The Enterprise: Bridgewater State Wins Opener Over Curry College

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team got its season going in a positive manner on Friday night.

The Bears raced to a 35-0 with solid play on offense and defense and wound up with a 42-21 victory over Curry College before a crowd of 2,386 at Swenson Field.

It was the first meeting between the two teams since 1991.

With junior Danny Higgins and sophomore Alex McLaughlin sharing the quarterback duties, BSU produced 465 yards of total offense while the defense shut down the Colonels for the opening 2 1/2 quarters.

McLaughlin ran for two touchdowns and threw for another while Higgins had a TD on the ground.

BSU's top rusher was senior Carlton Williamson of Easton with 80 yards on 13 carries.

After getting the 35-point advantage, though, the Bears struggled on offense and defense as Curry quarterback Mike O'Hearn (36-for-69, 291 yards) threw three second-half TD passes to Jake Cawlina.

The Bears built a 21-0 halftime lead, getting a touchdown from their defense and a pair of scores from McLaughlin.

Senior Eric Ford intercepted an O'Hearn pass and returned it 38 yards for a TD with 4:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Ford moved to the left sideline after picking off the pass and raced into the end zone for a 6-0 lead with the point-after kick blocked.

BSU scored twice in the second quarter with McLaughlin going in from two and four yards for the 21-point advantage.

The Bears went 71 yards in 11 plays with Higgins hitting running back Malik Garrett for 40 yards on third down, putting the ball at the Curry 13.

Five plays later, McLaughlin scored from two yards out with seven minutes left in the half and Travis Bassett rushed for the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.

McLaughlin set up the next TD by completing a pass to Dukens Leon for 43 yards, putting the ball at the Colonels' 13-yard line.

Four plays later, McLaughlin scored on a four-yard run with 1:14 left in the half and Jacob Juncker added the point-after.

BSU added to the lead just 29 seconds into the second half when former Littleton High School teammates McLaughlin and Bassett hooked up for a 64-yard TD and Juncker's kick made it 28-0.

Higgins contributed a 29-yard touchdown run with 8:57 to go in the third quarter, blasting up the middle and outracing the defense.

Curry got on the scoreboard with 5:03 remaining in the third quarter, making it 35-6 when O'Hearn threw a 17-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Cawlina.

The Colonels added another score with 43 seconds left in the third quarter as O'Hearn connected with Cawlina again on fourth down, this time for a 26-yard TD, and J. Riley Barron cuaght a pass for a 2-point conversion to make it 35-14.

Curry made it 35-21 with 4:55 to go on a 10-yard TD pass from O'Hearn to Cawlina.

The Bears answered by scoring with 2:54 remaining as Garrett took a pitch and threw a 35-yard TD pass to a wide-open Leon for a 21-point lead.

Sophomore Nick Cidado of Easton took over at quarterback for BSU for a series late in the third quarter.

The Bears have another non-conference game next Saturday afternoon when they face Kean University in Union, N.J.