WESTFIELD – The Westfield State University football team hosts Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday, Oct. 19. The Homecoming game kicks off at 2:00 p.m. at Alumni Field.
WEB TV: The Mass. Maritime-Westfield game is being video streamed live. There is no fee to watch the game. Westfield State students Matt Stover and Mike Drew will provide the play-by-play and color commentary. In addition, there will be Live Stats for the game. Go to www.WestfieldStateOwls.com to access the video stream and Live Stats links.
THE SERIES: Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Westfield State are meeting for the 32nd time, with the Owls holding a slim 16-15 edge in the all-time series. The Owls have claimed 10 of the last 12 games. Mass. Maritime earned a 35-13 victory in 2012 to snap a five-game win streak for the Owls. In the last meeting at Westfield, the Owls blanked the Bucs, 11-0, in the famous Snow Bowl Game on Oct. 29, 2011.
THE RECORDS: The Owls are 3-2 overall and in second place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with a 2-1 record. The Owls dropped their two games by a total of three points, a 28-27 overtime setback to Nichols and a tough 17-15 loss last week to first-place Framingham. Westfield outscored the opposition, 100-14, in its three victories. Mass. Maritime is 1-2 in the MASCAC and 3-2 overall. The Bucs stunned Western Connecticut, 54-53, last week while racking up 676 yards in total offense. Mass. Maritime flattened Maine Maritime, 52-18, but lost to Worcester State by an amazing score of 64-63. Mass. Maritime also lost to Fitchburg State, 40-17.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Westfield is ranked in the NCAA Division III in a number of statistical categories. The Ows rank second nationally in red zone defense and eighth in turnover margin (plus 2.0). The Owls have only turned over the ball twice this season – a fumble in a season opening overtime setback to Nichols College and a fumble on a kickoff return last Saturday. The Owls also rank 14th in total defense (245.4 yards allowed per game), 16h in scoring defense (11.8 points per game), and 17th in time of possession (34:09). The explosive Mass. Maritime ranks second nationally in total offense, averaging an incredible 582.6 yards per game, and are 17th in scoring (42.0 point per game).
PLAY MAKERS: Over the last three weeks, Mass. Maritime has run 309 plays, an average of 25.75 per quarter and 1.72 per minute. That mark includes an NCAA Division III record 121 plays on Sept. 28 at Worcester State as well as 97 in last week’s triumph at Western Connecticut. The Bucs also set an NCAA record with 44 first downs vs. Worcester and are averaging 30 first downs per game.
SCOUTING MASS. MARITIME: Mass. Maritime’s offensive numbers are staggering, but the Bucs have had difficulty stopping opponents. While Mass. Maritime averages 42 points and 582.6 yards in total offense (254.6 rushing, 328 passing), opponents are scoring an average of 39 points per game and averaging 512.6 yards in total offense. Senior quarterback Mike Stanton has already thrown for 1,489 yards in the first five games. He has completed 65 percent of his passes (119-183) for seven touchdowns. Stanton has completed passes to 13 players and his favorite targets are E.J. Bennett (36 catches, 422 yards, 6 touchdowns), Keith Caruso (29-392) and Bobby Rosario (23-180). Senior Stefan Gustafson leads the potent rushing attack with 795 yards on 130 carries and seven touchdowns, and ranks fifth nationally (159 yards per game). He has surpassed the 200 yard rushing mark in three of the last four weeks, including a career-best 235 yards on 35 carries last week vs. Western Connecticut. Gustafson also has 11 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. John Trudel has been a triple threat as he has accounted for 12 touchdowns in 71 total plays. In a reserve role, he has completed 18 of 31 passes for 151 yards and six touchdowns; he also has scored six rushing touchdowns on 151 yards and 39 carries. Furthermore, he is the team’s punter and averaging 39.6 yards per boot. Mass. Maritime’s top defensive players are linebacker Victor Andrade (team-high 35 tackles), lineman Richard Ford (30 tackles, 2 sacks), and cornerback Kevin Stanton (3 interceptions).
SCOUTING WESTFIELD:: The Owls’ game plan is to continue taking care of the ball (only two turnovers in five games), controlling the ball (ranked 17th nationally in time of possession), and playing an aggressive and a disciplined defense. The game will be an interesting matchup between Mass. Maritime’s explosive offense and Westfield’s No Name Defense. There are eight players with 20 or more tackles in the Owls’ balanced defense, led by sophomore free safety Greg Sheridan’s team-high 35 tackles (27 solo stops); he also had two interceptions and three pass breakups. Westfield’s other top defenders are: lineman Jonathan Lytle (31 tackles, 6 for loss, 2 sacks), end Marcus Pettigrew (30 tackles, 6 for loss, 4 sacks), linebacker Troy Cutter (28 tackles, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 1 fumble recovery), linebacker Kevin Duffy (28 tackles, 2 sacks), strong safety Gregg Jackson (25 tackles, 3 interceptions), cornerback Breno Pessanha (23 tackles, 2 interceptions, 4 breakups), and linebacker Nick Adams (20 tackles, 2 interceptions). Westfield’s balanced offense (849 rushing yards, 907 passing) is led by junior running back Michael Mercadante (122 carries, 472 yards, 4 touchdowns). Senior quarterback Tim Rich has completed 38 of 67 passes (57 percent) for 600 yards, four scores, and no interceptions. Westfield’s top receivers are Kevin Nicol (20 catches, 358 yards, 4 touchdowns), Kane Terilli (14-198), and tight end Jeff Winchell (7-150).
LOOKING AHEAD: Westfield travels to Bridgewater State on Oct. 26 for another key conference game. Mass. Maritime hosts UMass Dartmouth.
