Worcester, MA - Worcester State Football continued the Worcester trend of Westfield matches, hosting the Owls for their final home contest of the 2022 season. The Lancers began the game by honoring their 12 graduating seniors who have each had an incredible impact on the program. Westfield came into the game looking for their first win of the season, while the Lancers were looking to grab their second win of the season.

FINAL SCORE: 18 Worcester, 28 Westfield 

2022 Football Seniors:

#3 Mason Broyles (Millbury, MA)

#19 Kevin Byrnes (Ashland, MA)

#23 Matt Colella (Uxbridge, MA)

#7 Sam Duah Jr. (Worcester, MA)

#50 Ryan Justin (Fitchburg, MA)

#69 Mike Mahoney (Worcester, MA)

#4 Amir Mells (Boston, MA)

#14 Noah Peterson (Millbury, MA)

#11 Logan Sylvester (Swansea, MA)

#57 Kyle Wall (Sterling, MA)

#17 Chris West (Worcester, MA)

#8 Aaron-Moses Williams (Springfield, MA)

The first quarter saw action for both teams with a quarter that wrapped up in just 18 minutes from kickoff. The Owls were the first to score in their opening possession at 7:54 minutes left in the first with a four yard rushing touchdown from Jordan Smith to put Westfield up early 7-0 after a successful extra point attempt by Evan Milstead. The Lancers managed to get their own points on a successful field goal kick by Sophomore Santiago Rodriguez-D'Atri (Leominster, MA), after a drive that Worcester had converted a fourth down on by an 11yd rush from Kyle Wall, who nabbed a low bobbled snap to capitalize on the first down opportunity. . 

The Lancers got on the board just seconds into the third quarter with a 67 yard completed pass from Williams to sophomore wide receiver Brodie Jaques (Rehoboth, MA) for the first Worcester State touchdown of the day. Williams then rushed it in for a 2-point conversion to bring the score to 21-11 to close it to within 10.That would be the last time either team would get in the endzone until late in the fourth quarter when a Westfield offensive drive that started with a pass by Williams was intercepted by Westfield's Cameron Danahy. The Owls would then rush it down the field, resulting in a 2 yard touchdown from Blake Simpson, with the extra point attempt bringing the score to 28-11. 

The Lancers answered with a 20 yard touchdown pass of their own, thrown by Williams to sophomore wide receiver Dylan Hall (Plainville, CT),  to bring the Lancers back within 10 after D'Atri's successful extra point attempt with just over a minute remaining in the game. 

The Blue & Gold then attempted an onside kick, in an effort to comeback from their deficit, which was recovered by Westfield on the Worcester 45 yard line.

A series of rushing attempts along with Worcester calling their final timeouts, Westfield  was forced to punt the ball allowing Worcester's offense another look at the field and attempt to win the day, which included a completed pass from Williams to Hall. As the clock wound down to zero, Williams finished his final home game of his career going 19 of 28 attempts for two touchdowns and one interception. Kyle Wall capped off his senior game with 92 kickoff yards, 46 punting yards as well as 11 rushing yards on one attempt.

Sophomore running back Nico Holmes (Mansfield, MA) led the team in rushing with 60 yards on 14 attempts, while Westfield's Smith rushed for 130 on 25 carries. On the receiving end, Brodie Jacques led the Lancers with 132 yards on five attempts, including a touchdown, while Smith recorded 29 receiving yards on five attempts for the Owls, along with his single touchdown pass in the game.

Jayden DaCruz led the team with eight solo tackles and five assists for 13 tackles. Duah had the lone sack for the Lancers resulting in a nine yard loss for Westfield. West, Peterson, sophomores Dominic Annese (Peabody, MA), Conor McTigue (Shrewsbury, MA) and Matt O'Connor (Selkirk, NY) were major contributors on defense with multiple tackles to their credit. Broyles ended the day with two solo tackles. Westfield Cullen MacNeil and Tyler Cooley were dominant presence on defense with 12 and 13 tackles in the game. 

The Lancers drop to 1-8 (1-6, MASCAC) on the season, while Westfield improves to 1-8 (1-6, MASCAC). 

The Blue & Gold travel to Framingham next weekend for their final showdown of the 2022 regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for 12pm. 

#BeTheHammer #WeareWorcester