Curry Takes Down Fitchburg State, 49-14

McDonald and Wallace combined for both Falcons scores in first setback of the season

MILTON, Mass. (September 9, 2011) – Curry College used a seven touchdown night and totaled 523 yards of offense to registered a 49-14 non-divisional victory over Fitchburg State University in Division III football action this evening.

Curry opened the game with a 13-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off with a nine-yard pass from Gilson to junior Bruce Vieira (Pelham, N.H.). After several punts, the Colonels' offense got the ball back and marched 54 yards downfield on six plays and into the end zone after a three-yard rush by freshman Trae Weathers (Revere, Mass.) with 2:39 left in the first.

In the second quarter, an eight-yard touchdown rush by freshman Jordan Shairs (Gloucester, Mass.) extended Curry's lead to 21. The Colonels' defense forced Fitchburg State into a three-and-out and then sophomore Chevere Archer (Lynn, Mass.) blocked a punt, which was recovered by sophomore Jonas Duffrene (Waltham, Mass.) at the visitor's nine-yard line. On the offense's first play, Weathers ran nine yards for his second touchdown of the night with 8:53 left in the half. The Falcons recorded their first touchdown with 32 seconds remaining before intermission on a fourth-down, 21-yard pass from freshman Brian McDonald (Westwood, Mass.) to sophomore Brian Wallace (Ayer, Mass.) and headed into halftime trailing, 28-7.

Fitchburg State pulled within 14 after McDonald rushed for a three-yard touchdown early in the third but Curry answered back on the following drive, with a five-play, 57-yard push into the end zone that was capped off with another Gilson to Vieira connection. After forcing the Falcons into another three-and-out, the Colonels went 40 yards downfield and Gilson connected with junior Rob Bambini (Westwood, Mass.) for an 11-yard touchdown for a 42-14 advantage.

In the fourth, Curry capped its scoring with a nine-play, 83-yard drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown dive from Vieira, accounting for the 49-14 final The Colonels held a significant edge in first downs (26-9), total offense (523-120) and possession time (34:49-25:11).

Gilson was 8-for-12 for 185 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Anthony Carnevale (Oradell, N.J.) was 6-for-9 for 77 yards. Sophomore Phil Bigelow (East Orange, N.J.) led all rushers with 90 yards on eight carries. McDonald finished 8-for-20 for 86 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Sophomore Chris Bachand (Newington, Conn.) had a game-high 16 rushes for 44 yards.

Junior Jason Genece (Waltham, Mass.) led the Curry defense with six tackles (5 solo), including five tackles for loss (-14 yards) and one sack (-7 yards). Genece also collected the Colonels' lone fumble recovery. Game-high tackling honors went to Fitchburg State sophomore Joseph Sasso (Melrose, Mass.) who amassed ten total tackles (9 solo).

Fitchburg State (1-1, 0-0 NEFC) will be back in action next Saturday as it travels to Endicott College at 1:30 p.m. Curry (2-0, 0-0 NEFC) will visit Coast Guard Academy next Saturday at 12 p.m.