2011 game summaries UNH 27, UMass 21
UNH 31, Rhode Island 24
Game Seven • October 22, 2011 Gillette Stadium - Foxborough, Mass. UNH (5-2, 3-1) UMASS (4-3, 0-0)
11 0
7 12
6 0
3 9
- -
1st 12:01 UNH Peters 5-yd run (Decker pass to McNally) 6:14 UNH MacArthur 47-yd field goal 2nd 7:26 MASS Talley 23-yd run (Pagel pass failed) 5:18 UNH Peters 1-yd run (MacArthur kick) :19 MASS Hernandez 4-yd run (Levengood PAT failed) 3rd 4:42 UNH Cullen 23-yd pass from Decker (Decker pass failed) 4th 10:43 MASS Pagel 5-yd run (Levegood PAT failed) 5:09 UNH MacArthur 35-yd field goal 1:45 MASS Yelovich 22-yd field goal
27 21 8-0 11-0 11-6 18-6 18-12 24-12 24-18 27-18 27-21
INDIVIDUAL WILDCAT LEADERS
RUSHING UNH - Dontra Peters 13-92 yds, 2 TD PASSING UNH - Kevin Decker 11-15-0, 137 yds, TD RECEIVING UNH - Dontra Peters 3-18 yds, Sean Cullen 1-23 yds, TD
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs................................... Rushes/Yardage............................. Passing Yardage............................ Pass Comp./Att./INT..................... Total Offense................................. Punts/Average............................... Fumbles/Lost................................ Penalties/Yards..............................
UNH 18 44/198 137 11/16/0 335 1/47.0 0/0 2/15
UMASS 25 39/150 249 25/42/1 399 2/43.0 2/1 4/30
FOXBORO, Mass. – Dontra Peters rushed for a pair of touchdowns and amassed 208 all-purpose yards to lead the 13th-ranked University of New Hampshire football team to a 27-21 victory over No. 22 Massachusetts in the second edition of the Colonial Clash, the 74th and final scheduled meeting between the longtime rivals, before a crowd of 24,022 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday afternoon. UNH improved to 5-2 with the victory and 3-1 in the CAA. UMass tumbled to 4-3 overall. Peters carried the ball 13 times for 92 yards, compiling 98 yards on three kick returns while collecting a team-leading three receptions for 18 yards to win the Bill Knight Trophy as the game’s most outstanding player. Kevin Decker completed 11 of 15 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown. Matt Evans spearheaded the defensive attack with 13 tackles, all solo, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup. Chris Beranger posted a game-high 14 tackles, and Alan Buzbee chipped in with 13 stops for a New Hampshire defense that forced two fumbles and notched an interception. Peters returned the game’s opening kickoff 44 yards to the UMass 42-yard line. The junior running back then capped an eight-play drive by taking a sweep around the left side for a five-yard touchdown. The Wildcats’ captains combined on the successful two-point conversion when Decker avoided the pass rush just long enough to find Brian McNally (two tackles, fumble recovery), lined up as a tight end, in the end zone for an 8-0 lead with 12:01 left in the first quarter. The Minutemen threatened on their initial drive, marching from their 49 to the Wildcats’ 10, but Kellen Pagel’s 3rd-and 8 pass in the end zone was intercepted by Manny Asam (seven tackles), for his team-leading third pick of the year. UNH seized an 11-0 advantage on the ensuing drive when Mike MacArthur matched his career high with a 47-yard field goal with 6:14 left in the first. UMass coughed up the ball on the first play of its next possession when Evans stripped the ball from Jonathan Hernandez (29 rushes-89 yards, TD), and McNally recovered the fumble on the UMass 26. New Hampshire failed to capitalize, as MacArthur’s 37-yard field try went wide left with 4:02 left in the first quarter. UMass got on the board with 7:26 left in the opening half. Facing a 3rd-and-9 from the UNH 23, wide receiver Julian Talley (two rushes-31 yards, TD) took an end around, bounced off a tackle attempt at the 15 and spun his way into the end zone for his second rushing score of the season. The two-point try failed, however, allowing UNH to hold an 11-6 lead. The Wildcats went right back to work, going on a seven-play, 62-yard drive culminating in the second rushing TD of the game for Peters, who barreled in from a yard out. MacArthur’s PAT staked New Hampshire to an 18-6 lead with 5:18 left in the half. UMass scored the final points of the half on a four-yard TD rush from Hernandez with 19 seconds remaining in the second. Brendon Levongood’s point-after was no good, so the ‘Cats brought an 18-12 lead to the locker room. Massachusetts appeared to take its first lead of the contest on a 45-yard rushing touchdown by Hernandez early in the third quarter, but a holding penalty took the points off the board. The Minutemen then up came up completely empty handed when Pagel’s 4th-and-9 pass from the UNH 32 was broken up by Buzbee, preserving UNH’s six-point cushion. The Wildcats upped the lead to 24-12 with 4:42 left in the third quarter when Decker connected with tight end Sean Cullen (one catch-23 yards, TD) for a 23-yard TD strike on 3rd-and-11. That capped a six-play, 87-yard drive highlighted by a season-high 48-yard rush by Peters and a 17-yard run from Nico Steriti (eight rushes-56 yards/one catch-34 yards). The two-point try failed.The Minutemen reduced the Wildcats’ lead to 24-18 with 10:43 left in the game by going on a 19-play, 80-yard drive that chewed eight minutes and 59 seconds off the clock. Pagel kept for a five-yard touchdown run on 4th-and-4, meeting Beranger head-on at the 1-yard line before lunging into the end zone. Levengood again missed the PAT. MacArthur’s 35-yard field goal with 5:09 left increased the lead to 27-18. Brandon Yelovich hit a 22-yard field goal with 1:45 left to bring UMass within 27-21, but Justin Mello (one catch-six yards) recovered the subsequent onside kick and the Wildcats ran out the clock to ice the victory. Pagel went 25-for-42 for 249 yards and an interception, while Talley set career highs with 10 receptions for 113 yards in the losing effort.
Game Eight • October 29, 2011 Cowell Stadium • Durham, N.H.
URI (2-6, 1-4) UNH (6-2, 4-1)
0 7
6 7
18 14
0 3
1st 5:39 UNH Setian 1-yd run (MacArthur kick) 2nd 8:45 UNH Harris 23-yd run (MacArthur kick) :23 URI Johnson-Farrell 46-yd pass from Bentsen (Pass failed) 3rd 14:34 UNH Peters 4-yd run (MacArthur kick) 10:09 URI Probst 11-yd run (Feinstein kick) 7:24 URI Probst 1-yd run (Baskerville pass from Bentsen) 5:51 URI Feinstein 43-yd field goal 3:58 UNH Decker 1-yd run (MacArthur kick) 4th 11:08 UNH MacArthur 28-yd field goal
-24 -31 0-7 0-14 6-14 6-21 13-21 21-21 24-21 24-28 24-31
INDIVIDUAL WILDCAT LEADERS RUSHING UNH - Dontra Peters 13-92 yds, TD PASSING UNH - Kevin Decker 14-21-1, 257 yds RECEIVING UNH - Sean Cullen 5-104 yds
TEAM STATISTICS
URI UNH First Downs................................... 22 21 Rushes/Yardage............................. 43/144 41/214 Passing Yardage............................ 240 257 Pass Comp./Att./INT..................... 20/31/1 14/21/1 Total Offense................................. 384 471 Punts/Average............................... 3/34.7 2/49.5 Fumbles/Lost................................ 2-1 1-1 Penalties/Yards.............................. 7/72 8/69 DURHAM, N.H. - Senior tight end Sean Cullen recorded a career-high 104 receiving yards and four different players rushed for touchdowns to guide the 10th-ranked UNH football team to Saturday’s 31-24 defeat of the University of Rhode Island before a Homecoming crowd of 10,554 at Cowell Stadium. The win propelled the Wildcats to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Rams slipped to 2-6, 1-4 in the CAA. Dontra Peters led the ground attack with 13 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. The junior tacked on 68 kick-return yards and a 19yard reception for a game-leading 179 all-purpose yards. Kevin Decker rushed for a career-best 78 yards and a touchdown while completing 14 of 21 passes for 257 yards. Chris Setian and R.J. Harris added rushing TDs for the Wildcats in their sixth straight home win against the Rams. Chris Beranger led UNH in tackles for the fifth time in the last six games after accumulating 13 stops, nine of them solo, his first career sack and a forced fumble. Matt Evans chipped in with nine tackles and an interception. Rhody appeared ready to take the lead on its initial possession when it advanced to the UNH 3-yard line, but quarterback Bob Bentsen coughed up the 2nd-and-goal snap and Alan Buzbee recovered the fumble for New Hampshire. The ‘Cats then proceeded to go on a 13-play, 97-yard drive that lasted more than five minutes before Setian (10 rushes-27 yards, TD) plunged in for a one-yard TD. The PAT from Mike MacArthur put UNH in front, 7-0, with 5:39 left in the first period. Decker went 5 of 5 for 70 yards on the drive, completing passes to five different receivers, capped by a 20-yard hookup with Cullen that placed the ball at the URI 1. UNH increased the lead to 14-0 with 8:45 remaining in the opening half courtesy of the first career rushing score for Harris (one rush-23 yards, TD), who took an end around pitch from Decker 23 yards to the end zone. That scoring drive was once again ignited by a Rams’ turnover in Wildcats’ territory, as defensive tackle Jimmy Vailas tipped Bentsen’s pass at the UNH 30 and Evans caught the deflection for his second INT of the year. Bentsen (20 of 31, 240 yards, TD, INT) bounced back to get Rhode Island on the board with 23 seconds left in the half on a 46-yard pass to Brandon Johnson-Ferrell (seven catches-89 yards). The two-point conversion try failed, so the home team took a 14-6 lead to the halftime break. Rhody attempted an onside kick to begin the second half, but the ploy backfired when the kick went out of bounds, giving New Hampshire possession at the URI 41. Peters then went to work, carrying once for 37 yards before scoring from four yards out for his fourth rushing score of the season. The PAT bumped the lead to 21-6 only 26 seconds into the third quarter. Rhode Island then went on an 18-point run over a span of 4:18 in the third quarter to seize the lead. Backup quarterback Steve Probst (three rushes-15 yards, two TDs) reached pay dirt on an 11-yard carry at the 10:09 mark that trimmed the deficit to 21-13, and he called his own number again for a one-yard TD with 7:24 left in the third. Following a successful two-point pass from Bentsen to Anthony Baskerville (five catches-57 yards), the game was deadlocked at 21. The Rams took their only advantage at 24-21 with 5:51 left in the quarter on a 43-yard field goal from Louis Feinstein. New Hampshire snapped out of its collective funk to reclaim the lead for good, 28-24, on Decker’s one-yard run, his team-leading seventh, with 3:58 remaining in the third. The signal caller set up his own score by completing a 12-yard pass to Chris Chandler (two catches, 29 yards) and a 14-yarder to Cullen before erupting for a career-high 40 yard rush to the URI 2. After a wild third quarter that produced 32 combined points, the only tally of the fourth quarter was MacArthur’s 28-yard field goal with 2:25 remaining. New Hampshire forced a Rhode Island punt with 4:41 remaining in the contest, and the Wildcats never gave the football back, maintaining possession on a final nine-play, 63-yard drive to run out the clock.