WESTFIELD, Mass -- Football traveled to Westfield on Saturday to take on the winless Owls in conference play. 16 first half points and a stout defensive performance from the Bucs led to a 16-8 win.

The Basics 

Final: Maritime 16, Westfield 8

Records: Maritime 3-1 (2-0 MASCAC)

            Westfield 0-5 (0-3 MASCAC)

For The Bucs

• Curtis Cann (Easton, MA) completed seven of 13 passes for 90 yards, a touchdown and an interception
• Senior Captain Conner Reynolds (Norton, MA) ran for 36 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Kobe Copeland (Virginia Beach, VA) led both teams with 66 yards rushing.
• Andrew Brightman (Wareham, MA) caught five passes for 36 yards and a touchdown in the win.
• Defensively, Cole Keefe (Merrimack, N.H.) led all players with nine tackles. He also had a sack.
• Hunter Lassere (Belle Chasse, LA) had eight tackles, a half sack, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
• Junior Captain Mack Brown (Harvey, LA) made five solo tackles, thre tackles for loss and forced a fumble. 
• Overall, the Bucs made five sacks, 12 tackles for loss and recovered three fumbles.
• On Special teams, graduate captain George Lampros (Bridgewater, MA) made two extra points and punted eight times for 274 yards, an average of 34.3 yards per punt.

For The Owls

• Quarterback Peyton Capizzi completed 14 of 22 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. 
• OT Thomas ran the ball 16 times for 57 yards. 
• Conor Schlittler caught one pass for 30 yards and a touchdown. Danny Farrell led all receivers with 67 yards on four catches. 
• Defensively, William Soto and Cade Nelson made nince tackles each.
• David White recorded the only sack of the day.
• Travis Dozier Jr. had an interception in the game to go along with seven tackles.
• On special teams, Owen Thompson punted six times for 202 yards, an average of 33.7 yards.

How It Happened

The teams traded possessions in the first two drives of the game. On the Buccaneers drive early in the first, the team went 40 yards in 12 plays. On fourth an goal at the one they elected to go for six and were stopped at the goal line turning the ball over on downs. After two false start penalties on the Owls, Mulligan found his way in to the backfield and sacked Capizzi for the safety, giving the Bucs a 2-0 lead with 5:38 left in the first quarter. Maritime got the ball back after the safety but went three-and-out giving the ball back to Westfield. The Owls couldn't do anything with the ball either going three and out. A seven yard punt by Westfield put the Bucs in great field position, at the 33 of Westfield. A 28-yard pass from Cann to Leo Allgaier (Duxbury, MA) set up a five-yard touchdown run from Reynolds. After the Lampros extra point, the Bucs led 9-0 at the end of the first. Defense was the name of the game throughout the entirety of the contest, especially in the second quarter. The teams gained 56 yards of total offense in 11 minutes of play in the quarter. Then, the Bucs gained possession in Owl territory for the second time in the game and made the most of it. Maritime drove 47 yards in six plays and capped the drive off with a Cann to Brightman one-yard touchdown. With 13 seconds left on the clock, Westfield ran out the clock and the Bucs took a 16-0 lead to the break.

Minimal yards and punts was the story of the third quarter. Only the Owls, on one drive, were able to get the ball over midfield i nthe quarter, and they only got to the Buccaneer 48 before punting. The Academy lead remained 16-0 after 45 minutes of play. In the fourth, Westfield got the ball with 13:50 on the clock. A deep ball from Capizzi to Farrell that went for 46 yards got the hosts in to Maritime territory. On the next play, Capizzi found Schlittler from 30 yards out for the touchdown. Down 10 at that point, the Owls went for two and converted to make the score 16-8. The Maritime offense stalled down the stretch and the defense held up their end of the bargain not allowing the Owls to even sniff the end zone again. The Buccaneers sat on the ball at the end of the game and got on the bus back to Buzzards Bay with a 16-8 win. 

What's Next

The Buccaneers travel to UMass Dartmouth next Saturday for a conference showdown with the Corsairs that begins at 2:30pm. The game live stream will be available at mmabucs.com.