Sports

Football Suffers Crushing 49-14 Home Loss to UMass-Dartmouth

UMass-Dartmouth pounded out 372 yards on the ground and added six rushing touchdowns en route to a 49-14 victory over MIT on Saturday at Steinbrenner Stadium. J.T. Harold led the offensive assault with 137 yards and two scores on 16 carries.

The Corsairs (2-3, 1-1) boasted four different rushers who found the end zone on carries covering at least 28 yards. Harold secured the first score of the afternoon on one of those long runs, scampering for a touchdown from 30 yards out on the first possession of the game. The opening score capped a seven-play drive that lasted just over two minutes.

MIT (0-4, 0-2) quickly bounced back with an 11-play, 52-yard drive that ended with Benjamin L. Grannan ’09 diving across the goal line from one yard out and 6:42 showing on the clock. The drive featured first-down runs by three different backs, while DeRon M. Brown ’10 keyed a new set of downs with a seven-yard run on a fourth-and-two play from the Corsairs’ 44.

UMass-Dartmouth answered with another score of its own that once again took less than three minutes to complete. Harold rushed for 22 yards on three carries during the drive, including a seven-yard run that put six points on the board, but the drive was highlighted by a 24-yard reception by John Henry from Alex Garro.

The teams appeared to be trading blows, mostly behind power running attacks, until a critical goal-line interception on MIT’s next possession gave the Corsairs the momentum for the rest of the game. After marching down to the UMass-Dartmouth eight-yard line, Chris Ciesluk stopped Tech’s scoring opportunity with an interception at the MIT one. Ciesluk returned the pick 44 yards. Less than two minutes later, Bob Sullivan plowed two yards into the end zone to cap another impressive drive.

MIT fumbled on its next drive, and once again UMass-Dartmouth capitalized. After collecting 47 yards on six carries, the Corsairs moved in front, 28-7, when Aaron Russo hauled in a three-yard pass from Garro with 5:22 left in the quarter.

The Engineers finally sliced into the lead on the last drive of the quarter. MIT advanced 61 yards on 10 plays, with Brown finishing the drive on the ground from five yards out that left UMass-Dartmouth ahead at the break, 28-14.

Garro opened the second half with a 53-yard touchdown run, effectively squashing any hope for an MIT comeback. Aaron Russo added a 29-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter, while Alex Amaral closed out the scoring with a 28-yard touchdown score on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Harold supplied most of the power for UMass-Dartmouth’s rushing attack, although Bob Sullivan added 66 yards and a score on 14 attempts. Henry hauled in three receptions for 30 yards to pace the Corsairs’ receiving unit, while Garro finished 7-of-14 for 68 yards. MIT got a solid effort from Grannan, who closed with 85 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

Rich Braley paced the UMD defense with 13 total tackles, although Dave Bombardier posted two sacks that set MIT back 14 yards. David D. Nackoul ’09 secured eight tackles to lead the Engineers.