Owls Fall To Anna Maria, 51-27 in Shootoout

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Jordan Smith (Coventry, Conn.) ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and Corey Jackson Jr. (West Hartford, Conn./Farmington HS) caught a pair of TD passes, but a slow start doomed the Owls as Westfield State fell to Anna Maria College, 51-26 in the season-opening, non-conference football game for both schools on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield fell behind 17-0 as the Amcats' Eric Pino ran the season-opening kickoff back 77 yards for a touchdown.  The Cats moved the ball smartly on their early drives and tacked on a 24-yard field goal from Ryan Kent and then an 11-yard TD toss from Ryan Russell to DeAndre Wallace to grab the 17-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.

Westfield got on the board with the first of Jackson's two TD's, on a 24-yard strike from QB Colby Pires (Milford, Mass.) with 5:17 left in the second quarter to trim the lead to 17-7. 

The Amcats answered with a 7-play, 77 yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard Russell plunge for a TD, but Westfield responded with a big play of their own, as Smith scampered 89-yards down the left sideline for a touchdown that cut the Anna Maria lead to 24-14.  The 89-yard TD run sets a school record for longest TD run, originally set by Joe Champigny in 1985 and tied by Tim Lightfoot a decade later.

The Amcats struck once more before the half, aided by a pair of Owls penalties, set up 1^st and 10 at the Westfield 30 after the kick return, and Russell found Wallace for a 30 yard TD to give Anna Maria a 31-14 lead at the half.

The lead burgeoned to 45-14 early in the third quarter, but Westfield State put together a 9-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by a 10-yard scoring pass from Pires to Jackson with 34 seconds left in the third.

The Owls got the ball right back after forcing a fumble on the ensuing kick return, and Pires cashed in with a 17-yard scoring strike to Will Brewster (Westfield, Mass.), which cut the lead back to 45-26 with 12:46 left in the fourth quarter.

From there, a pair of turnovers by the Owls eliminated any hopes at a further comeback.  Russell finished the day 27-44 passing for 389 yards and five TD's to lead the AmCats.  Mark Johnson-Morgan caught eight passes for 137 yards and one TD, and Justin Brown rushed for 90 yards on 16 carries. 

For Westfield, Smith finished with 122 yards on 23 carries.  Brewster caught a pair of passes for 52 yards, and Piers finished 10-31 passing for 122 yards with three TD's and two interceptions.

The Owls defense was led by 11 tackles and a sack from Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake), with Marckus Allen-Nesmith (Glassboro, N.J.) adding 10 stops and an interception.

The Owls will host their home opener on Friday, September 8, facing local rival Western New England in a 7 p.m. kickoff in the annual 'Presidents' Cup' game at Alumni Field.