AMHERST, Mass. – UMass quarterback Kyle Havens completed 25 of 38 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns, to lead the 18th-ranked Minutemen to a 31-7 victory over the Holy Cross football team at Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium. The Crusaders fall to 1-1 on the season with the loss, while the Minutemen improve to 2-0 overall.

UMass opened the scoring at the 5:20-mark of the first quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Havens to Dan Sheeran. The Minutemen increased their lead to 14-0 later in the quarter on a one-yard scoring run by John Griffin. UMass would then recover an onside kick, followed by a Jonathan Hernandez one-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. The Minutemen went on to add a three-yard touchdown pass from Havens to Rob Blanchflower and a 37-yard Caleb Viotette field goal to take a 31-0 lead into the locker room.

In the third quarter, senior linebacker Perry Townsend (Frankford, Del.) blocked a punt which was recovered by sophomore tight end Reed Apfelbaum (Upper St. Clair, Pa.) at the UMass 20-yard line. On the next play, senior quarterback Ryan Taggart (Bedford, Texas) threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Freddie Santana (Staten Island, N.Y.), for the only points scored by either team in the second half.

Taggart completed 17 of 32 attempts on the night for 156 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while senior strong safety Anthony DiMichele (McKees Rocks, Pa.) and junior C.J. Martin (Plano, Texas) led the defense with 18 total tackles each. Senior punter Don Lemieux (Gardner, Mass.) also had a strong game, averaging 47.0 yards on six punts, with three kicks over 50 yards and four punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

The Crusaders return to action next Saturday, Sept. 18, when they travel to Harvard for a 7:00 p.m. game.