DUDLEY, Mass.— The Husson University offense exploded on Saturday in football's 61-31 Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over Nichols College.
Husson (7-3, 3-2 CCC) wasted little time in Saturday's regular-season finale getting on the board, taking a 6-0 advantage on junior
Elijah Garnett's first rushing touchdown and took a 14-0 lead when senior
Nic Visser capitalized on a five-yard rushing TD to extend the Eagles lead.
The Eagles finished the opening quarter with a 14-0 run and opened the second quarter with another touchdown, when Visser connected with Garnett from one-yard out to extend the Husson lead to 20-0.
Nichols (3-7, 0-5 CCC) cut into the Eagles advantage with a score three minute later on a Bison rushing touchdown, but Visser connected with senior
Marcus Sessoms on a 19-yard touchdown pass to put Husson up 28-7 heading into the half.
Husson began the second half just like it began the first, scoring just over two minutes into the half on a 27-yard TD pass to junior
Cullen Casey, for the 34-9 advantage.
The Bison cut into Eagles lead midway through the third quarter on a passing score, but Garnett ripped off a 17-yard touchdown run to open up a 41-16 advantage.
Nichols managed to answer Garnett's score with another rushing touchdown of its own, however Visser hit Casey on a streak down the middle and Casey took Visser's pass 75 yards to the house for the 48-23 lead.
Husson added two more scores over four minutes remaining in the final quarter both by sophomore
Jed Lober, the first coming from 10-yards out and the second from five yards.
The Bison added a late score with time winding down, but Husson had done its damage early and often as it came away with the 61-31 decision.
In his final game in the green and gold, Visser left it all on the gridiron, completing 25-30 passes for a program-best 414 yards and four passing touchdowns. Visser broke Cory Brandon's previous program record of 404 yards set back in the 2018 season.
Garnett finished the afternoon with his second 200-yard rushing performance on the season, racking up 202 yards and two touchdowns, while Lober also added 100 yards, finishing with 122 and two scores.
Following his second 200-yard rushing performance, Garnett surpassed Julius Williams for the fifth-most rushing yards in a single season, finishing the year with 1,349 yards and 19 touchdowns — the third-most rushing touchdowns in a single season.
Additionally, Casey tied junior
Dom Wilson with a team-high six grabs on the day, collecting 135 yards through the air, while Wilson tallied 112.
Defensively, junior
CJ Nicely led the way with a team-high 11 tackles on the day, while senior
Tucker Buzzell recorded 10 stops. Both senior's
Tyrek Mann and
Adam Bertrand finished with nine stops apiece, while Mann added 2.5 sacks. Both Buzzell and Nicely each recorded sacks on the afternoon.
Husson finished the matchup with five interceptions on the day, with a pair coming from senior
Alex Brown, while senior's
Garrett Maheux and
Eli Simmonds along with junior
Antwan Turner each picked off a pass in the victory.
Buzzell wrapped up the season with 110 tackles, the second most in a single season, while surpassing Stephan Dance's mark of 357 career stops with 371 career tackles, becoming the new all-time program leader in tackles.
