DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Junior
Reece Davis (Livermore, Maine) ran for 154 yards, and sophomore
Devin Connally (Boynton Beach, Fla.) caught six passes for 128 yards and a touchdown, but the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth pulled away in the fourth quarter to top Plymouth State University, 42-21, in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) football game at Cressy Field on Saturday.
Plymouth State (8-2, 7-2 MASCAC) finishes the season as MASCAC regular season tri-champions, tied atop the league standings with Anna Maria and Framingham State. Framingham State earned the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth via the MASCAC tiebreaker procedure.
The Corsairs raced to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter, but a 57-yard run by Davis set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by senior
Shawn Harrington (South Weymouth, Mass.) to cut the deficit to 14-7 after one. UMass Dartmouth scored early in the second quarter to restore a two-touchdown margin, but Plymouth State responded with a late drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass from graduate quarterback
Braden Lynn (Littleton, Mass.) to
Mitchell Cripps (Dracut, Mass.), making it 21-14 at halftime.
The teams traded scores in the third quarter, with Connally hauling in a 30-yard touchdown pass with one minute remaining to pull within 28-21, but the Corsairs scored twice in the fourth quarter to pull away and deny Plymouth State an outright league title and NCAA berth.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 21, UMass Dartmouth 42
- Plymouth State (8-2, 7-2 MASCAC)
- UMass Dartmouth (6-4, 6-3 MASCAC)
How it Happened:
- UMass Dartmouth won the coin toss and scored on a 9-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown run less than five minutes in.
- PSU was forced to punt on its first possession; UMD responded with a 7-play, 75-yard drive, scoring on a 9-yard run to lead 14-0 with 3:49 left in the first.
- Davis' 57-yard run set up Harrington's 1-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 just over a minute later.
- UMD scored early in the second quarter to push the lead to 21-7.
- Plymouth State's late-half drive featured a fourth-and-one conversion and a 15-yard penalty, culminating in Lynn's 16-yard touchdown pass to Cripps with 19 seconds left, making it 21-14 at halftime.
- In the third, UMD scored on a 1-yard run for a 28-14 lead, but PSU answered back in five plays, including a 15-yard pass from Lynn to sophomore Hunter Trueman (Sanbornville, N.H.) and a 26-yard run by Davis, before Connally's 30-yard TD made it 28-21 with one minute left in the quarter.
- UMD scored twice in the fourth quarter to finish the game, 42-21.
By the Numbers:
- Davis rushed 19 times for 154 yards, averaging 8.1 yards per carry.
- Lynn completed 14-of-26 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns.
- Connally caught six passes for 128 yards and a score; Cripps added three catches for 31 yards and a touchdown.
- Junior Greg Berthiaume (North Attleborough, Mass.) led all tacklers with 13 (8 solo), including one tackle for loss.
- Freshman Tyrese Ryder (Ossipee, N.H.), sophomore Ben Brown (York, Maine), and junior Aidan Fritz (Colchester, Conn.) each recorded 10 tackles; Brown added a pass breakup.
- UMass Dartmouth leads the all-time series, 15-11.
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