The Husson University football team ended a two-game losing streak Saturday with a 31-7 win over Nichols College.
Junior wide receiver Tyler Halls of Lisbon made 11 pass receptions for 261 yards with three second-half touchdowns at the Eagles pulled away to a Commonwealth Coast Conference football victory in Dudley, Massachusetts.
The Eagles, who are now 3-5 overall and 3-2 in CCC play, is tied with Nichols (5-3, 3-2 CCC) for third place in the conference.
Halls caught touchdown passes of 63 and 16 yards in the third quarter and grabbed a 21-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter, all from senior quarterback David Morrison.
Morrison completed 14 of 24 pass attempts for 298 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore running back Shawn Noel Jr. complemented Husson’s passing attack with 122 yards on 34 rushes.
Teammate Keyshaun Robinson added 44 rushing yards and a touchdown on eight carries as well as 37 yards on three pass receptions as the Eagles amassed 482 yards of total offense.
Husson, which had been allowing an average of 419.1 total yards per game to opposing offenses this fall, limited Nichols to 155 total yards.
Bison quarterback Michael Pina, who last week passed for a career-high 329 yards and five touchdowns during a four-overtime victory at the University of New England, completed just 16 of 31 attempts for 122 yards and one touchdown on Saturday.
The Eagles’ defense sacked Pina five times, including twice by David Redmond. Frank Curran added 1 1/2 sacks.
Kaleb Caron led Husson’s defense with seven tackles, while Redmond and Tyler Buzzell were in on six tackles each as the Eagles allowed Nichols just 33 net rushing yards.
Coach Nat Clark’s Husson club drove 77 yards in 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead on Robinson’s 3-yard touchdown run with 7:05 left in the first quarter.
Devin Pickett extended the lead with a 24-yard field goal early in the second period, but Nichols closed to within 10-7 on a 21-yard scoring pass from Pina to Kevin Diaz with 1:07 left before intermission.
The Morrison-to-Halls connection picked up after the break, with Halls catching a 63-yard touchdown strike to make it 17-7 with 4:00 left in the third quarter and then snaring a 16-yard scoring pass from Morrison with 28 seconds left in the period to push Husson’s advantage to 24-7.
The duo’s final collaboration came early in the fourth quarter, a 21-yard touchdown pass from Morrison to Halls.
Husson plays Salve Regina next Saturday at noon its final home game of the season.
