Owls Football Falls at Bridgewater, 29-16

WESTFIELD, Mass. Eric Lovell's 80-yard interception return for a touchdown highlighted Westfield State's efforts as the Owls dropped a hard-fought 29-16 decision to Bridgewater State University in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference football opener for both teams.

Westfield is now 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the MASCAC, while Bridgewater is 1-1 and 1-0 in the league.

The Owls fell behind 9-0 at the half.

Lovell picked off a pass on the right side of the field and outsprinted everyone to the endzone midway through the third quarter, and Dino Stellato converted the extra point for the Owls to trim the Bears' lead to 9-7.

Bridgewater answered with a 29-yard field goal from Joey Naso, and then capitalized on an Owls turnover, as Lucas Lambert returned an interception 23 yards to the Owls 21, and a penalty on the tackle set the Bears up 1^st and 10 at the Westfield 11.   Bridgewater QB Shamus Whiting found Jack McCarthy for an 11-yard TD pass on the next play to extend the lead to 19-7.

Westfield got two points back on a safety, after a 52-yard Brian Carlin punt pinned the Bears back on their own one-yard line, and Justyn Gardener sacked Whiting in the end zone to cut the lead to 19-9 with 1:26 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Westfield marched 75 yards on eight plays, capped by an 18-yard scoring strike from Westfield QB Miles Foerster to Will Brewster that trimmed the lead to 19-16 after the extra point with 12:57 left in the game.

Bridgewater responded with a sharp 6-play, 60-yard drive of their own, with Whiting connecting with Josh Registre for 34-yard TD to boost the lead to 26-16.  The Owls answered by driving the ball to the Bears 7-yard line, but a bad snap and hold foiled a field goal attempt.

A late 42-yard field goal from Naso late in the fourth quarter capped the scoring and effectively ended the Owls comeback chances.

Foerster finished 10-26 passing for 94 yards, a TD and an interception, and ran for 57 more yards.   Manny Mengata led the Owls with 63 yards on 22 carries.  Brewster caught five passes for 56 yards.

For Bridgewater, Whiting finished 8-19 for 158 yards with two 2tds and 2 int's, and Joseph-Dube Garrett threw a TD pass as well.  Isaiah Wright carred 20 times for 74 yards, and Registre caught three balls for 75 yards and a TD.   Bridgewater held a 327-263 margin in total offense, and led 19-18 in first downs.  Westfield held a slight 30:58 to 29:02 edge in time of possession.

Budder Ferreira led westfield with eight tackles, Lovell added seven.

Westfield will be back in action next Saturday with a 12 noon kickoff at Dean College.