Springfield Tops Western New England 42-21 in Sixth Pynchon SAW Game

Pride even rivalry series 3-3

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (August 31, 2018) – Springfield College scored 21 unanswered first half points on its way to a 42-21 win over Western New England University on Friday evening in the sixth annual Pynchon SAW rivalry game at Stagg Field. 

Top Performers
Western New England junior quarterback Alec Coleman (Arlington, Mass.) completed 22-of-40 pass attempts for 204 yards and one touchdown, while also adding 36 yards on the ground.

Senior wide receiver Evan Cain (Berlin, Mass.) made six receptions for 76 yards in his Western New England debut, while junior Jared Wolfe (Seaford, N.Y.) finished with six catches for 54 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, senior linebacker Kurtis Jolicoeur (Windham, N.H.) paced the Golden Bears with seven tackles (three for loss), a sack and a forced fumble.

Springfield junior quarterback Chad Shade (Pittsfield, Mass.) fueled the Pride offense with a career night, as he carried the ball 22 times for 227 yards and six touchdowns.

Freshman linebacker Anthony Bencosme (Bergenfield, N.J.) produced a game-high 11 tackles for Springfield, while sophomore safety Kyle Niehr (Bay Shore, N.Y.) added eight stops, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup.

Game Review
Cain returned the game's opening kickoff 42 yards to the Western New England 49-yard line, and the Golden Bears drove all the way to the Springfield 26 before the drive stalled and junior Kieran Lombard (Dover, N.H.) missed a 42-yard field goal.

On the first play of Springfield's ensuing drive, however, Jolicoeur knocked the ball loose from Shade and senior safety Chris Quarles (Naugatuck, Conn.) recovered the fumble at the Springfield 18. Five plays later, junior running back Peter Hoff (Shelton, Conn.) found the end zone on a four-yard rush as the Golden Bears claimed a 7-0 lead.

Springfield answered on its next possession, sparked by sophomore Ryan McCarthy's (Palmer, Mass.) 52-yard return. The Pride took advantage of the short field as Shade capped the five-play, 43-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown scamper.

The Golden Bears went three and out on their next drive, and Springfield claimed a 14-7 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the opening frame on a 24-yard touchdown run by Shade.

Following another missed Western New England field goal midway through the second quarter, Springfield put together a seven-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in a 32-yard rushing score by Shade as the home team increased its advantage to 21-7 with 5:08 on the clock.

The Pride led by the same margin at the break, before opening up a 28-7 cushion early in the third quarter on Shade's fourth rushing score of the night.

Western New England cut its deficit in half (28-14) at the 9:53 mark of the third when Coleman found Wolfe for a three-yard score, but Shade broke free for a 77-yard touchdown late in the frame to restore Springfield's 21-point lead.

Shade tacked on another rushing touchdown with 6:39 remaining in the contest, before Western New England junior quarterback Brendan Smith (Seekonk, Mass.) came in to orchestrate a late scoring drive for the Golden Bears.

Notes
• Springfield's win evens the Pynchon SAW rivalry series at 3-3 in six meetings. Western New England won three of the first four matchups, but the Pride have claimed the past two contests.
• All 445 of Springfield's yards came on the ground, while the Golden Bears compiled 355 yards of total offense (221 passing, 134 rushing)
• The Pride averaged just under eight yards per carry on 56 rushing attempts.

Up Next
Both teams will be back in action next Saturday, as Western New England (0-1) returns home to host Westfield State and Springfield (1-0) travels to Kean.