-0 in the second.
 
WestConn got on the board with an 18-yard score through the air and the game stayed 9-7 into the fourth quarter. The hosts pulled ahead in the opening seconds of the fourth on a 2-yard TD pass, but the point after failed.
 
Trailing 13-9 and facing fourth-and-goal from the WestConn six-yard line, Moody took the ball on an end-around and ran up the left side before jumping over a defender and into the end zone. WestConn got a good return and moved the ball to the PSU 34-yard line, but senior Kayden Baillargeon (Derry, N.H.) iced the win with a clutch interception in the end zone and the Panthers ran out the clock.
 
Plymouth State improves to 1-4 (1-2 MASCAC), while WestConn drops to 3-3 and 2-2 in the MASCAC.
 
The Basics:
  • Plymouth State 16, WestConn 13
    • Plymouth State (1-4, 1-2 MASCAC)
    • WestConn (3-3, 2-2 MASCAC)
Top Performers: How it Happened:
  • Plymouth State kept the ball on the ground to chew up yardage and clock right from the opening kickoff. All 15 plays in the Panthers' opening 15-play, 73-yard drive were runs, including bursts of 11 and 13 yards for Sanchez. Lombard capped off the tone-setting drive with a five-yard burst just off the left end for the early lead.
  • After a three-and-out, PSU fed the ball to Sanchez and Lombard to get the ball deep into WestConn territory as the first quarter expired. Lombard got down to the WCSU eight-yard line, but the Panthers had to settle for a Carey field goal and a 9-0 lead.
  • WestConn answered right back with a touchdown through the air on the ensuing possession to cut the deficit to 9-7.
  • Neither team could do much offensively the rest of the half as the Panthers went into the break with the lead.
  • The teams traded field position throughout most of the third quarter and the hosts got into the end zone on a two-yard reception just five seconds into the final stanza to take a 13-9 lead.
  • PSU picked up a chunk of yardage on a 20-yard completion from junior Christian Paillet (Nashua, N.H.) to classmate Bryan Warren (Pine Bush, N.Y.), but the drive stalled at midfield.
  • The Panthers got great field position with 6:01 left on the clock. Moody ran for 15 yards on first down and a WestConn penalty move the ball all the way to the WestConn 20-yard line. Junior Jack Glanville (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) rushed three times to set up a second-and-goal from the nine and Sanchez's third down run pushed the ball to the six. After each team took a timeout, Moody took the handoff from senior Brett Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass.), worked through open space along the left side and jumped over the final defender into the end zone for the game-winning score.
  • WestConn had 3:17 on the clock and two timeouts remaining, but Baillargeon played the hero with his interception in the end zone and PSU ran out the clock.
By the Numbers:
  • PSU's first two drives chewed up 8:45 and 8:27 of clock time.
  • The Panthers rushed for 240 yards, while holding WestConn to just 102 on the ground.
  • Lavanchy and Paillet combined to throw just four passes as the team featured the ground game, resulting in a 38:33 time of possession.
  • PSU was 6-of-15 on third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth down conversions and scored on all three of its red zone chances.
  • Sanchez's 136 yards were easily a career high.
  • Senior Quinn Girard (Glens Falls, N.Y.) had a team-high nine tackles, including four solo stops.
Up Next:
  • PSU is home for three of its next four games, starting with Fitchburg State University on Saturday (Oct. 16) at noon.
 
 
 
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