Dave Geringer                                                                                      Athletic Department                                                            (508) 990-9651

Sports Information Director                                                               Tripp Athletic Center sportsinfo@umassd.edu

 

CORSAIR FOOTBALL TEAM FALLS AT PLYMOUTH STATE

 

PLYMOUTH, NH-The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football team packed all of their scoring into the final four minutes of the game when they visited Plymouth State Saturday afternoon.

 

Freshman quarterback Kraig Mello (Dartmouth, MA/Dartmouth HS) came off the bench to rally the Corsairs, but they fell short, and dropped a 14-7 non-league decision to the Panthers at Currier Memorial Field.

 

UMass Dartmouth trailed, 14-0, when Mello entered the game with 4:24 remaining in the fourth quarter and the ball at the PSU 44 yard line. His first two passes fell incomplete, but he connected with three consecutive passes to freshman wide receiver Mike Crusco (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield HS), whose 10-yard punt return had set up the drive. He hit Crusco for 11, nine and 24 yards, with the last pass resulting in the Corsairs’ first touchdown of the season, cutting Plymouth State’s advantage to 14-7.

 

UMass Dartmouth had the ball two more times. After a Panther punt, Mello hit freshman wide receiver Alex Garro (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester HS) with one pass, but Dan Fallon picked off his next pass at the PSU 35.

 

After calling their final time out while on defense, the Corsairs held and got the ball back when a punt by PSU’s Brad Largy sailed out of bounds at the UMD 44. Mello hit Garro at midfield, but the ball came loose and the Panthers recovered and ran out the clock.

MORE

 

 

UMASS DARTMOUTH FOOTBALL PAGE 2-2-2-2-2

 

Plymouth State took the lead on their second drive of the game. Tye Seastedt hit John DeMarco for 41 yards to the Corsair 32. After Kyle Clark was stopped for no gain, Seastedt hit Largy for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 7-0, PSU, midway through the first quarter after Chris Smith’s extra point.

 

The Panthers doubled their lead in the fourth quarter. Taking over at their own 33-yard line with 11:57 remaining, they got two quick first downs when Seastedt hit DeMarco and Drew Richardson for 12 yards each. After a pair of rushes by Brent Gallant and a penalty against UMD, Seastedt scrambled for 14 yards and a score with 9:31 remaining.

 

The Corsairs were out gained by PSU, 294 yards to 277, with 169 of their yards coming through the air. Junior Jameson Humphries (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow HS) led UMD with 69 yards rushing on 22 carries. Crusco caught five passes for 56 yards, and junior Sean Sullivan (Waltham, MA/Waltham HS) completed nine of 30 passes for 80 yards, while Mello was five of 11 for 40.                                                                           

 

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 0-2 with the defeat, while Plymouth State improved to 1-1. The Corsairs will return to action when they host Bridgewater State in their New England Football Conference opener next Saturday afternoon.

 

PLYMOUTH STATE 14, UMASS DARTMOUTH 7

 

UMASS DARTMOUTH        0          0          0          0          -             7

PLYMOUTH STATE            7          0          0          7          -           14

 

PSU-Brady Largy, 32 pass from Tye Seastedt (Chris Smith kick)

PSU-Seastedt 14 run (Smith kick)

UMD-Mike Crusco, 24, pass from Kraig Mello (Derek Bealby kick)

 

 

                                

 

	UMass Dartmouth	Plymouth State University
First Downs	14	12
Rushing	36 - 108	44 - 147
Passing	169	147
Passes A - C - I	46 - 16 - 4	23 - 10 - 1
Total Offense	82 - 277	67 - 294
Punts	7 - 31.9	9 - 35.7
Fumbles - Lost	4 - 3	2 - 2
Penalties - Yards	7 - 77	7- 52
Possession	28:21	31:26
Third Downs	7 - 20	3 - 16
Fourth Downs	0 - 4	0 - 2

 

 

 

UMASS DARTMOUTH FOOTBALL