DANBURY, Conn. - Senior LB
Luis Jaquez (Holbrook, N.Y.) had seven tackles, four sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup to lead the Western Connecticut State University Wolves to a 29-0 victory over the Moravian University Greyhounds in the Landmark Conference football opener for both teams this afternoon at Westside Stadium. WestConn, playing in front of a large crowd on a beautifully sunny Homecoming Weekend, evens its season record at 2-2 and starts the Landmark slate at 1-0. Moravian drops to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the league. The Wolves have a bye next weekend before visiting conference rival Catholic on Saturday, October 17 at 1 p.m. Moravian hosts Juniata next Saturday at noon.
Jaquez highlighted a dominant defensive performance by the Wolves with three strip sack fumbles forced in the first half, including one where he stole the ball directly from Moravian freshman QB Mason Geis' hands and ran the other way with it for a few yards. His second sack and forced fumble came on a 4th-and-1 for the Greyhounds in WestConn territory early in the second quarter and his third occurred late in the second frame with Moravian inside the Wolves 10-yard line. WestConn held Moravian to 52 rushing yards on 29 carries and forced four turnovers. Senior LB
Eamon Moran (Stratford, Conn.) added a team-high 11 tackles and a tackle for loss, while junior CB
Corey Rock-Blanco (Bronx, N.Y.) had two pass breakups, an interception, and a fumble recovery for the Wolves.
WestConn marched down the field to open the game, as senior QB
Dylan Jackson (Monroe, Conn.) completed his first four passes before being picked off by Moravian's Aiden Lee at the goal line. Lee had his return to the Wolves' end zone brought back due to a Greyhound penalty. WestConn senior CB
Chris Caracter (Wilmington, Del.) stopped the Greyhounds with an open field tackle on 3rd-and-8 to force a punt moments later, however, and the Wolves came right back down the field for the game's first touchdown with 4:50 left in the first quarter. Jackson started the 67-yard drive wit a 26-yard pass to sophomore WR
Dallas West (East Hartford, Conn.) and senior RB
Quasim Benson (Wilmington, Del.) ended it with a four-yard run into the end zone.
Jaquez knocked the ball loose from Geis for the second time four plays into the second quarter and Rock-Blanco jumped on the ball at the Wolves 41-yard line. Jackson wasted no time and found junior WR
Jayden Leroy (Danbury, Conn.) for a 59-yard touchdown pass to give the home team a 14-0 lead. Jackson connected with West on a 40-yard pass later in the second frame and Benson completed a 70-yard drive with his second score of the day on another four-yard run to paydirt. Moravian went 62 yards on its next 13 plays but saw its best drive of the first half end with Jaquez stealing the ball from Geis and WestConn led, 20-0, at halftime due to a botched PAT on the Wolves' third score.
Jaques came up with his third sack to force a three-and out on Moravian's first drive of the third quarter, and Jackson threw a 42-yard pass to Leroy to set up a 21-yard field goal by sophomore
Gavin Damboise (Bristol, Conn.) that gave WestConn a 23-0 lead with 6:09 left before the final break. Moravian responded and drove 71 yards on 13 plays to the Wolves four-yard line but sophomore LB
Jeremiah Febus (Waterbury, Conn.) came up with an eight-yard sack on third down and senior
Ryan Rondeau (Carmel, N.Y.) broke up a pass at the goal line on fourth down to preserve the shutout. The Greyhounds made their way into Wolves territory on their next possession. but Rock-Blanco intercepted a pass by Moravian QB Antonino Russo.
Jackson found senior WR
Serge Lagardere (Stamford, Conn.) for a 64-yard pass to key the next Wolves' scoring drive, and senior RB
Paul Ronga (Garrison, N.Y.) scored on a seven-yard run to make the score 29-0 after another failed PAT with 5:14 on the clock. WestConn marched to the Greyhound four-yard line later in the fourth before the final horn sounded. Jackson finished 16-for-21 for 327 yards through the air and added 37 rushing yards, while West caught four passes for a game-high 130 yards and Lagardere totaled 86 yards on his two grabs. Geis and Russo combined to go 19-for-33 passing and Avery Kosar had seven receptions for 79 yards for the Greyhounds. Moravian's Dominic Foster was the game's leading rusher with 60 yards on 18 carries, while WestConn sophomore
Donald Highsmith (Middletown, Conn.) rushed for a team-high 53 yards.
