UNH football opens season with loss at University of Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. – Wande Owens recorded a game-high 14 tackles but the University of New Hampshire football team was defeated 57-3 by the University of Central Florida of the Big XII in Thursday night’s season opener for both teams at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

Owens, in his first game as a Wilecat, was credited with six solo tackles and eight assists. The defense also recorded a pair of takeaways on an interception by captain Zedane Williams and fumble recovery by Sam Rumelhart.

Logan Tomlinson, another captain, was UNH’s top offensive weapon with six catches for 73 yards. Seth Morgan competed 14 of 28 passes for 95 yards. Myles Thomason rushed 10 times for 20 yards.

“I give our guys a lot of credit,” UNH head coach Rick Santos said. “We fought. We certainly didn’t back down. Gave a ton of effort. I thought that was as good of a start as we could have wanted in this game and then ultimately I think the size, speed and talent discrepancy kind of wore on us a little bit.

“I’m happy that we fought to the end and the last couple of drives we showed a lot of character and conviction,” he added.

UCF was led on the ground by RJ Harvey with 11 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns. KJ Jefferson threw for a pair of TDs and ran for another.

New Hampshire visits Holy Cross next Saturday, and its home opener is scheduled for Saturday, September 14 against Stonehill College.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: UNH football opens season with loss at University of Central Florida