Springfield, Mass. - October 30, 2021 - In a showdown of two of the premier rushing offenses in all of college football, the Springfield College football team battled their way to a 28-23 triumph over Merchant Marine in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play.
The Pride won for the fourth-consecutive game to improve to 5-3, 4-0 in conference play, while the Mariners suffered their first setback of the season to dip to 7-1, 4-1.
The story of the game was the play of Springfield's two fullbacks, Patrick Ladas (Berlin, Conn.) and Tim Callahan (Enfield, Conn.) as the bruising duo combined for 52 carries, 245 rushing yards, and three touchdowns. As a team, the Pride had 282 yards of offense, all of which came on the ground. Defensively, DJ Brown (Wading River, N.Y.) was sensational as he produced 10 tackles, including nine solo stops, to go along with a recovered fumble, while Kyle Niehr (Bay Shore, N.Y.) added nine stops. Ronald Beard (Dix Hills, N.Y.) had a breakout game defensively, notching seven tackles and breaking up a pair of passes.
Merchant Marine finished the game with 401 yards of offense, as Ian Blankenship ran for 178 yards and score and was also 12-for-23 for 135 yards. Eric Davidson notched a game-high 15 tackles and Colton Ray added 12 stops of his own.
After Merchant Marine was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the opening kickoff, Springfield started their opening drive on the visitors 47 and found the end zone 10 plays later as Ladas powered his way in from two yards out with 11:02 on the clock. The Mariners answered back, going 70 yards in 14 plays over a span of 6:18 as Alec Kiernan scored from a yard out. The Mariners would convert a pair of fourth downs in the drive as the squads were even at 7-7 with 4:37 remaining in the first quarter.
Springfield's next drive would end in three plays, but the Mariners would benefit from a special teams miscue as the the snap on the ensuing punt was airmailed and skipped out of the end zone for a safety, allowing the Mariners to take a 9-7 edge.
The Pride's defense would come up in a critial spot, getting a fourth down stop on the Pride's 10 yard line with 13:23 left in the second quarter as the Mariners 12-play drive came up empty. Springfield would then march 90 yards in 6:05 as Callahan and Ladas combined for 11 carries, with Ladas barreling in from four yards out to make it 14-9 at the 7:17 mark. A three-and-out from Merchant Marine would give Springfield the ball back, and despite a 15-play drive that took up over six minutes, the Pride's 28-yard field goal attempt was wide left as Springfield took a five-point lead into the half.
Merchant Marine wasted no time regaining the lead in the third, as Blankenship darted his way 71 yards to the house on the second play of the frame, and a Brian McGovern rush for two-points put the visitors on top 17-14 less than a minute into the stanza. Another unsportsmanlike conduct call on the visitors on the ensuing kickoff gave the Pride the ball on the Merchant Marine 40 yard line, and five plays later, David Wells (Shelton, Conn.) sliced through the Mariners defense for a 16-yard touchdown run to put the hosts back on top, 21-17, at 11:59.
Cam Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) then made a tremendous play on special teams, forcing a fumble on the return and falling on the loose ball to give the Pride the ball back on the Mariners 25 yard line. Four-consecutive runs from Callahan then resulted in the graduate student muscling in from three yards out as the Pride's lead ballooned to 28-17 just 80 seconds later.
Merchant Marine would answer back with their final score of the game, as Kiernan found his way into the end zone from a yard out, and a failed two-point conversion made it 28-23 with over 21 minutes left in regulation following the visitors nine-play drive.
After Springfield's offense started to stall, the Mariners moved the ball inside Springfield's red zone with under two minutes to play in the contest, but Blankenship's bid on 4th-and-7 from the 16 was incomplete in the endzone. Despite the Pride not being able to get a first down on their next drive, Patrick Tuohy (Columbia, Conn.) delivered in a key spot as he crushed a 59-yard punt to put the ball on the visitors 17 yard line.
On the final drive of the game, Beard came up with three tackles and a key pass-break up for the Pride's defense down the stretch, and the Mariner's last-ditch attempt on fourth down from the Pride's 40-yard line was incomplete as Springfield came up the game-sealing stop.
Next up for the Pride will be its seventh road game of the season as it heads to MIT next Saturday.
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