Jenny Wang/THE GATEPOST
By Mike Ferris
A week after holding Endicott to six points, Framingham surrendered 61 to Cortland State.
Despite a late rally, the Rams didn’t have quite enough Ere power to overcome the deficit they created for themselves in the first half.
Framingham was outscored 35-14 in the first two quarters, but after a valiant effort to get back in the game in the second half, its hopes ended when Quron Wright fumbled a punt that would’ve given the Rams the ball back and a chance to win.
With fifteen seconds left, Wright’s fumble was recovered by Cortland who took it to the end zone for a touchdown extending Cortland’s lead from Eve to 12, making the game appear more lopsided than it really was.
Had Wright held onto the ball, there’s no telling whether Framingham would’ve been able to pull off the miraculous comeback, but the way Matt Silva performed Saturday, nothing was out of the question.
Silva followed up his Eve touch- down performance in the season-opener by throwing for Eve more against Cortland.
He also nearly doubled his passing yard total from the opener throwing 59 times for 510 yards.
Through two weeks of football, Silva leads the country in passing yards and is tied for the lead in passing touchdowns.
The offense was clicking for much of the game and Tevin Jones really broke out, resurrecting a familiar duo from last year – Silva to Jones.
Jones caught 10 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown. He was followed closely by Travis Hayes, who was making his season-debut.
Hayes caught nine passes for 142 yards and also caught a touchdown. Marcus Grant also had a big game, catching 10 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
One of which was an extremely athletic touchdown in the back corner of the end zone to give Framingham a lot of momentum during its comeback.
While the Rams had a great attack through the air, Framingham struggled to establish any kind of running game.
Silva led the ground game, running 11 times, mainly scrambles, for 44 yards. He was followed by Trevon Offley who ran 13 times for 21 yards.
On the comeback trail, Framing- ham had gained all the momentum and was set to get the ball back. After creating a fourth and long, Framingham was Zagged for roughing the kicker on the ensuing punt and Cortland did not squander the second chance.
On their first play following the penalty, quarterback Kyle Schneider found Jon Mannix, who got behind the secondary, and scored a 58-yard touchdown to really hurt Framing- ham’s comeback chance.
Despite the defense allowing 496 yards, their afternoon was highlighted by a Lewis Bailey interception.
Bailey picked off Schneider in the end zone preventing a Cortland touchdown, resulting in a drive that saw Silva End Hayes for a touchdown, giving Framingham the momentum to start the second half.
Despite the two standout defensive drives, the pick and forced punt on fourth and long, Framingham really struggled to get off the field.
It allowed Cortland to go 7-14 on third down.
But the blame couldn’t entirely be passed off on the defense because as previously mentioned, special teams struggled itself.
The special teams unit not only had the costly roughing the kicker foul but they also allowed a kick return for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Framingham did take some positives out of the game though, as it dominated possession and ultimately tallied a higher offensive yard- age total. The defensive and special teams’ mistakes were in the end, too much to overcome.
Framingham looks to avenge its loss Saturday afternoon when it hosts Fitchburg State at Bowditch Field.