DANBURY, Conn. - Chad Blaszky (Selden, N.Y.) ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns for o lead the Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 42-0 win over the visiting Westfield State University Owls in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) football action this evening at Westside Complex.  WestConn evens its season mark at 1-1 with the victory in its conference opener, while the Owls fall to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.  The Wolves will visit MASCAC rival Bridgewater State on Saturday, September 23 at 4 p.m.  The WestConn defense held the Owls to 135 yards of total offense and the Wolves recorded their first shutout since a 52-0 victory at Plymouth State in 2015.

The game started slowly with several penalties and punts and no scoring in the first quarter, but WestConn erupted for 21 points in the second frame on a touchdown pass and a touchdown run by junior QB John Giller (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) and 65-yard punt return to paydirt by rookie Serge Lagardere (Stamford, Conn.).  Recovering from a first quarter interception by Westfield's Curtis Dion on the game's first drive Giller opened the scoring with a 10-yard pass to classmate Julian Ferguson (Enfield, Conn.) to complete an 89-yard drive at the 9:44 mark of the second quarter.  The Wolves smothered Owl punter Owen Thompson on Westfield's next drive to get the ball at the visitors' 30-yard line and capitalized on Giller's 10-yard scramble into the end zone on a 4th-and-3.  Lagardere scored his first career touchdown on the punt return moments later and WestConn nearly made it 24-0 before halftime but a long field goal try by senior Anthony Weidtman (Nesconset, N.Y.) was off target.  WestConn continued to dominate play in the second half, scoring in the third quarter on a 34-yard pass from Giller to freshman WR Dae'Shawn Allen (White Plains, N.Y.) and twice more in the fourth on touchdowns runs of seven and two yards, respectively, by Blaszky. 

The Owls averaged only two yards per carry on the ground, threw 17 incomplete passes, were sacked three times, threw an interception, and had a punt blocked.  The Wolves totaled 448 yards of offense, as Blaszky averaged 6.6 yards on 27 carries and Giller completed 14 of 26 passes for 217 yards.  Ferguson was WestConn's top receiver with five catches for 80 yards and senior Zach Soriano (Middle Island, N.Y,) added four grabs for 50 yards. Three Owl quarterbacks managed just eight completions for 72 yards through the air and Jordan Smith was Westfield's top rusher with 69 yards on 22 attempts. Corey Jackson caught four passes for 35 yards for Westfield State.  Senior Deshaun Hardy-Walker (Newark, N.J.) paced the WestConn defense with nine tackles (six solo), while classmate Jalen Genao (Hoboken, N.J.) added seven tackles and tackles for loss and graduate student Troy Pomykala (New Egypt, N.J.) notched three tackles, a sack, and an interception.  Tyler Cooley had a game-high 10 tackles (nine solo) and Dylan Clark added six hits, two tackles for losses, and sack for the Owls.