Springfield College Runs Past WNE in SAW Pynchon Game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 2, 2022) – The Western New England football team opened the season on the road, playing in their annual SAW Pynchon Trophy game with the hosting Pride of Springfield College. The Pride would convert for over 500 yards of offense, including 433 yards on the ground, pushing their way past Western New England to win their first SAW Pynchon trophy since 2018, defeating the Golden Bears 42-14 under the Friday night lights of Stagg Field. 

Records:

• Western New England: 0-1
• Springfield College: 1-0

How it Happened:
The Golden Bears would start the contest with the ball as Tyler Millerick would make his first career start at the QB position. Millerick would complete one pass to AJ Hall on the first drive of the game, but the Golden Bears were forced to punt after Kadeem Walker would be stopped just short of the line to gain. On the Pride's first possession of the ballgame, WNE defense would come up large after a 14 play, 78-yard possession was stuffed at the goal-line by Brandon Myers and Ippokratis Georgiadis to force a turnover on downs at the WNE two-yard line. While the Western New England offense would stutter to begin the game, the Springfield College offense would run the ball as often as possible, grabbing an early lead. After two rushes that totaled 14 yards, Springfield's Dante Vasquez would cap off the three play, 45-yard drive with a 31-yard rush to the back of the endzone to give SC an early 7-0 advantage. On the next offensive possession for Western New England, the Golden Bears would see a strong catch from Hall while De'Andre Harris would catch two passes combining for 35 yards, though WNE would be set back on penalties and would soon be forced to punt again. The Pride would take a 7-0 lead after the first quarter of play. 

Springfield College would continue to use their power on the ground to score their second touchdown of the game with just over ten minutes remaining in the second quarter. Dante Vasquez would excite the Pride crowd with a 17-yard rush which was shortly followed up by a two-yard touchdown run from Arsen Shtefan to give Springfield a 14-0 lead. Western New England would fail to convert on the offensive end, making a six play ten-yard possession end in just under three minutes. Springfield College would punch in another run, this time a 27-yard rush from Jacob Silvester to give the Pride a 21-0 lead. The Golden Bears would come alive late in the second quarter after Brandon Myers was able to recover a fumble coughed up by Springfield to give the Golden Bears good field position. The Golden Bears wasted little time to convert for their first points of the season, as Millerick would find Harris in the back left corner of the endzone to give WNE a quick six points. Matt Gilbert would connect on the extra point to give WNE a 21-7 deficit. The Golden Bears would look to take the momentum into the second half. 

Springfield College would ear six minutes to start the third quarter and take a four-yard touchdown rush into the back of the endzone to give the Pride a 28-7 lead. The Golden Bears would come back with a 13 play drive the ended without any added points to the scoreboard as the Springfield College defense would be too strong and stopped the Golden Bears offense at the Springfield 21-yard line. The Pride would continue to score as the Golden Bears defense would be overmatched to the run game of the Pride as Springfield would punch in two additional rushing touchdowns to take a big 42-7 lead. The Golden Bears would score one final time after a ten play 75-yard drive ended in a 22-yard rushing touchdown from Dillion Kohl to get the Golden Bears on the board for the first time since the end of the second quarter. Western New England would fall 42-12, dropping the SAW Pynchon Trophy game for the first time since 2018. 

Inside the Lines:

• Springfield College would throw just seven passes in the game while the Pride would rush 71 times for 433 yards. Western New England would throw 31 passes in the game for 130 yards while WNE would rush 29 times for 101 yards. 
• Tyler Millerick would complete 21 passes on 31 attempts and threw his lone touchdown of the night to De'Andre Harris, who caught five passes for 52 yards. 
• Springfield's Jacob Silvester would rush seven times for 91 yards while crossing the endzone once. 
• Trent D'Aniello would punt six times for WNE in his debut. 
• The Western New England defense was led by Jake Chiasson, who collected nine solo tackles and four assists, good for 13 tackles. Thomas Gasbarro collected five solo tackles, totaling eight on the night. 
• Springfield's DJ Brown led the Pride with ten tackles, while both Cam Hart and Tyler Pohlman had seven. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England opens their home schedule on Saturday, September 10 against Westfield State University at 1:00 pm. 
• Springfield continues their four game homestand to begin the season when they host Rowan University on Saturday, September 10 at 12:00 pm.