NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - Visiting Curry scored three touchdowns in the second half and went on to defeat the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s football team, 28-10, in a New England Football Conference Boyd Division game at Cressy Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Corsairs overcame an early Colonel advantage to take a 10-7 lead in the locker room at halftime. After Curry jumped on top on a 49-yard pass from senior quarterback Harold Rose (Buzzards Bay, MA/Bourne HS) to sophomore wide receiver Robert Bambini (Westwood, MA/Westwood HS) with 8:13 remaining in the first quarter. Later, UMass Dartmouth put together a scoring drive of their own.They took the ball 60 yards in 10 plays, driving to the Curry 14 yard line. On fourth down, sophomore kicker Edgar Osols (Summit, NJ/Summit HS) kicked a 31-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
Curry took the ensuing kickoff, but Rose's second down pass was intercepted by Corsair junior defensive back James Green (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical HS), who returned it 30 yards to the Colonel 14 yard line. On the third play of the drive, freshman running back Jaron Hargrove (West Roxbury, MA/Concord-Carlisle HS) scored from five yards, and it was 10-7 with 6:38 remaining in the half.
The Colonels drove to the UMD 20 on their first possession of the third quarter, but a 37-yard field goal try by senior Matt Alksninis (Mansfield, MA/Mansfield HS) sailed wide to the right. Curry held and converted on their next drive, getting a 53-yard pass completion from Rose to Bambini on the first play. Rose and Bambini connected again on third and goal from the six, and Curry had a 14-10 advantage.
After an exchange of punts, the Corsairs were pinned at their own 11-yard line. On second down, senior defensive lineman Kenniel Velez (Brockton, MA/Brockton HS) hit UMD senior running back Eric Pacy (Rowley, MA/Triton HS/Salve Regina/Dean) and forced a fumble. Senior defensive back Bobby Driscoll (Milton, MA/Milton HS) scooped it up and went 17 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-10.
The Colonels scored their final touchdown as a result of a special teams play. With the Corsairs facing a fourth down at midfield, freshman linebacker Jonas Duffrene (Waltham, MA/Waltham HS) blocked freshman Chris Berganti's (Haverhill, MA/Central Catholic HS) punt. Sophomore linebacker Jason Genece (Waltham, MA/Waltham HS) picked it up at the 25-yard line and scored to make it 28-10 with 10:20 remaining.
Pacy led UMass Dartmouth with 52 yards on 14 carries, while sophomore quarterback Patrick Orlando (Manchester, MA/Essex HS/Saint Anselm) completed six of 21 passes for 38 yards and ran for 26 more. Senior running back Dennis Void (Brookhaven, PA/Mount St. Michael Academy) gained 75 yards on 16 carries for Curry, Rose completed 10 of 25 passes for 191 yards, and Bambini caught five passes for 131 yards, Alksninis averaged 40 yards on six punts while Berganti averaged 38.3 on nine punts, including a 71-yarder. Defensively, sophomore linebacker Jack Brown (Milton, MA/Milton HS) had 13 tackles, including three solo stops, 1.5 tackles for lost yardage, a sack, and an interception. Velez had 12 stops for Curry, including two solos, and a forced fumble.
The Corsairs dropped to 3-6 and 2-4 in the Boyd Division with the defeat, while the Colonels improved to 5-4 and 3-3 in the Boyd Division with the victory. UMass Dartmouth will return to action when they visit Western New England next Saturday. Curry will visit Plymouth State next Saturday. (Game recap courtesy of UMass Dartmouth Sports Information)
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