Football Serves the L to Framingham State

COURTESY PHOTO OF PSU ATHLETICS

Plymouth State’s football team had an exploding performance of the weekend that put them back on the winning train. Travelling all the way down to Massachusetts, the Panthers played Framingham State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) match-up. PSU has one the last two years against Framingham, last year also coming down to the wire in overtime. This win puts the team at a 3-3 overall record and 2-3 in the conference. 

It was back and forth points being scored for each team, always remaining in the competition. Framingham came out hard in the beginning, returning almost 75 yards and getting the first touchdown on the board. But with six minutes left in the first quarter the Panthers capitalized after gaining about 70 yards in 12 plays to grab a touchdown. David Hamilton (West Deptford NJ) ran it into the end zone and the extra point conversion from Jeremy Martin (Charlton MA) was good. Ending the first quarter at seven a piece, Plymouth came out hungry in the second quarter, holding Framingham to their seven. A very defensive quarter for both teams, neither scoring a touchdown or field goal until 30 seconds left of the first half. Martin successfully kicked for a 35-yard field goal, giving Plymouth the upper hand before halftime. 

Plymouth came out strong for the second half but was stopped at the 30-yard line. Framingham used that to their advantage by securing a two-yard touchdown right after to gain back the lead by four. Plymouth returned over 50-yards before setting Martin up for another kick, about 30-yards and bringing the Panthers only down by one. Framingham was still hot and drove the ball down the field opening up the final quarter, grabbing yet another touchdown but no extra point. Plymouth wasn’t going down without a fight, gaining dominance and the lead all within 30 seconds. Quarterback Zack Edwards passed the ball off to Jacob Szulc (Concord NH) which he carried for 80-yards down the sideline without and competition near him. With Martin’s extra point, the game was tied at 20. Framingham started to get frazzled and made many of their mistakes here. After fumbling the kickoff, PSU recovered it into the end zone getting the two points and giving them the lead for the second time of the day. 

With under nine minutes to play, a huge play was made by Framingham; intercepting the ball at the 65-yard line and running it into the end zone. They went for the two-point conversion, finding a hole in PSU’s defense and finishing it successfully. 28-22 with a little over six minutes and it was in Plymouth’s hands. Max Osgood (Nashua NH) found himself in the right corner of the end zone and Edwards connected with him to give the Panthers the tie. Once again, Martin’s kick soared over perfectly, giving PSU the lead once again, and this time it would stick. It was a close call and nail bitter in the final two minutes as Framingham came with 13-yards of getting a touchdown. Plymouth’s defense was too strong for FSU as they fell short in an incomplete pass with 15 seconds, ending the game in favor for Plymouth. 

Plymouth did a lot of things write and capitalized on Framingham mistakes. Although both teams had one turnover a piece, FSU was penalized over ten times, adding up to over 100-yards given to the Panthers. PSU also had well over ten minutes more of possession time offensively. 

Panthers will take to homefield this Saturday for yet another MASCAC match-up with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. First kickoff is set for 1 p.m.