The Springfield College football team began New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play with a 52-34 victory at Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon.
Springfield, who was receiving votes in this week's AFCA Division III National Poll, improved to 4-0 for the third time since 2006 with the win, while the Bears dipped to 2-2. Springfield has now scored 203 points in its first four outings, marking the highest scoring offense the Pride has had since the 2000 squad tallied 211 points in its first four outings.
Springfield finished the day with 540 rushing yards, marking the second time so far this season Springfield has eclipsed the 500 yard mark on the ground. Jacob Silvester (Lancaster, Mass.) found the end zone three times and ran for 131 yards, while Dante Vasquez (Rockland, Mass.) rushed for 115 yards and two scores. Blane Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) also rushed for over 100 yards and finished the day with 110 yards and a score. Ian Wernik (Plymouth, Mass.) made all seven of his extra point attempts and added a 25-yard field goal. The Pride went 10-for-12 on third downs and had the ball for nearly 34 minutes on the afternoon. Nick Gonzalez (Parsippany, N.J.) tallied a team-best nine tackles for the Pride and Cameron Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) added six stops and three quarterback hurries.
After the Pride's first drive of the game ended in a fumble, the hosts used a double pass on their first offensive play which resulted in a 23-yard touchdown reception by Broock Desta to give Coast Guard a 7-0 advantage just under two minutes into the game. Springfield would respond with a Wernick 25-yard yard field goal which was set up by a Bradley Barcello (Weston, Conn.) 58-yard kickoff return.
Coast Guard would turn the ball over on downs and Springfield struck for their first touchdown with 2:25 left in the quarter when Silvester sliced through the defense on third down for a 69-yard scoring run. The Bears answered back with a 16-play, 92-yard drive that lasted over seven minutes and was culminated by a 31-yard score from Joey Armentrough to Matthew LaBouliere with 10:16 left in the first half. Vasquez would put the Pride ahead for good with a 26-yard score at 7:12, and the Pride would make it a 24-14 halftime advantage following an 89-yard drive which was finished off by Silvester finding daylight from 12 yards out with 49 ticks on the clock.
Springfield forced a fumble on the Bears opening drive of the second half and Tyler Sordillo (Hull, Mass.) landed on the ball to give the visitors the ball at the Bears 33 yard line. On the next offensive play, Silvester again broke free through the line for his third score of the day to make it a 31-14 game.
The Bears needed just over three minutes to go 75 yards as Dennis O'Shea crossed the goal line for a three-yard score with 10:32 on the clock to make it a 31-20 contest, but Springfield would rattle off 21-unanswered points to blow the game open.Hart would get into the end zone at the 5:53 mark to cap off a 78-yard drive before Vasquez muscled his way in on a three-yard score of his own inside the first minute of the fourth quarter. Joseph Cannizzaro (Lincoln Park, N.J.) rumbled in from 38 yards out for the Pride's final touchdown of the game with 11:25 left in regulation as Springfield's lead ballooned to 52-20. Coast Guard added two scores in the final 7:20 of the game to conclude the scoring.
Springfield returns to Stagg Field next weekend to take on WPI in a 12 pm meeting.
Springfield College Opens NEWMAC Play With 52-34 Triumph At Coast Guard
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20240928_l5fr.xml
2024
Springfield
52
Coast Guard
34
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 23 Springfield (4-0) | 10 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 52 |
| Coast Guard (2-2) | 7 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 34 |
Sep 28, 2024