Falcons Soar Past Bulldogs
Fitchburg, Mass. – Freshman Jan
Valls (Worcester, Mass.) recovered a muffed punt
in the endzone to propel the Fitchburg State Falcons football
team to a 33-28 upset win over the Bulldogs of Dean College in
non-conference action this evening at Elliot Field.
The Basics
Score: Fitchburg State 33, Dean 28
Records: Fitchburg State (1-0) | Dean (0-1)
How It Happened
The Falcons opened the scoring as time expired in the first quarter and capped an 11-play drive with a touchdown from Elijah McKnight (Woburn, Mass.). The junior scampered 16 yards on a 3rd down play to forge the Falcons to a 6-0 lead. With the extra point, senior Linnea D'Acchille (Valley Falls, NY) pushed the score to 7-0.
The Bulldogs answered in the second quarter. With 4:55 to play in the frame, freshman Will Stafford (Whitman, Mass.) rushed for a 4-yard touchdown. Freshman kicker Nikolai Luksch (Middlebury, Vt.) had the extra point to knot the score at 7-7. However, the Falcons answered on the next possession when quarterback Logan Wilson (Woburn, Mass.) connected with McKnight down the right sideline for a 73-yard touchdown. A second extra point of the night from D'Acchille extended the lead to 14-7
Dean evened the score, 14-14 on the first possession of the second half. Stafford rushed for his second touchdown of the night with a 3-yard run. Luksch extra point was good. Dean's scoring drive was 8 plays for 45 yards covering almost 4 minutes.
The teams traded scores to end the third quarter. Senior Frank Simms IV (Revere, Mass.) gave the Falcons a 21-14 lead with 2:41 remaining with a one-yard rush. The visitors quickly answered as quarterback Nathan Cisco (Franklin, Tenn.) found wide receiver Quintus Reid (New Haven, Conn.) for a 23-yard touchdown.
Simms notched his second score of the game with a 3-yard rush up the middle to give the Green and Gold a 27-21 lead in the fourth quarter. Dean again countered with a 16 – yard touchdown pass from Cisco to Mozes Mooney (San Diego, Calif). The extra point from Luksch gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the game (28-27).
On 4th and three and the Bulldog set to punt, the Falcons defense forced the miscue in the endzone setting up Valls touchdown.
With 28 ticks on the clock and the Bulldogs on the Falcons' two-yard line, freshman Nicholas Polanco (Miami, Fla.) sealed the victory for the Falcons with a fumble recovery off a Bulldogs double-reverse scheme.
Inside the Numbers
- Logan Wilson completed 14-of-19 for 155 yards and a touchdown, his counterpart Nathan Cisco was 12-for-14 for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns.
- McKnight finished with 97 yards receiving, 25 yards rushing and 24 passing yards, and two touchdowns.
- D'Acchille was 3-for-4 on extra points.
- Stafford and Ki'Sean Bullard led the Bulldogs with 59 yards rushing, while Reid and Jordon Mason had 70 yards receiving.
- Freshman Camren Topkin (Ledyard, Conn.) led the Falcons on defense with 10 solo tackles and an interception, and senior Luke Noyes (West Bridgewater, Mass.) added 8 tackles and a sack.
- The Falcons snapped an 11-game winless streak dating back to November 1, 2019
Up Next
The Falcons will travel to Castleton next Saturday (9/10) for a non-conference game. Kick-off is slated for 2:00 PM.