Springfield, Mass. - October 21, 2023 - The Springfield College football team remained unbeaten in conference play as it prevailed over Merchant Marine, 21-14 on Saturday in a critical New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) showdown.
The win moved the Pride into sole possession of first place in the conference as it moved to 7-1, 5-0 against conference teams. The loss drops the Mariners to 6-2, 4-2.
Springfield finished the afternoon with 369 yards on the ground as Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.) totaled a team-best 134 yards and Blane Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) recorded 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just five carries. Defensively, Springfield put together a tremendous team performance, holding the Mariners to 263 yards of offense, over 100 yards below their season average, and just 3-of-17 on third down. Aiden Lewin (Orlando, Fla.) paced the Pride with 13 tackles, DJ Brown (Wading River, N.Y.) added 12 tackles, while Billy Carr (Southington, Conn.) notched five stops, including a pair of sacks.
Springfield wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as on the fourth play of the game, Hart slipped through the Merchant Marine defense and found daylight for a 68-yard touchdown to give the hosts a 7-0 advantage less than two minutes into the game. After the Pride was able to turn the Mariners over downs on their first drive of the game, as the teams traded punts for the next six possessions.
However, the hosts were able to double their lead with 9:50 remaining in the second quarter as Hart found the end zone for the second time on the day when he found room down the sideline for a 28-yard score to cap off a seven-play, 73-yard drive.
Merchant Marine would respond in impressive fashion, manufacturing a 21-play drive that chewed up over nine minutes off the clock and covered 75 yards. The visitors converted four fourth downs on the drive, the last coming on fourth and goal as Cesar Gonzalez plowed in from a yard out to make it a 14-7 game with 48 seconds left in the half.
Despite having the ball for over 12 minutes in the third quarter, Springfield was unable to put points on the board, but finally found the end zone for the third time on the day just over a minute into the fourth. Dante Vasquez (Rockland, Mass.) cut his way through Merchant Marine's defense for a five-yard score to cap off a 13-play, 70-yard drive last lasted nearly seven minutes.
Springfield's defense came up with a huge stop as Quinn Sweeney (Hanson, Mass.) delivered a quarterback hurry on 4th and 12 from midfield to force the visitors off the field with 5:15 remaining in the game. The Mariners would regain possession with just over three minutes left in regulation and Talsen Smith was able to get behind the Pride defense for a 70-yard strike down the sideline to make it a one-score game with 2:13 to play.
However, Carr would fall on the ensuing onside kick, and two plays later, Shtefan iced the game with a bruising 28-yard run up the middle to punctuate the Pride's fifth-consecutive victory and 17-straight NEWMAC win.
Springfield will hit the road next Saturday when it travels to Vermont to take on Norwich at 12 pm.
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