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Paxton, MA --- Worcester State University used an efficient first-half aerial attack combined with a strong ground effort from senior Marcus Price (Worcester, MA/Doherty) to defeat Anna Maria College, 55-30, during the AMCATS' home opener at AMCAT field this evening in the season opener for both teams.
The visitors were led by fourth-year Tony Tokarz (Holden, MA), who paced the Lancer offense with 158 yards in the air and five touchdowns to tie the school's record. Price plowed through the AMCAT defense to the tune of 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns. His 173 yard effort moves him into sole possession of 4th place on the all-time Lancer rushing list with 1,871 rushing yards in his career.
Senior Kenny Russell (Bedford, MA) and sophomore AJ Scerra (Marlboro, MA) also contributed with two receiving touchdowns apiece in the victory.
Defensively the Lancers were paced by senior Cameron Jones (Stow, MA) who notched five tackles, 1.5 for a loss with a pair of pass breakups.
For Anna Maria sophomore Mike Joseph (Marlboro, MA) had a game-best 12 solo tackles, two for a loss in addition to one sack as senior Rich Brandt (Natick, MA) recorded six stops (five solo) and 2.5 TFL.
The AMCATS were led by junior Santino Simone (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) and classmate Dom Concepcion (Middlebury, CT). Simone accounted for four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing), including 243-yards passing and 35-yards on the ground. Concepcion contributed with 135-yards receiving and two touchdowns.
Things started off promising for the AMCATS, who forced a three-and-out on the Lancer's first drive of the contest. On the ensuing Anna Maria drive, junior Graham Asum (Marlboro, MA) forced a fumble that was recovered by third-year teammate PJ Robinson (Winthrop, MA) that put Worcester State on the AMC 14-yard line. Tokarz threw the first of his four touchdown passes of the half, connecting with Scerra for an 11-yard strike. The visitors capitalized on a botched snap and converted the two-point attempt, giving Worcester State an 8-0 advantage.
The ensuing kickoff to the AMCATS' sailed out of bounds, giving Anna Maria field possession on their own 40-yard line. They capitalized on the field position, using a gritty 15-play drive that set-up a junior Jamaal Mitchell (Shelton, CT) 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 8-3.
Defense proved to be lackluster the next two possessions with both teams trading punches, as the Lancers increased their lead to 15-10. Worcester State struck first with a 64-yard touchdown run by Price before Anna Maria countered with a six-yard touchdown pass from Simone to Concepcion.
After the Concepcion score, the Lancers' were in complete control of the game, scoring 26 unanswered points en route to a 41-10 lead heading into intermission. During the run, Russell and Scerra combined for three receiving touchdowns while Price added a five-yard rushing scamper into the end zone.
Despite the deficit, the AMCATS refused to go quietly, as they outscored the Lancers' 20-14 in the second-half. Simone and Concepcion hooked up for a 16-yard touchdown while Simone also added a pair of touchdown runs late in the fourth quarter.
The glaring difference between the teams was the yards accumulated in the ground game. The Lancers held a staggering 336-113 advantage over the AMCATS in rushing yards for the contest.
The two squads also combined for an eye-popping 876 yards of total offense and were nearly even in passing yards with the hosts holding the slight advantage (243-204).
Worcester State returns to action Friday at home against WPI at 7:00 PM while Anna Maria travels to Maine Maritime at 12:00 PM.
Portions of Release Courtesy of Anna Maria Sports Information