Abbi Bamgbose caught a 23 yard touchdown on the second play during the first possession of overtime Saturday afternoon from quarterback Stephen Gacioch, to lead the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs to a 48-41 football win over the Husson University Eagles in a non-conference game at Cressy Field in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
UMass-Dartmouth (1-0) had 512 passing yards and 580 total to open up with a win in the two teams mutual season opener. Despite the Eagles having almost 200 yards less than the Corsairs in total yards for the game, Husson led the entire first half and had a halftime lead. UM-D had tied it for the third time in the first half at 20-20 with 4:02 left in the second quarter on a DJ Machado 48 yard TD reception. Shawn Noel Jr. had a two yard rushing touchdown, and Aidan Hogan caught touchdown passes of 54, 22, and the last one for 7 yards with 33 seconds left in the second from quarterback David Morrison as the visitors took the seven point lead to the break.
Tyler Halls put Husson (0-1) ahead again in the third quarter after Machado had tied it for UM-D with a 66 yard reception, by catching one for 36 yards from Morrison. But the hosts kept responding as Pedro DelToro caught one for 59 yards to tie it just 1:36 after the Halls score. The Corsairs took their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter with 3:38 remaining when Olawale Junaid ran one in for nine yards. The Eagles though sent the game to overtime when Hogan caught his fourth touchdown of the day from Morrison from seven yards out with just 39 seconds left. Bamgbose would catch the game winner on the UMass-Dartmouth first possession of overtime, and Husson would come up short on the other end in their chance to send the game to a second overtime.
Morrison went 22-40 passing, 339 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions in the loss for the Eagles. Halls had 13 receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown, while Hogan caught six passes for 105 yards and four touchdowns. Noel Jr. rushed 38 times for 99 yards and a score. Nick Alvarez had eight tackles and Matthew Monford had six to lead the defense, while both Darterius Hall and Sterling McDowell-Hagan had an interception. Gacioch was 26-42 passing, 512 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions in the UM-D win. Machado had six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns. Leroy Brown caught eight passes for 121 yards and a score, while Bamgbose had four receptions for 114 yards and the game winning score. Husson held UMass-Dartmouth to 68 yards rushing. Javien Delgado had 14 tackles, while Jacob Burkhead had 10 tackles to lead the Corsairs defense.
Husson returns home for their home opener next Saturday at 1 p.m. when they welcome in WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) to Winkin Complex for a non-conference tilt.
