WestConn closes out season with 34-7 loss to William Paterson
DANBURY, CT (Nov. 14)— Senior quarterback Matt Marshall (Burlington, NJ) completed 18 of 21 passes for 237 yards and threw three touchdowns to lead visiting William Paterson University to a 34-7 victory over Western Connecticut State University on Senior Day at The WAC Saturday afternoon.
Marshall hooked up with Joel Rivera (Hoboken, NJ) for two spectacular TD receptions in the first quarter, from 35 and 14 yards, respectively to give the Pioneers a 14-0 advantage after the first 15 minutes. Their lead would never be threatened from there.
Rivera gathered seven catches for 102 yards to lead William Paterson's receiving corps.
The Burlington City High School graduate found tight end Chris Schule (Rutherford, NJ) open in the middle for a five-yard touchdown with 5:27 left before intermission. After a botched point-after attempt, WPU led 20-0.
The Pioneers, 5-5 and 4-5 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, were not satisfied and tacked on seven more points following an 18-yard run by Marcus McKinney (Paterson, NJ) before the break. The 220-pound running back led the visitor's ground attack with 118 yards on 27 carries and two scores. He added a one-yard touchdown plunge in the closing minutes of the third stanza that gave WPU a 34-0 lead.
The Colonials, 2-8 overall and 2-7 in the NJAC, avoided their first shut out in 12 years when Tyler DeRosa (Miller Place, NJ) scored on a two-yard run with six seconds remaining in the game. WestConn was last shut out on November 8, 1997 against Kings Point, 36-0.
Senior signal caller James Williams (Wolcott, CT) closed out a sensational career on Saturday. He completed 12 of 22 passes for 110 yards, caught a 23-yard pass and had six carries for 30 yards in his final game in a Colonials' uniform. Williams started all but one of the 40 games he played in at WestConn.
Lionel Assie (Bridgeport, CT) wrapped up his career by rushing 11 times for 32 yards, catching four passes for 62 markers and returning three kick-offs 53 yards. All three led WestConn on Saturday.
Defensively, Jim Hamill (Stanhope, NJ) had a team-high 10 tackles for the Pioneers.
Greg Galasso (Brewster, NY), last week's NJAC Defensive Player of the Week and D3Football.com's Team of the Week honoree, finished the game with a team-high 13 tackles for the Colonials. Seniors Javaris Brown (Cromwell, CT) and Angelo Mancini (West Hartford, CT) capped off their career with 12 and 10 tackles, respectively.
William Paterson, by virtue of a .500 record, still remains eligible for an ECAC Tournament berth and will find out its fate on Sunday.
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