Dylan Laube's punt return sparked UNH to a 31-14 win over Towson on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of UNH Athletics)

TOWSON, Md. – The UNH football team improved to 3-0 in the CAA and 3-1 overall by virtue of Saturday’s 37-14 victory against Towson University at Johnny Unitas Stadium.

Junior Dylan Laube (Westhampton, N.Y.) equaled a school record with a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown, sophomore defensive end Dylan Ruiz (Kissimmee, Fla.) racked up three of the Wildcats’ five first-half sacks and sophomore quarterback Max Brosmer (Roswell, Ga.) threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers.

The Tigers, who fell behind 17-0 at halftime, dropped to 2-2, 0-1 in the CAA.

Laube added 23 rushes for a game-high 114 yards and finished with 250 all-purpose yards.

The Wildcat defense sacked Tiger quarterback Tyrell Pigrome six times as part of a toal of seven tackles for loss. Junior Randall Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.) recorded a team-high six tackles. Ruiz finished with four tackles.

On the game’s opening kickoff, graduate student Adam Deese (Belmont, Mass.) recovered an onside kick off the foot of redshirt freshman kicker Nick Mazzie (Boxford, Mass.) on Towson’s 47-yard line. Mazzie capped the ensuing nine-play, 38-yard drive with a 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 10:34 left in the quarter. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Joey Corcoran (Montreal, Quebec) accounted for 24 of the 38 yards on the drive, including a 21-yard catch from Brosmer on a 3rd-and-7 from the 25.

With 35 seconds remaining in the first, Laube tied a 41-year school record by returning a punt 92 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. The original record was set by Dave Wissman against UMass on Nov. 14, 1981.

The offense scored its first TD of the game with 2:44 left in the half courtesy of a 14-play, 77-yard drive that chewed 8:27 off the clock. On 3rd and 6 from the Tiger 20, Brosmer found Corcoran on the left sideline. The receiver spun away from a tackle and raced to the end zone, diving across the goal line for his second TD reception of the season.

The ‘Cats upped the lead to 24-0 with 13:27 to go in the third when Brosmer completed his longest pass of the season, a 51-yard post pattern that hit graduate student Heron Maurisseau (Bellport, N.Y.) in stride for his second TD catch of the season. That duo connected for a 49-yard scoring pass last Saturday against North Carolina Central for the previous season long.

The Wildcats went ahead 31-7 with 3:10 left in the third on Brosmer’s third TD pass, this one a 10-yard slant to senior Brian Espanet (Hopedale, Mass.). It was Espanet’s first scoring reception of the season and the 13th of his career, most among active Wildcats. The touchdown put a bow on a 7-play, 52-yard drive. The first six plays of the drive were carries by Laube totaling 42 yards.

Mazzie hit a 25-yard field goal to boost the lead to 34-14 with 8:58 left in the contest. That closed a 13-play, 54-yard drive that lasted 7:01. He then split the uprights for a career-long 42-yarder with 3:25 left that staked the ‘Cats to a 37-14 advantage.

Towson closed within 24-7 at 11:04 of the third quarter on a 17-yard pass from Pigrome to Robert Schwob. The Tigers scored again with 1:07 remaining in the third on Devin Matthews’ two-yard run to trim the deficit to 31-14.

NEXT UP

UNH visits Western Michigan of the FBS on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and the Broncos.