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| Ryan Larsen wasn't even born the last time someone other than Rich Lacker coached Carnegie Mellon. Carnegie Mellon athletics photo |
Carnegie Mellon got off to a strong start, Nichols rallied from a 20-3 deficit, Springfield got the Pynchon SAW back and more on a first Friday night of the NCAA Division III football season which featured 11 games and two wins by ranked teams.
Whitworth cut Carnegie Mellon's lead to 21-17 with under 30 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Tartans responded with a 77-yard drive that took just 96 seconds and added a 43-yard interception return for a touchdown to pull away for a 35-17 victory.
Tre Vasiliadis scored two touchdowns on the ground and had 152 yards rushing for Carnegie Mellon (1-0), while Kris Hughes had 190 receiving yards, 99 of them on one play, a touchdown catch from Ben Mills which put the Tartans up 14-0 in the first quarter. Jaedyn Prewitt threw for 404 yards for Whitworth (0-1), but was picked off twice, including a ball that landed in Kevin Cooke's hands in the fourth quarter, allowing Cooke to scamper 43 yards untouched to the end zone.
Zahir Booker rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns for Nichols and the Bison got a late interception to seal the win in a 30-29, come from behind win over Westfield State. Westfield led 20-3 at the half after parlaying a pair of Nichols fumbles into the big lead, including a 90-yard scoop and score fumble recovery for a touchdown from Westfield freshman defensive back Bearret Henderson. Westfield re-extended its lead to 27-10 after the teams traded touchdowns in the beginning of the third quarter, but Nichols scored the final three touchdowns, interrupted only by a Westfield State blocked extra point return.
Friday was the ninth time that Springfield and Western New England met in the Pynchon SAW Game, which is derived from city founder William Pynchon and the acronym of "SAW" is for the first initial of both schools, Springfield And Western New England. With the win, Springfield reclaimed the trophy as it earned its fourth victory in the series. It was a balanced attack for the Pride in the victory, as the Pride had six players score touchdowns, racked up 506 yards of offense, and held the ball for more than 37 minutes. Springfield ran for 433 yards and threw for 73 in its triple-option offense, while holding WNE to 231 yards of offense and 4-of-15 on third-down conversions.
Salisbury, the No. 22 team in the country, ran for 433 yards as well, blowing things open after a slow start to run away from Albright 49-0. Joey Bildstein paced the SU ground game, rushing 10 times for a team-high 94 yards, while David Fletcher netted 105 yards of offense, gaining 68 yards on the ground and 37 yards through the air and scoring a touchdown each way. The other game involving a ranked team on Friday saw No. 23 Hobart run away from Alfred 36-6.