WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State football fell to the 14th ranked Union College Dutchmen Saturday afternoon, 62-13, at Coughlin Field in the first ever meeting between the two teams. The win improves Union to 2-0 on the young season while the Lancers fall to 0-2.
The Dutchmen raced out to a, 34-6, halftime lead and never looked back. Union opened the scoring to take an early, 7-0, lead after Ike Irabor (Braintree, Mass./Xaverian) scored on a 12-yard run around the left edge.
Worcester State narrowed the gap to, 7-3, after capitalizing on a Union muffed punt that resulted in a 34-yard field goal by Kyle Wall (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett).
Union responded immediately after a 57-yard kickoff return by Kevin Rabacs (Westport, Conn./Staples); quarterback William Bellamy (Lafayette, La./Loomis Chaffee School) hit Andre Ross (Washington, D.C./National Collegiate Prep) for a 28-yard scoring strike giving Union a, 13-3, advantage.
The Lancers narrowed the gap to, 13-6, on Wall's second field goal (30 yards) at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.
The Dutchmen responded capping the drive with a 13-yard toss from Bellamy to first year Robbie Tolbert (Laurel, Md./Glenelg)
Union extended the lead to, 27-6, when Irabor raced 49 yards untouched for a score following an interception by safety Austin St. Pierre (Westfield, Mass./Loomis Chaffee).
Union got to their halftime margin on another Bellamy touchdown toss to Tolbert.
It was much of the same for Union to open the second half as the Bellamy to Tolbert connected for the third time in the game; this time for a 19-yard scoring strike. The Union defense got into the action as junior Christian Maiz (Westwood, N.J./Westwood Regional) returned an interception 37 yards for a score. Sophomore Michael Fiore (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville) taking the finishing off a workmanlike drive with a 4-yard plunge to give Union a 55-6 lead going into the final quarter. Union rounded out the scoring on the afternoon with a 3-yard run by first year Jonathan Anderson (Hamden, Conn./St. Thomas More).
Worcester State added a late game tally on 5-yard pass from Mike Loveless (Nashua, N.H./Nashua) to sophomore Christian Hines (Worcester, Mass. /North).
Union churned out 514 total yards of offense on the afternoon. Bellamy finished the game 11 for 17 for 197 yards and 4 touchdowns after being relieved early in the 3rd quarter. Fiore and Irabor led the way on the ground with 107 and 84 yards respectively.
Lancer quarterback Aaron-Moses Williams (Springfield, Mass./Central)
The Lancers will return to action next Saturday when Worcester State celebrates 2021 Homecoming with a 2:30 pm game against Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Fitchburg State.
Union will play host to Springfield College next Saturday with a 4:30 kickoff.