James sparks Colonials
DANBURY — The WestConn football team won one game with defense, and Saturday night in the rain they showed the offense could do work too. The Colonials made it two wins out of two nonconference games with a dominating performance from their offense in a 4116 win over Dean College. The win in the home opener pushes WestConn’s record to 20.
Senior quarterback David James threw four touchdowns and ran for a fifth in the win as the Colonials ranked up more than 500 yards of offense and 29 first downs against the squad from Franklin, Mass. It was a stark contrast to the 129 win over William Paterson in the season opener last week, but the Colonials showed they can win in more ways than one.
“I think we played a lot better than last week for starters,” WestConn coach Joe Loth said. “We had a pretty balanced game on offense, we ran for about 230 and threw for about 270. Defensively we held them to 16. We had a bend and break philosophy because they had two great receivers. We wanted them to earn everything.”
Devin Smith and Will Daniels hauled in firstquarter touchdowns from James for the Colonials; Smith’s came on the second play from scrimmage and went 60 yards. WestConn
quickly built a 283 advantage that wasn’t threatened.
“Our defense didn’t play bad today, but our offense gave us a quick lead, and we were able to keep the distance throughout because our offense kept answering,” Loth said.
Dean moved the ball at times and finished with 415 yards of offense, but several key plays on fourth down prevented WestConn from sweating in the fourth quarter. A firstandgoal from inside the 5 led to a field goal after several stellar Colonials stops, then a fourthand1 stop stalled a drive in the third quarter. Dean also failed on a fake punt attempt in the first half. WestConn also blocked two punts. “I thought for us to constitute to move forward with the season we want to have, this was the type of game we needed to have,” Loth said. “We had to execute on offensive, defense and special teams; we’re moving in the right direction.”
Daniels finished the night with five catches for 98 yards and the score, while Nick Kimball hauled in a pair of touchdown passes from James. The Colonials also enjoyed success on the ground as Roy PennConscentino had 13 carries for 118 yards and Anthony Via had 12 for 67.
HALFTIME CEREMONY
With the Colonials celebrating their 50th year as a program, the very first squad was honored in a halftime ceremony Saturday.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
David James, WestConn: Finished the game 14for35, but threw for 278 yards and four scores as rain wreaked havoc throughout.
UP NEXT
WestConn will hit the road for two straight weeks, starting at Bridgewater State. The Colonials (picked second in the MASCAC preseason) and Bears (third) are two of the favorites to win the league title.