Worcester, Mass. - October 23, 2021 - Playing on the road for the sixth time this season, the Springfield College football team cruised to a 46-17 win over WPI on Saturday at Alumni Stadium.
The win boosted Springfield's record to 4-3, including a 3-0 mark in NEWMAC play, while WPI slipped to 1-5, 0-3. Through the first three weeks of conference play, Springfield has outscored its opponents, 162-24.
Springfield tallied over 500 yards of total offense for the third-consecutive week as it finished the contest with 591 yards of offense. Springfield was very effective on the ground, earning 547 rushing yards and averaging 8.3 yards per attempt. Three members of the Pride reached the 100-yard mark, led by 192 yards on 16 attempts and two scores from quarterback David Wells (Shelton, Conn.). Isaiah Cashwell-Doe (Woburn, Mass.) finished with 110 yards on eight carries with one touchdown, while Patrick Ladas (Berlin, Conn.) netted 102 yards on 15 carries with a score.
DJ Brown (Wading River, N.Y.) was credited with a team-best seven stops for Springfield and forced a fumble, while Kyle Niehr (Bay Shore, N.Y.) made six solo stops. The Pride's defense allowed just 55 rushing yards in the game and held WPI to 3-of-10 on third down.
WPI's Brendan Olexa (Hatboro, Pa.) was 18-of-26 for 260 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. Ethan Farrah (Grafton, Mass.) racked up a 99 yards receiving, pulling down three passes with one touchdown. Tommy Emrick (Windham, N.H.) also notched 93 yards on five catches and one score. Blake Bragaw (Niantic, Conn.) led the Crimson and Gray defensive corps with 10 tackles, while Frankie Polito (Shrewsbury, Mass.) had eight.
WPI scored first, as Bryce Wade (Modesto, Calif.) nailed a 26-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 66-yard drive that put the Engineers up 3-0. Springfield then needed just 20 seconds to take over the lead, which it did not relinquish. Wells broke a 74-yard run on the first Pride play from scrimmage, as the visitors went up 6-3. Springfield added a safety and a 36-yard field goal from Christian Hutra (Holmes, N.Y.), to close the first quarter with a 11-3 lead.
Drives from both teams stalled early in the second quarter, until Springfield's second drive of the frame ended in a one-yard touchdown from Wells to make it 18-3. The drive left just nine seconds on the clock, and though WPI's Olexa had a pair of completions, the clock ran out and the game went into the break with Springfield up 15.
After Springfield fumbled on the first drive of the second half, the Pride's defense came up with a big fourth-down stop to give the offense back the ball on their own 28 yard line. Just three plays as Ryan Deguire (Schenectady, N.Y.) rushed for a 54 yard touchdown to make it 25-3 where it would stay after three.
The teams combined four 35 points in the fourth quarter, and an Emrick touchdown off of a 34-yard strike from Olexa that cut the lead to 25-10. Springfield answered with back-to-back rushing touchdowns, a 72-yard Cashwell-Doe sprint and a Ladas 12-yard score, pushing the advantage to 39-10 at the 10:16 mark. Though WPI added an Olexa to Farrah 58-yard touchdown, the Pride cemented the victory with a 2-yard touchdown run from Nicholas Raneri (North Attleboro, Mass.) with 2:29 remaining to cap off an 11-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up over six minutes off the clock.
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