COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Bridgewater State can't overcome mistakes in loss to UMass-Dartmouth

BRIDGEWATER – It felt as though the Bridgewater State University football team put on a Halloween costume because the Bears didn’t look like the same squad Saturday afternoon compared to what they have shown for the majority of this season.

BSU came into its matchup against UMass-Dartmouth rolling on a five-game winning streak, but those good vibes evaporated with the Bears uncharacteristically suffering from self-inflicted miscues.

BSU recorded a key penalty and tossed a game-sealing interception on a potential game-tying drive in the final minute that ultimately led to a 26-20 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference defeat to the Corsairs at Swenson Field.

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“We made a lot of mistakes,” said BSU coach Joe Verria as the Bears slip to 5-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play. “We made our mistakes in the passing game, running game, the defense. Everywhere. We made mistakes all over the place and it’s not something that’s been characteristic of us, so that’s why we lost the football game.”

A perfectly placed pass into the back of the end zone by sophomore quarterback Dante Aviles-Santos (16-of-25, 236 yards, four touchdowns) to Douglas Machado from 18 yards out broke a 20-20 deadlock for UMass-Dartmouth (7-2, 5-2), which hadn’t beaten BSU since 2014, just 1:02 into the fourth quarter.

And despite the mistakes, BSU still had a chance to at least level the score when its defense forced a three-and-out to give the ball back to the Bears with 2:11 left.

Two completions from junior quarterback James Cahoon to T.J. Hairston (6 receptions, 41 yards) got BSU’s final drive going, but then the Bears had a monumental setback. A 32-yard pass from Cahoon to Ryan Verria, which would have set up BSU inside the 5-yard line with about a minute left, was negated due to an ineligible man downfield penalty. The Bears committed six penalties for 47 yards in the game.

Two plays later, Trell Best intercepted a Cahoon pass at the UMass-Dartmouth 16-yard line with 46 seconds remaining to squash any chance of a comeback win.

“We didn’t quit on defense, we didn’t quit on offense, we just made mistakes that we haven’t made the last five weeks,” coach Verria said.

In the second half, UMass-Dartmouth shut out BSU’s high-powered offense, which entered the contest leading the MASCAC in scoring with 32.3 points per game.

Junior running back Adam Couch, who starred for the Bears with 22 carries for 151 yards and three touchdowns, became less of focal point for BSU in the second half with UMass-Dartmouth’s defense keying in on the former Leominster High product.

Cahoon, who hails from Buzzards Bay, wasn’t able to take advantage as he completed 15-of-34 passes for 149 yards and tossed two interceptions while also being sacked four times.

The Bears mustered only 23 yards of offense over their first five drives of the second half and had three possessions over the final 30 minutes end in Corsair territory without any points, including midway through the third quarter when Exondus Barnes recovered a muffed punt at the UMass-Dartmouth 18.

“They’re a very good football team,” said coach Verria of the Corsairs. “They played well. You got to give it to them.”

In the first half, Couch and Aviles-Santos matched each other with their ability to produce points.

Couch finished off BSU’s first two drives of the game with touchdowns runs of one and 33 yards, respectively, which were sandwiched around Aviles-Santos' 42-yard scoring strike to Machado (6 receptions, 84 yards).

After Aviles-Santos found Kennan Little in the end zone from two yards out to put the Corsairs in front, 14-12, early in the second quarter, Couch struck again as he found a seam and bolted up the middle for a 25-yard touchdown run.

“Adam’s a great football player,” said coach Verria. “The offensive line did a great job blocking.”

But the Bears had a difficult time containing the dual threat nature of Aviles-Santos, who netted 61 yards on the ground on 15 carries and evened the score with 9:43 left in the third quarter on a 7-yard screen pass to Marvens Jean.

“He’s a very athletic kid,” coach Verria said. “He can run the ball very well. They spread you out from sideline to sideline and they do a good job. We played some man, we played some zone, we played some combination man-zone. We tried to do a bunch of things to confuse him, change it up, but didn’t happen.”

With the loss, BSU falls out of a first place tie with Framingham State, but the Bears destiny to capture a MASCAC title is still in their hands starting with a pivotal showdown with the Rams next Saturday.

“We need to learn from our mistakes so we don’t make the same mistakes next week,” coach Verria said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Bridgewater State football falls to UMass-Dartmouth in MASCAC play