UMass Dartmouth football captures program's first MASCAC championship

PLYMOUTH, N.H. — The UMass Dartmouth football team is the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) champion for the first time in program history and has earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that begins on Saturday.The Corsairs, who finish the regular season 9-1 and a perfect 8-0 in the MASCAC, defeated Plymouth State 46-21 on the road. This is the the conference championship since 2002 when the team was in the New England Football Conference (NEFC). It is also the second time ever UMass Dartmouth will appear in the NCAA's.Junior quarterback Dante Aviles-Santos was special, competing 26-of-29 passes for 316 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Angel Sanchez went for 121 receiving yards and two TDs while senior Luis Gonzalez rushed for two touchdowns and 53 yards, junior Richarno Hylton rushed for 71 yards and score and sophomore Jalyn Aponte picked up 65 yards and a TD. Sophomore Mike Vincent caught a TD as well.Fifth-year senior Javien Delgado led the team with six tackles, including two for a loss of yards. Senior Josh Lacerte finished with five tackles, while sophomore Mike Henricksen and fifth-year Mekhi Geter each had four tackles. Junior Logan Chappell picked off a pass and returned it for 19 yards.The Corsairs scored on their first drive. A pair of 10-yard passes to fifth-year Keenan Little and sophomore Easten Coleman led to a 37-yard touchdown rush for Aponte with 11:52 on the clock in the first.UMass Dartmouth picked up another touchdown on its very next drive. After long gains by Gonzalez and Sanchez, Aviles-Santos connected with Coleman for 25 yards to set up a 10-yard TD rush from Hylton to make it a 12-0 advantage at the 8:13 mark of the first.Plymouth State cut its deficit to 12-7 early in the second, but UMass Dartmouth extended its lead to 19-7 with a three-yard touchdown rush by Gonzalez with 4:26 until halftime. The Panthers scored one more time, trimming the Corsair lead to 19-14 at the break.UMass Dartmouth dominated the third quarter with three touchdowns to up its lead to 39-14. The first was a four-yard pass from Aviles-Santos to Sanchez, the second was an 18-yard strike to Vincent and the third was a 12-yard dot to Sanchez.A 28-yard rush from Aviles-Santos set up a three-yard TD rush by Gonzalez to push the lead to 46-14 early in the fourth. Plymouth State would score one more time, but the championship was well in hand for the Corsairs.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: UMass Dartmouth football beats Plymouth State to win MASCAC title