Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
Springfield, Mass. - September 9, 2017 - Jordan Wilcox (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) rumbled for a career-high 223 yards on the ground and scored three touchdowns to lead the Springfield College football team to a 28-8 non-conference win over Kean University on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.
Springfield, which was receiving votes in the latest D3football.com National Poll, improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2013, while the Cougars dropped their season opener.
Wilcox was sensational in the Pride's backfield, racking up 223 yards on 27 carries, averaging 8.3 per carry, to go along with one touchdown reception of eight yards. As a team, Springfield totaled 331 yards on the ground and totaled 21 first downs. The Pride won again won the time of possession battle, having the ball for 34:15 in the contest. Defensively, Dominic Traversa (Pittsfield, Mass.) led the way with nine stops, while Rich Williams (Wethersfield, Conn.) made six stops.
After Kean's opening drive chewed up over seven minutes off the clock but resulted in a missed 37-yard field goal, Springfield answered back with the game's first score at the 5:53 mark. Wilcox broke free up the gut for a 51-yard run, capping off a five-play, 80-yard drive that lasted just 1:27.
Springfield would double its lead with 10:37 left in the opening half when Wilcox plunged in from five yards out, finishing off a nine-play, 61-yard drive. The visitors put together a 10-play 69-yard drive on their next possession advancing all the way to the Springfield 11-yard line. However, after consecutive Kean timeouts, Andrew Papirio (Walpole, Mass.) made a great play in the secondary, breaking up a pass on 4th-and-4 to give the Pride to ball back on downs.
After receving the second-half kickoff, Springfield was unable to cash in on a 10-play drive that lasted just over four minutes as the Pride's 39-yard field goal was pushed wide. After forcing a three-and-out, Springfield went to the air and quarterback Jake Eglintine (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) rolled out and found Wilcox on an eight-yard strike on third and goal to give the hosts a 21-0 cushion with 5:35 left in the third.
The Pride sealed the win as it put together a remarkable 19-play drive that went 70 yards and spanned nearly 12 minutes. Eglintine punched in a one-yard score with 4:36 on the clock to give the Pride a 28-0 advantage, only to have Kean strike back for their first score in just 24 seconds on a 15 yard catch and score to Brian Matthews from Charles App. The score was set up by a 60-yard snag by Ben Guarino down the right sideline.
However, Springfield's offense ate up the final four-plus minutes on the clock, converting an important fourth down on a run by Tim Callahan (Enfield, Conn.), to seal the non-conference win.
Springfield will play its final non-conference game of the season next Saturday when it hits the road to play Mount Ida for a 1 pm game.