Box Score DUDLEY, Mass. (Sept. 4) – Westfield State sophomore Kyle Anderson was stellar in his collegiate debut at quarterback, throwing four touchdowns as the Owls defeated Nichols College, 33-13, on the Bison's home turf of Vendetti Field Friday evening in the season opener for both teams. Anderson, who was Westfield State's second-leading tackler at strong safety last season, completed 12 of 25 passes for 190 yards without an interception.
Anderson had the benefit of All-East receiver David Benoit on the other end of his passes, as the senior made seven receptions for a game-high 148 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Nichols opened the scoring late in the first quarter when senior Brian Dean (Seymour, Conn.) finished off a 56-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Sean Smith-Vaughn (Cumberland, Maine) by hurdling past a pair of defenders and into the endzone. A fumbled PAT-turned two-point attempt left the Bison up, 6-0, with 3:30 on the clock. Dean finished with 82 yards on the night.
Kevin Parnell returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Owls' 39, setting up the first TD pass between Anderson and Benoit of the night, a 60-yarder. Chris Stengel's kick was good, and the Owls took a 7-6 lead into the end of the first quarter.
A series of pass plays put the Bison on the Owls' 33, and Smith-Vaughn connected with senior Mike Seiger (Pittsfield, Mass.) as he dove into the endzone to retake the lead. Dave Wyrick (Avon, Conn.) nailed the kick and Nichols was up, 13-7, just 3:41 into the second quarter. Smith-Vaughn completed 13 of 33 passes for 203 yards and was picked off four times in his debut with the Bison.
The Bison held the Owls at their own 34, forcing them to punt on fourth and five, but Westfield's Jon Palmer recovered a fumble to set up the Owls' five-play, 35-yard scoring drive that knotted the game, 13-13, with 6:48 left in the half.
Westfield took a 20-13 lead into halftime after a nine-play, 43-yard drive that saw Anderson rush for 11 yards before Benoit made a leaping catch just inside the sideline for a 6-yard TD reception (Stengel kick good).
Anderson threw a 26-yard scoring pass to Andrew Hernandez to close out the third quarter, and then after forcing Nichols to punt on their first drive of the fourth quarter, capped a three-play, 17-yard drive by carrying in the ball himself for the Owls' final touchdown.
Westfield's Luke Johnson led all rushers with 127 yards on 23 carries. Robert Morris (Melbourne, Fla.) paced the Bison with 102 yards rushing on 19 carries.
Seniors Lawrence Scott (Oxford, Mass.) and Bill Hassett (Oxford, Mass.) led the Nichols defense with 11 tackles each; Scott posted four solo stops and Hassett made 1.5 tackles for a loss of three yards and an assisted sack.
Mike Jolicoeur paced Westfield with seven tackles (two solo). Adrian Lafayette and Chris Walker each had a sack for a loss of nine yards, a tackle for a loss of nine, and a forced fumble. Josh Mathieu posted a pair of interceptions.
Westfield racked up 406 yards of total offense to the Bison's 266, but the Owls held a 17-16 advantage in first downs.
Nichols returns to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, September 12th in an NEFC cross-divisional matchup at Framingham State. Westfield State plays its home opener on Friday, September 11th when the Owls host Western New England College in a 7 p.m. game.
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