Football Surges Past Curry on Homecoming Weekend in Go4TheGoal Game

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 22, 2022) – The Western New England football team stole the show on the field on Saturday afternoon, coming away with a convincing 31-8 win over the Curry College Colonels from Golden Bear Stadium. Dillon Kohl led Western New England with three touchdowns on the afternoon, as WNE punched in their four touchdowns from the ground. 

Records:

• Western New England: 3-4, 2-1 CCC
• Curry College: 3-5, 1-3 CCC

How it Happened:
Though a low scoring first half, the Western New England defense held Curry off the board in the first 30 minutes of play as Western New England looked to gain momentum of the contest from the kickoff. Ian Britt would lead the way for the Golden Bears in the opening drive coming away with 21 yards, though WNE was forced to punt as Bryce Karstetter tried to catch the Colonels off guard, sending away a 44-yard boot. Omari Lewis would lead Western New England on the defensive trail in the early goings, making key stops to halt the Colonels and pin Curry in their own end of the field. Joe Shea and Ippokratis Georgiadis would come away with a key QB hurry on Curry's first drive of the game to force the Colonels off the field, while gaining just 15 yards. 

Western New England would get on the board in the late in the first quarter after an eight-play drive was capped off by Matt Gilbert, who delivered a 46-yard field goal to give Western New England a 3-0 lead. Scoring would stutter from there, as neither team would come away with points in the second. To open the second quarter, Curry would drive the ball 59 yards down the field on 11 plays, though would be stuffed at the goal line by Western New England's Jake Chiasson and Thomas Gasbarro to turn the ball over on downs. Neither team could control play, as the score remained 3-0 at the half. 

Western New England would force a three-and-out to begin the second half to continue their strong play on defense. The Golden Bears offense would go right to work with 9:25 to play in the third quarter after Curry's Geoff Wilson would fumble the ball at the Curry 23-yard line on fourth down, which brought WNE great field position. The Golden Bears needed just two plays to gain those 23-yards as Bryce Karstetter would find Greg Perry for a 20-yard catch and the series was capped by a Dillon Kohl three yard rushing touchdown, giving WNE a 10-0 lead. 

Western New England would come up with a block on a Curry field goal attempts on the next drive after Cayden Porter got his hand on the ball to give the Golden Bears another stop on defense. The scoring would end at 10-0 after three quarters of play with WNE threatening for another TD. Dillon Kohl would lead Western New England with six straight plays drawn up to him, as he was able to punch the ball into the endzone from ten yards out to give Western New England a 17-0 lead. 

Joe Shea would come away with a big sack to end Curry's next drive that went just 13 yards, as WNE would begin play at the Curry 38-yard line. Although WNE would fail to capitalize on the attempt, Trent D'Aniello would pin the Colonels deep into their own territory, sending in a 39-yard punt.  Curry would once again be stuffed by the WNE defense as Jake Chiasson, Cayden Porter, and Omari Lewis would come up large for the Golden Bears. 

Western New England would find the back of the end zone on a six play, 37-yard drive that lasted just over two minutes of play. Ian Britt would highlight that drive, picking up a 16-yard rush attempts, followed by a three yard score up the middle to give the Golden Bears a 24-0 lead. 

Curry would get their first and only points of the game on their next drive as QB Kevin Decker would complete a 31-yard pass to Gabe DeSouza to give the Colonels six points. Maxx Bell would collect the two-point conversion as WNE would lead 24-8. With just 2:19 on the clock, the Golden Bears picked up their fourth rushing touchdown of the afternoon and third from Dillon Kohl as he would take the ball up the left side of the field for a 43-yard touchdown, giving WNE a 31-8 lead. The clock would finalize with that score, sending the Golden Bears to their second conference win of the season. 

Through the Uprights:

• Western New England collected 19 first downs on the afternoon and totaled 351 yards of offense. Curry collected just under 200 yards of total offense. 
• QB Bryce Karstetter completed 15 passes for 185 yards, throwing a 37-yard completion to De'Andre Harris, who collected seven passes for 97 yards on the afternoon.
• The WNE run game netted 166 yards from scrimmage, which included 106 yards from Dillon Kohl, who carried in three touchdowns on the afternoon. Ian Britt collected a touchdown, carrying the ball 14 times for 48 yards. 
• Curry's Gabe DeSouza caught ten passes for 97 yards, including one touchdown on the afternoon. 
• Jake Chiasson led WNE with 14 total tackles on the afternoon, five solo and nine assisted. 
• Omari Lewis collected seven solo tackles and four assisted tackles, good for 11 on the afternoon. Ippokratis Georgiadis made one sack, along with Joe Shea. Michael Dogostino and Cayden Porter pitched in with a half sack each. 
• The WNE defense made nine tackles for a loss while breaking up six passes and rushing the QB seven times. 
• Michael Sims led the Curry defense with eight solo tackles and nine assisted tackles, while Adem Kica and Bailey Smith were also in double figures on the afternoon.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England heads to Husson University on Saturday, October 29 at 12:00 pm.
• Curry hosts No. 25 Endicott College on the same date at 1:00 pm.