KENT, OH. – For the first time in 2014, the Massachusetts football team finally finished what it set out to do. And as the clock wound down and the Minutemen realized it was safe to exhale, the celebration commenced.
As the defense ran off the field at the conclusion of UMass’ 40-17 victory over Kent State Saturday, cornerback Randall Jette shouted “We did it, we finally did it.” A wave of jubilation mixed with relief washed over the UMass sideline. Minutemen strength coach Mike Golden even gave injured receiver Marken Michel a piggyback into the locker room, and defensive end Peter Angeh staggered off the field reciting the same phrase to nobody in particular.
“Oh my god, oh my god.”
After weeks and weeks of consecutive heartbreak, struggles and the inability to close out a football game, a familiar sentiment was echoed by players outside of a raucous Minutemen locker room.
They finally finished.
“This is the best win I’ve ever been a part of,” UMass quarterback Blake Frohnapfel said. “Everything involved, all the emotion before the game and in the prior weeks, actually having this happen for us, it was a great one.”
That’s what you work hard for,” Minutemen coach Mark Whipple said. “To see the kids have fun, it’s great.”
Three times prior to Saturday’s win, the Minutemen (1-6) carried a lead into the fourth quarter. And three times prior to Saturday’s win, UMass walked off the field left to wonder how that elusive first victory of the season slipped away.
So it was only fitting that two players who have struggled this year – running back Lorenzo Woodley and cornerback Jackson Porter – finished the game off.
Woodley finished the game with 160 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. On UMass’ final offensive scoring drive, the back rushed seven times and gained all 80 yards on the drive, capping off a punishing drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
And on the ensuing play from scrimmage following kickoff, Porter – who was often the target of opposing quarterbacks this season – intercepted Kent State (0-6) quarterback Colin Reardon and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown to make it 40-17.
“It’s about finishing,” Woodley said. “We never finish. The whole season we haven’t finished a game yet. And that’s what we were just trying to stress.”
The Minutemen took a 24-10 lead into halftime, but staggered out of the gates yet again. Reardon threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Josh Boyle with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter to pull the Golden Flashes to 24-17.
A Logan Lauren field goal with 1:26 left in the quarter – it was Laurent’s first game starting as placekicker – made it 27-17. But Kent State embarked on a drive from its own 22 down to the Minutemen 20. For a fleeting moment, there was a general feeling of déjà vu.
That is, until UMass took matters into its own hands.
Linebacker Kassan Messiah blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt by Golden Flash kicker Anthony Melchiori. UMass answered with Woodley’s 80-yard drive, sealing off the victory and making it 34-17.
“We finally made a play,” Whipple said. “The blocked field goal was big and (then) the offensive line kind of took over.”
It took the offensive line time to find its footing, but once it did, holes opened up for Woodley. In the first quarter, Frohnapfel took a wicked hit to the ribs from unblocked Kent State safety Elcee Refuge. Frohnapfel stayed down for some time, writhing in pain.
But he returned just one play later and led UMass down to the 5-yard line before hitting fullback Matt Tuleja with a touchdown pass. It was Tuleja’s first career touchdown and it gave UMass a 10-7 lead.
UMass – and Frohnapfel – picked up its game following the hit. The Minutemen scored the final 17 points of the first half. Frohnapfel utilized receiver Jalen Williams – finding him on four separate occasions on the Minutemen’s sixth drive of the game – before capping it off with a 17-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10.
Frohnapfel later hit tight end Jean Sifrin in the back left corner of the end zone on fourth down to make it 24-10.
And in the second half, the defense withstood a Kent State comeback attempt to finally hang on. For Frohnapfel, after seeing multiple leads slip away this season, it was the ultimate situation. The Marshall transfer finished completing 23-of-38 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns.
“After all those games, game after game, there was the same level of frustration,” he said. “You see guys after this jumping around excited and going crazy in the locker room, it’s fun to see.”
A common sentiment following the victory was that UMass could finally feel rewarded after what was, to date, a long season.
“It’s a beautiful feeling because we work very hard,” Woodley said. “It was yet to see those results pay off. It paid off today and it felt great, it was a beautiful feeling.”
Mark Chiarelli can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.
