Football to Host Mass Maritime For Family and Champions Weekend

Westfield State University football will host Mass Maritime Academy on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:00 p.m. as part of Family and Champions Weekend.

The Owls (0-4, 0-2) take the field looking for the first win of the 2021 campaign, while the Buccaneers come in with a 2-1 record and a 1-0 mark in the MASCAC.

LAST WEEK:  Westfield State fell to league-leading Framingham 41-6. Westfield's lone TD of the day was set up by Lee Colon's halfback option pass to Owen Thompson, which was named the league's "Fan Play of the Week."  Senior quarterback Peyton Capizzi plunged in from a yard out for the score.  Senior DT Peter Spinale was named the the league's weekly honor roll after a pair of sacks, and Christian Julian was on the special teams honor roll after recovering a fumble in punt coverage.

Mass Maritime posted a 28-0 win over Fitchburg State behind a defensive effort that recovered six fumbles and a pick-six interception return. Jonah Mitchell rushed for 59 yards and a touchdown.

OWLS ON OFFENSE:  Capizzi will lead the Owls offense, having started the last two games after Miles Foerster was lost to an injury.  Capizzi is 23-58 passing on the season for 203 yards.  OT Thomas leads the Owls in rushing with 157 yards, and has also been a receiving threat with four catches for 57 yards.  Sophomore Danny Farrell has seven catches for 71 yards.  Tod Holloway Jr. leads Owls receivers with 13 catches for 78 yards and a TD, but has missed the last two games.

OWLS ON DEFENSE: Junior linebacker Cameron Danahy leads Westfield's tacklers with 36 stops through four games, with Cullen MacNeill is next with 24 and three tackles for losses.  Spinale leads the club with 2.5 sacks on the season.  Sophomore CB Travis Dozier Jr. leads the Owls secondary with three interceptions, while Marlek Connor Jr. has broken up eight passes and has one interception.

OWL SPECIAL TEAMS: Dakotah Moynihan (19.8) and Justin-Jean Charles (21.8) have handled the majority of kick returns for the Owls.   Shane Clark averages 32.8 yards punting, while the Owls are still searching for answers in the kicking game.

BUCCANEERS ON OFFENSE:  Senior QB Curtis McCann has been an efficient 41 of 71 passing, for 522 yards and a TD through three games.  Mitchell leads MMA rushers with 22 carries for 104 yards, but Kobe Copeland, Conner Reynolds, and the quarterbacks are all threats to carry the ball.  Sophomore wideout Andrew Brightman leads the receiving corps with 21 catches for 293 and a TD.

BUCCANEERS ON DEFENSE: Junior defensive back Andrew Longwater is the top tackler on the Bucs with 19 stops.   Junior Mack Brown leads the defensive line with two sacks and three stops behind the line.  The Bucs have forced five fumbles.   Defensive back Cobey Williamson has two interceptions, and returned one for a TD last week.

BUCCANEERS ON SPECIAL TEAMS:   MMA has one of the most reliable kicking games in the league with graduate student George Lampros back in the fold.  Lampros is 7-7 on extra points, and 2-2 on field goal tries. He's averaging 36.5 yards per punt as well.

LOOKING AHEAD:   Westfield has its bye week on Oct. 9, returning to play Saturday, October 16 against UMass-Dartmouth as part of Westfield State's homecoming weekend.    MMA will travel to UMass-Dartmouth on October 9.

LIVE COVERAGE:  Webstream video is available at WestfieldStateOwls.com and on the MASCAC.tv app.  Westfield State students Matt Motyka '22 and Dan Mastromatteo '22 have the call of the game.