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Western New England University

The Official Home of Western New England University Athletics
Fb 11.18.23
7
UMass Dartmouth UMD 9-2 , 7-1
37
Winner Western New Eng. WNE 8-3 , 4-1
UMass Dartmouth UMD
9-2 , 7-1
7
Final
37
Western New Eng. WNE
8-3 , 4-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UMD UMass Dartmouth 0 0 7 0 7
WNE Western New Eng. 2 0 21 14 37

Game Recap: Football |

Strong Defense, Timely Scoring Leads Football Past UMass-Dartmouth in New England Bowl Game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 20, 2023) – The Western New England football team grabbed 35 second-half points and held one of the nation's top-scoring offenses to just seven points in the New England Bowl Game on Saturday afternoon as the Golden Bears defeated the Corsairs of UMass-Dartmouth by a final score of 37-7.

Records:
  • Western New England: 8-3
  • UMass-Dartmouth: 9-2
How it Happened:

Western New England could not get their offense churning to open the game after winning the opening coin toss and electing to receive. The Golden Bears defense would come up large all afternoon long, which started on the third play of UMass-Dartmouth's first offensive possession when Ben Caulfield grabbed an interception to begin to move Western New England down the field. Western New England would make it all the way down to the UMD one-yard line, though the Corsairs defense would stuff the Golden Bears on back-to-back plays to take over on downs from their own one-yard line. The Corsairs would not be able to get the ball out of their own end zone as UMass-Dartmouth top rusher Luis Gonzalez would be swallowed by Jake Chiasson and Brandon Myers, resulting in a safety to give the Golden Bears a 2-0 lead. The score would remain 2-0 after one quarter of play after the two teams played a strong defensive game, led by Joe Shea for WNE and Jackson Wellman for UMD.

UMass-Dartmouth would start with the ball in the second quarter, which would last for just three plays before the Golden Bears would take over after quarterback Dante Avilies-Santos would be sacked by Jake Chiasson, which resulted in a fumble scooped up by Cam Leblanc to give Western New England possession. Neither Western New England nor UMass-Dartmouth would come away with any points in the second quarter, despite WNE traveling down to the Corsairs seven-yard line on a ten-play, 55-yard drive, which resulted in a fumble that turned the ball over.

The Corsairs would open the second half with their best offensive drive of the game, using 12 plays to march 70 yards down the field when Luis Gonzalez ran in a one-yard touchdown to give UMass-Dartmouth a 7-2 lead, grabbing their first points of the Bowl Game. Western New England quickly responded on their first offensive drive of the first half when Dillon Kohl ran home a 55-yard score. Conrad Swanson would start the drive with an 11-yard pass to Ryan Larson before Kohl took care of the rest to give WNE their second lead of the game. A quick three-and-out would be forced by Western New England's defense as Dalton Franco would collect 2.5 sacks on the ensuing drive for the Corsairs. Western New England quickly brought back their offense onto the field and grabbed their second touchdown of the game as Kohl would run in again, this time from one yard out, giving WNE a 16-7 lead. De'Andre Harris would haul in WNE's biggest play of the drive, a 14-yard pass from Tyler Millerick.

The WNE defense would be strong down the stretch of the third quarter, not allowing the Corsairs to maintain positive offensive yardage. Western New England would force UMD off the field on a sack on fourth and one when Joe Shea and Michael Dogostino got to the quarterback. Western New England's offense would run just one play; a 36-yard rush from Conrad Swanson would give the Golden Bears a 23-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Cam Leblanc would fly all over the field in the win, grabbing an interception for the Golden Bears to open the fourth quarter as the Western New England defense continued to cause problems on the Corsairs offense all afternoon long. With 7:25 to play in the fourth, Western New England would be back on the scoreboard again when Conrad Swanson would rush 11 yards for the score to take a 30-7 lead. Pat Harrigan grabbed a 19-yard pass on the drive to help Western New England march down the field to score their fourth touchdown of the game. UMass-Dartmouth would fail to score on an eight-play, 42-yard drive after Western New England's fifth sack of the game would result in a turnover on downs. The Golden Bears would finish the game with a six-play, 77-yard drive that resulted in seven points as Ryan Larson would take home a 26-yard touchdown with 56 seconds to play as the Golden Bears would win their first ever New England Bowl Game, defeating UMass-Dartmouth by a final score of 37-7.

Inside the Lines:
  • With the win, Western New England wins their first ever New England Bowl game in their second attempt. WNE finishes the season with an 8-3 record, doubling their wins from a season ago.
  • Dillon Kohl and Conrad Swanson led Western New England's offense on the afternoon, as Kohl recorded 13 rush attempts for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Swanson tossed 12 completions on 18 attempts, throwing for 147 yards while rushing 12 times for 100 yards, scoring two touchdowns.
  • Ryan Larson grabbed six catches for 57 yards to lead all players in the win.
  • Western New England recorded 11.5 tackles for loss in the game, as Joe Shea and Jake Chiasson recorded eight of the 11.5 in the game. The duo also combined for 3.5 sacks.
  • Cam Leblanc notched one solo tackle and five assisted tackles while recording a fumble recovery and interception.
  • The WNE defense finishes the season with 86 tackles for loss and 22 total sacks.
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