DANBURY, CONN. - Junior Chad Blaszky (Seldon, N.Y.) and sophomore Mack Driver (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) combined for 268 yards on the ground to lift the Western Connecticut State University football team to a come-from-behind, 34-19 victory over visiting University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at the Westside Athletic Complex on Saturday night.

Blaszky carried the ball 28 times for 149 yards and scored a 16-yard touchdown, while Driver rushed 17 times for 119 yards and scored three times from three, 17 and 18 yards, respectively for WestConn, which improves to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC).  WestConn gained 337 yards on the ground on the night.

Freshman quarterback John Giller (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) completed just 4-of-8 for 40 yards and tossed a 15-yard touchdown to Julian Ferguson (Enfield, Conn.) for the host's final score with 6:36 remaining in the contest.

The Corsairs, now 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the league, took a 13-0 lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter when Dante Aviles-Santos (Cumberland, R.I.) hooked up with Douglas Machado (Swansea, Mass.) from 10 yards out.  That capped off a quick four-play, 21-yard drive over just 1:19 as the visitors were controlling the pace of play.

Aviles-Santos completed 16 of 28 passed for 169 yards while Luis Gonzalez (Greenacres, Fla.) led UMD ground attack with 22 carries for 75 yards.  He opened the game's scoring with a one yard run 6:06 into the first quarter.

The sophomore signal caller scored the Corsairs' final touchdown when he plowed in from two yards out with 2:43 left in the game.

WestConn made some adjustments on offense and defense in the early going of the second stanza.  The results were 34 unanswered point in front of an announced home crowd of 888.

WestConn's ensuing five scoring drives, involved 48 plays, amassed 307 yards and ate up 23:49 on the scoreboard clock.  For the game, they gained 377 total yards on 66 plays and just over 33 minutes of clock management.

"I am really really proud of our team tonight," said WestConn head coach Joe Loth, now in his 10th year.  "Our guys executed three great game plans, one on offense, one on defense and and another on special teams, against a really good football team."


Defensively, Peter Bencivengo (Meriden, Conn.) led all WestConn players with nine tackles.  Ambrose Richards (Wall Township, N.J.) and Nosa Uzamere (Hempstead, N.Y.) each registered eight tackles.  Richards tallied a pair of sacks and three tackles for a loss of 18 yards on Saturday.

Senior JP Mason (Providence, R.I.) registed an impressive 18 tackles, 14 of of them solos, and forced a fumble for UMass Dartmouth.

WestConn will host to long-time rival Plymouth State University next Saturday, October 9 on Homecoming.  Game time against the Panthers is slated for 3 pm.

The Corsairs welcome Massachusetts Maritime Academy to Cessy Field next Saturday for a 2:30 tilt.