Courtesy of Plymouth State University Sports Information

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Freshman Ty Long rushed 17 times for 127 yards and one touchdown as Plymouth State University defeated MIT, 24-7, in a New England Football Conference (NEFC) Boyd Division contest at Currier Field on Saturday afternoon.

PSU scored a pair of touchdowns in the first eight minutes of the game and added a second-quarter score to lead 21-0 at the half. The Panthers added a third-quarter field goal for its final points and MIT broke up the shutout with a touchdown with six minutes remaining in the game.

Plymouth State ran the ball on 56 of 58 plays from scrimmage while MIT ran it on 41 of 52 plays. PSU quarterback J.J. Brooks completed his only two passes for 39 yards and a touchdown. With the teams combining to run the ball on 97 of 110 plays, the game took only one hour and 52 minutes.

The outcome marked the 17th straight home victory for PSU, which improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the NEFC Boyd Division. MIT dropped its fourth in a row and fell to 1-7 and 1-5.

Long scored a touchdown on PSU's third play from scrimmage, rumbling a season-high 51 yards for a score. After Harry Fallon intercepted MIT two plays later, the Panthers went up 14-0 on a four-yard rush by Steve Campbell.

The Panthers made it 21-0 midway through the second quarter with an 11-play, 90-yard drive, capped off by a 29-yard TD pass from Brooks to Alex Smith. The Engineers answered with a 13-play drive but it stalled on fourth-and-five at the Panther 24 yard line.

Christian Mulcahy booted a 27-yard field goal on PSU's first possession of the second half. After two punts by each team, MIT put together a 13-play, 66-yard scoring drive. DeRon Brown did the bulk of the work, finishing the day with 103 yards on 32 carries, but quarterback Kyle Johnson scrambled in from three yards out for MIT's only score with 6:11 remaining.

Alex Battaglino led a Panther defense that allowed only 166 yards to the Engineers. He made a team-high nine tackles, including six solo stops, and recovered an MIT fumble. Zach Parsons added seven tackles in the win. Peter Gilliland and Kristopher Weaver made 13 tackles apiece for MIT.

Both teams wrap up the regular season next Saturday, PSU visiting Salve Regina for a 12 noon kickoff and MIT traveling to Endicott for a 5:00 p.m. contest.