Falcons Edged By Curry In Season Opener, 33-30

Brown-Simpson rushes for pair of scores for Fitchburg State 

Milton, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University football team dropped a tough, 33-30 decision to the Colonels of Curry College in non-conference action at Walter M. Katz Field on Friday evening.

The Basics

Score: Curry 33, Fitchburg State 30
Records: Fitchburg State University (0-1) | Curry (1-0)

How It Happened

Curry College and Fitchburg State traded scoring drives in the first quarter as sophomore tailback D'Aundray Burcy (Hyde Park, Mass./Reading Memorial) plunge in from six yards out to give the Colonels a 7-0 lead.

The Falcons knotted the score (7-7) with senior running back Jevon Brown-Simpson (Lynn, Mass./Lynn English)  ran the ball in from five yards out, following an interception by sophomore Charles Harvin, Jr. (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) to set up Fitchburg State in good field position.

Following a 28 yard field goal by Fitchburg State freshman kicker Geoffrey Reichert (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) that gave the Falcons a 10-7 advantage, Curry regained the lead just before the half as sophomore wide out Nick Villanueva (Hanson, Mass./Whitman-Hanson hauled in a six yard pass from senior Alex Corvese (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) to put the hosts up 13-7 going into the half.

With the score 20-10, the Green and Gold answered back early in the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Nelson Valerio (Lawrence, Mass./Lawrence) found classmate Jesse Brown (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) for a six yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 20-17.

Trailing 33-24 late in the fourth quarter, Fitchburg State rallied again as Brown-Simpson capped a six play, 65 yard drive with his second touchdown run of the game from one yard out to make the score 33-30 before the Colonels were able to run out the clock to end the contest. 

Inside the Numbers

This is the 28th meeting between the two teams, Falcons currently 7-21 overall against the Colonels.

It was the first collegiate touchdown pass for Valerio and Harvin, Jr's first collegiate interception.

Fitchburg State's passing game was paced by Valerio, who completed 17-of-23 passes for 266 yards and one TD.

Brown-Simpson led the Falcons ground game, rushing for 75 yards on 21 carries and two TD's.

Senior Devin Summiel (Tewksbury, Mass./Shawsheen Tech) and Brown combined to catch 15 passes for 223 yards and one TD to lead the way for the Falcons receiving corp.

Defensively for the Green and Gold, junior Jovon White (Meriden, Conn./Orville Platt led the way with seven tackles (6 solo, 1 assisted) and a pair of pass breakups.

Up Next

The Falcons travel to Castleton University to take on the Spartans next Saturday evening at 6:00pm in non-conference action, while the Colonels head to MIT next Friday for a 7:00pm start.