Both Kyle McKinnon (New London, CT) and Khalil Patterson (Hartford, CT) rushed for over 100 yards as the Western Connecticut State University football team rolled to a 40-13 victory over Worcester State University at The Westside Athletic Complex on Homecoming night on Saturday.
McKinnon led all rushers with 142 yards on 33 carries and a three-yard touchdown run while Patterson added 107 yards on 20 carries for the Colonials.
Western Connecticut is now 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC).The Lancers fall to 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Western got on the scoreboard at the 8:00 mark of the first quarter when Kevin Maxen (Southbury, Conn.) intercepted a Mike Kadlick (Dedham, Mass.) pass and returned it 33 yards to pay dirt. Freshman Jordan D'Onofrio (Orange, Conn.) tacked on the extra point to put the Colonials up, 7-0.
Matt Lezama (Milton, Mass.) caught a short pass from Kadlick and raced down the right sideline for a 58-yard touchdown. Noah Hwang (Brooklyn, NY) added the point after to knot the score at 7-7 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter.
Lezama led the Lancers' ground attack with eight carries for 32 yards.
With 1:05 elapsed in the second quarter, McKinnon bulled in from three yards and D'Onofrio's try put Western up, 14-7 and proved to be all in needed.
Worcester State drew within a point, 14-13 when Kadlick found Derek Moore (Mendon, Mass.) from 13 yards out. Hwang's point-after attempt sailed wide with 12:11 remaining before intermission.
Kadlick, who came on early after starting quarterback, Ismael Jenkins (Lawrence, Mass.) took a hard hit, completed 13 of 28 passes for 164 yards and two scores. He was hurried all night and threw three interceptions.
Quinn Fleeting (Windsor, Conn.) accounted for the Colonials' next three scores. He hooked up with Lucas DeSouza (Bridgeport, Conn.) for back-to-back touchdowns in the final 44 seconds of the first half. Fleeting's TD tosses were from eight and 25 yards, respectively and put Western ups, 28-13 at the break.
Fleeting completed 14 of 23 passes for 134 yards and the two touchdowns.
The junior signal caller added a one-yard end-around score with 11:46 left in the third quarter to cap off a four-pay, 42-yard drive early in the third stanza.
D'Onofrio booted a 25-yard field goal with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter and Western's lead grew to 38-13.
An intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone, on third-string quarterback Cameron Charette (Fairhaven, Mass.) resulted in a safety and closed out the night's scoring.
Jawad Chisholm (Bridgeport, Conn.) caught a game-high seven passes for 80 yards for the Colonials while Tyler Barrie (Oxford, Mass.) hauled in five passes for a team-high 54 yards for Worcester State.
Defensively, Theo Bryant (Lowell, Mass.) collected a game-high 13 tackles and Bemnet Morgan (Springfield, Mass.) added 10 take downs in the loss.
Dennis Flanagan (Orange, Conn.) led the Colonials with only four tackles as they held the Lancers to minus 29 yards rushing and a total just 55 plays on the night.
Western held a commanding 44:09 to 15:51 advantage on time of possession on Saturday.
The Colonials will host UMass Dartmouth next Saturday, October 29. The Lancers host Plymouth State University on their Senior Day next Saturday at 1 pm.
Release Courtesy of Western Connecticut Sports Information