UNH routs Towson in CAA opener
The sixth-ranked University of New Hampshire football team jumped out to a 30-0 lead in the first quarter en route to a 57-7 Colonial Athletic Association victory at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore quarterback Kevin Decker made the first start of his collegiate career. Decker replaced junior R.J. Toman, who missed the game due to a turf-toe injury. Decker finished the day with two touchdown passes and he ran for another. Decker completed 11 of 19 pass attempts for 104 yards.
The UNH defense also got the job done, creating eight turnovers, six of them interceptions. Two of the interceptions were returned for touchdowns by Wildcat defenders.
The Wildcats improved to 4-0 overall a d are 1-0 in the CAA. The Tigers fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in the CAA.
UNH's first posession started on the Towson 20-yard line after a blocked punt by sophomore Kyle Flemings. Five plays later senior running back Chad Kackert put the Wildcats on the scoreboard with a 7 yard run giving UNH the early 7-0 lead with 11:06 to play in the first quarter.
On Towson's next drive, junior safety Hugo Souza intercepted a pass on the Towson 32-yard line, Four plays later, Decker completed an 8 yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Scott Sicko with 8:53 remaining in the first quarter and the Wildcats led by a 14-0 margin.
UNH recorded a safety following a Towson high snap. Tiger kicker Bill Shears kicked the football out of the end zone, resulting in the safety and UNH led 16-0 with 7:42 left in the first quarter.
On the next kickoff, junior Sean Jellison (Souhegan High Schoo) returned the ball 81 yards for a touchdown to make it 23-0 in favor of UNH with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter. It was the first kick return for a touchdown in Jellison's UNH career.
On the next drive for Towson, junior defensive back Dino Vasso intercepted a pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown to give UNH a 30-0 advantage with 7:16 remaining in the opening stanza. It was the second interception for a touchdown this season for Vasso, who also returned a pick 34 yards for paydirt vs. Dartmouth on Sept. 26.
The 30 points scored by UNH in the first quarter was short of the all-time mark of 35 points scored by the Wildcats in 1975 in the second quarter vs. Northeastern. The 'Cats went on to defeat the Huskies, 56-7.
Towson got on the board at 12:35 of the second quarter when quarterback Peter Athens completed a 24 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Alex Blake and the Tigers closed the gap to 30-7.
Decker completed an eight-play 51 yard drive with a 1 yard touchdown run at 9:17 of the second period and the Wildcats took a commanding 37-7 advantage. The drive took 3:11 off the clock.
Junior defensive end Lance Mailloux knocked the ball loose on a Towson pass and senior defensive end Dan Ruhl fell on the football to set up a 27-yard field goal by senior kicker Tom Manning with no time remaining to send the Wildcats to the locker room with a commanding 40-7 lead.
Towson blocked a UNH punt and took over on the UNH 8-yard line. However, sophomore safety Ryan McGuinness picked off a pass on the left sideline and returned the football 96 yards giving the Wildcats a 47-7 lead with 12:47 remaining in the third quarter. It was the second interception returned for a touchdown in the contest for UNH.
Decker threw his second touchdown pass of the game with 7:06 to play in the third quarter after 4-yard toss to sophomore tight end Chris Jeannot in the back of the end zone to push the UNH lead to 54-7.
Manning kicked his second field goal of the day, a 24-yarder with 58 seconds to play in the third quarter and UNH led 57-7, the final score.
The running game was led by redshirt freshman Dontra Peters, who had 13 carries for 50 yards. Looking at the receivers, UNH was led Sicko with three catches for 25 yards and a touchdown. In addition senior wide receiver J.T. Wright made two catches for 61 yards.
On the defensive side of the football, junior linebacker Devon Jackson led the squad with 10 tackles (7-3-10).
Up next for the Wildcats is a Homecoming matchup vs. No. 2 Villanova on Saturday. Game time is at noon at Cowell Stadium.
