Box Score WESTFIELD, Mass. – Junior captain
Quillian Respass (Huntington, N.Y.) scored a pair of touchdowns (one rush, one pass) in Nichols College's 30-22 loss at Westfield State in non-conference football action Friday night at Alumni Field.
Respass rushed for 114 yards and threw for 104 while sophomore
Grant Klimek (Toms River, N.J.) took a kickoff back 96 yards for a score in the opening quarter and finished the evening with 49 yards on the ground; the kick return tied the longest in program history. Junior
Tyrell Todd (Central Islip, N.Y.) hauled in his first collegiate touchdown reception – a 22-yard scoring strike from Respass in the third quarter. Freshman
Jared Thorbourne (Huntington, N.Y.) led Nichols with two receptions (38 yards).
Defensively, junior captain
Connor Richard (Londonderry, N.H.) led all student-athletes with 12 tackles and sophomore
Tyler Barnes (Charlton, Mass.) notched 10. After the Owls scored touchdowns on their first two possessions, the Bison defense forced punts on seven of the final eight Westfield State possessions.
Senior tailback Michael Mercadante ran for 196 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Owls.
Westfield opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal from Michael Orellana. Nichols immediately answered with a nine-play, 65-yard drive of its own, capped by a six-yard scoring run from Respass.
Westfield countered late in the first quarter with a surprise 17-yard scoring run from sophomore running back Ryan Wilder, who swept left then exploded up the sideline for his first collegiate score.
That lead was short-lived, however, as Klimek took the ensuing kickoff at the four yard-line, weaved through tacklers to near midfield on the right side, then cut back to the middle with a burst of speed to score on a 96-yeard kick return and give the Bison a 14-10 lead.
Westfield got the lead back, 17-14, on a 10-yard run from Mercadante midway through the second quarter, and the score remained that way into the break. In the third, Nichols retook the lead when Respass scrambled to his left to get out of trouble, then launched a 22-yard pass to the back right corner of the end zone, where it found Todd for a leaping touchdown catch. The Bison extended their lead to 22-17 when freshman
Dean Beebe (East Lyme, Conn.) scooped up a poor snap on Nichols PAT attempt and scampered in for a two-point conversion.
Mercadante and the Owls veteran offensive line then went to work, with Mercadante breaking free for a 50-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds left in the third quarter. The Owls went for two, but the try failed and left Westfield with a 23-22 lead. Westfield finally earned itself some breathing room early in the fourth quarter when Erik Washburn tossed an eight-yard fade to Colin Smith in the left corner of the end zone to give the home team an eight-point lead at 30-22.
Nichols had three drives that could have tied the game, but the Owls defense held tough, not allowing the Bison to cross on midfield on any of them. Senior linebacker Troy Cutter led the owls with 10 tackles. Defensive lineman Marcus Pettigrew added eight tackles and a sack, and Jonathan Lytle and Mike Mizzoni each had sacks as well.
The Owls split time between two senior quarterbacks, in Washburn and Steve Guercio. Washburn finished 6-of-7 passing for 80 yards and score. Guercio completed 6-of-11 passes for 78 yards and also ran for 32 yards. Bobby Boire had a solid receiving day for the Owls with five catches for 100 yards.
The Bison travel to Western Connecticut State Saturday, September 13 at noon. Westfield State played at Western New England next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Contributions from Westfield Sports Information
