Justin Henderson scored three rushing touchdowns in the first quarter as Louisiana Tech jumped out to a big lead and crushed UMass, 69-21, Saturday in Ruston, Louisiana.
Amik Robertson returned an interception 42 yards to open the scoring. Henderson then scored on runs of 74, 4 and 3 yards to give the Bulldogs (5-1) a 28-0 lead after the first quarter.
“That’s probably the best football team we’ve played this year. I thought we played with great energy. I thought the story of the first quarter was just poor quarterback play,” UMass coach Walt Bell said in a postgame radio interview. “That’s somewhere we have to improve. We’ve got two weeks and we’ve got to find the guy that’s going to put us in position to play well and keep the offense on the field.”
J’mar Smith found Griffin Hebert on a 17-yard touchdown pass and Henderson added a 1-yard scoring reception to put UMass (1-5) in a 42-0 hole.
UMass got on the board on a 1-yard TD run by Randall West. A Kyle Horn 12-yard TD catch made it 42-14.
Cee Jay Powell caught a 2-yard scoring toss from Smith and Bailey Hale added a 42-yard field goal at the buzzer to give Tech a 52-14 lead at halftime.
Bilal Ally finished with 10 carries for 92 yards for UMass. Michael Curtis was 8 of 14 for 49 yards and an interception. West was 17 for 29 for 172 yards and a pick.
“There’s a reason he won the job coming out of fall camp. He’s been hurt, he’s been beat up and we’ve been trying to get him healthy,” Bell said. “He came in and played really well and gave us a chance to stay on the field and play good football.”
UMass has a bye week next before hosting UConn on Sept. 26.
“We’ve been going for a while now. Four weeks of camp, six weeks into the year; so 10 straight weeks of football. But there’s still work to do. We’ll do everything we can to ensure the health of our young people and make sure they’re recovered. Hopefully we’ll get some guys back from injuries,” Bell said. “But at the same time, we’ve still got to improve. We have to go to work. Whether it be technique, fundamentals, whatever it may be, we still have a lot of improving to do.”
Fordham 1, UMass 0 — Sameer Fathazada struck on a free kick 25 yards from goal in the 12th minute to send the Minutemen (4-8, 0-4 A-10) to their seventh straight loss Saturday. Marvyn Dorchin saved three shots. Belchertown graduate Evan Fournier played 81 minutes for UMass in his second straight start.
Amherst 2, Tufts 1 (OT) — German Giammattei scored his second goal of the game nine seconds into overtime Saturday, and the No. 2 Mammoths handed the top-ranked Jumbos their first loss of the year.
Giammetti’s first goal tied the game at 1 in the 23rd minute. Dane Lind assisted both goals for Amherst (9-0-2, 5-0-2 NESCAC). Bernie White made seven saves.
Tufts 2, Amherst 1 — Alexa Juarez put the Mammoths ahead on a fifth-minute penalty Saturday, but the Jumobs scored twice in the second half to secure a road win. Serica Sanders made two saves, while Antonia Tamaro stopped seven shots for Amherst (6-3-1, 2-3-1 NESCAC).
Wheaton 4, Smith 1 — Reilly Sullivan found the net in the 84th minute for the Pioneers (5-7-1, 1-4 NEWMAC) on Saturday. Noemi Howland had nine saves, and Naomi Falkenberg added one.
MIT 7, Mount Holyoke 0 — Maria-Lucia Delgado had 16 saves, but the Lyons (2-10-1, 0-5-0 NEWMAC) lost their fifth game in a row Saturday.
Dayton 1, UMass 1 (2OT) — Melissa Kossler tied the game int he 86th minute Sunday, scoring off a rebound out of a corner. Ansley Melendi earned the assist. Ptyton Ryan made three saves for UMass (6-4-3, 3-2-1 A-10).
Tufts 3, Amherst 2 — Anna Agathis gave the Mammoths a lead in the third quarter assisted by Beth Williamson, but the Jumbos tied the game and won in overtime Saturday.
Laura Schwartzmann had an unassisted goal for Amherst (6-5, 2-5 NESCAC).
Emilee Flamme saved five shots.
Wellesley 4, Mount Holyoke 3 — Mirei Golding-Powers had two goals in a road loss Saturday.
Margaret Robb added a goal and an assist for the Lyons (5-8, 1-4 NEWMAC).
Laruissa Montigny had an assist. Morgan Turner made nine saves.
Springfield 3, Smith 2 — Frontier Regional grad Emma Wesoloski scored the game-winner for the Pride Saturday.
Vivian Nelson and Morgan Handwerger had a goal each for Smith (3-9, 1-3 NEWMAC). Sammie Pavlov assisted Nelson.
Channy Cornell made five saves.
New England Championships — UMass’ Dawson Bathgate finished eighth, completing the eight-kilometer course in 24 minutes, 59 seconds Saturday. The Minutemen were third as a team with 168 points. Providence won with 42.
AIC’s Ezra Mutai broke the tape in 24:17.
Erik Engstrom also cracked the top-10 for UMass in 10th (25:04).
Women’s cross country
New England Championships — UMass was third as a team with 128 points Saturday. New Hampshire placed first with 63. Sarah Contant led the Minutewomen in ninth (18:09). New Hampshire’s Shannon Murdock cleared the 6K course in 17:37.
Mount Holyoke’s Madeline Rieders placed 30th individually (18:40). The Lyons did not score as a team.
James Earley Invitational — The Lyons were ninth with 267 points. Trinity won, scoring 74. Sarah Hyde was Mount Holyoke’s top runner in 37th (19:54.48).
Wesleyan 3, Amherst 1 — Cameron Hendricks tallied 14 kills, but the Mammoths (13-3, 6-1 NESCAC) lost their first conference match of the season 24-26, 25-10, 25-17, 15-17 on Saturday. Jacquelin Kortekaas distributed 22 assists, and Skyleur Savage had 19 digs.
Emily Kolsky contributed 13 kills and 18 digs. Charlotte Duran had 14 assists and 11 digs.
Southern Maine 3, Smith 2; Smith 3, UMass Dartmouth 1 — Caleigh Johnson tallied 25 total kills in a Saturday split. Evi Evgeniou compiled 79 total assists. Jody Huang pulled 50 digs.
The Pioneers (4-16) lost 25-23, 21-25, 15-25, 25-20, 15-11 against the Huskies and beat the Corsairs 23-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-19.
NYU Fall Invitational — Amherst College’s Janelle Jin tied for third over the weekend after shooting a 14-over 158. Williams’ Holly Davenport won with a 151. The Mammoths placed third as a team with a 652. Williams was first at 637.
Courtney Qiu of Mount Holyoke tied for 22nd (167). The Lyones