By Zack Downing, Staff Writer
The UMass Dartmouth football team visited Worcester State on Saturday coming off two very close losses, including a controversial finish last week against Bridgewater State, when the officials let a contentious amount of seconds off the clock to end the match.
They let their presence be known by scoring first, eight minutes into the opening quarter. Running back Michael Slaughter Jr., put his first touchdown of the year up with a five yard run.
Only a minute later, the Corsairs intercepted a pass by Lancers quarterback Noah Brum. However, the Worcester State defense prevented them from capitalizing by stopping them in three plays.
The next score came from the home team, with Noah Brum tossing a 32 yard touchdown pass to junior Jacob Maher to tie the score at 7.
After the game saw three straight 3-and-outs, Brum and Maher connected again for a touchdown pass right after the second quarter started up.
Worcester State was on top 14-7, but the Corsairs struck back by marching down the field with an 11 play drive. Unfortunately, the 11th play was a missed field goal by Corsairs kicker James Tooker, so the score remained the same.
Another touchdown pass by the Lancers followed, and the score was 21-7.
UMass Dartmouth wasn’t backing down, though, as they went on a drive capped off by a 28 yard touchdown pass to Slaughter Jr. However, for the second week in a row, UMass Dartmouth had an extra point blocked, making the score 21-13.
The rest of the second quarter only saw three more points for the home team, and halftime came around with the score 24-13.
The Corsairs came into the 2nd half by generating their own momentum, scoring a rushing touchdown on their first 3rd quarter drive.
Only a few minutes later, the Lancers punted to Tony Slaughter (brother of Michael Slaughter) and he returned it 77 yards, barely being stopped at the opponent’s 7 yard line.
The Corsairs scored off the return, taking the lead 27-24.
Worcester State answered with another touchdown at the end of the 3rd quarter, and the score became 31-27.
The Corsairs bit back with a drive down the field at the beginning of the 4th, including a 21 yard rush by Corsairs quarterback Stephen Gacioch. It ended in a rushing touchdown, putting UMass Dartmouth back on top, 34-31.
Right afterwards, the Lancers threw pass after pass to make it to the end-zone again, changing the score to 38-34.
The scoring streak was ended when UMass Dartmouth failed to score on their next drive. The Corsairs punted, and Worcester State ran down the field to score yet another touchdown.
UMass Dartmouth had one more touchdown in them with a few minutes left, but they failed the two point conversion, putting them down by five. That’s how the game ended, 45-40 Worcester State.
The Corsairs had 456 yards of offense, a season high, and Michael Slaughter Jr., ran for 136 yards on the game. However, the defense couldn’t support the surging offense.
Interestingly, there has never been an NFL game in history that ended with a 45-40 score, so there’s that. Look at UMass Dartmouth making history.
The Corsairs hope to keep up their offensive success against Framingham State on Saturday.
It’s a home matchup, so come down to Cressy Field and support the team!