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New London, Conn. - October 8, 2022 - The Springfield College football team began in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) with an impressive 49-6 victory at Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon.
Springfield, which won its second NEWMAC championship last year, began its title defense on Saturday and improved to 3-2, 1-0.
The Pride churned out 523 yards of total offense, including 465 on the ground, and finished the contest with 25 first downs while having the ball for over 38 minutes in the contest. Springfield;s defense produced three interceptions in the contest and Colby Richardson (East Hartford, Conn.) made a team-best four stops.
David Wells (Huntington, Conn.) ran for 122 yards and two scores while also throwing for 58 yards in leading the Pride's offense. Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.) also found the end zone twice and rushed for 71 yards and fellow fullback Joseph Cannizzaro (Lincoln Park, N.J. ) totaled 31 yards and a pair of scores.
An interception by Aiden Lewin (Orlando, Fla.) on Coast Guard's opening drive gave the Pride the ball at midfield, and seven plays later, Shtefan plunged in from a yard out for the game's first score at 9:51. After trading possessions, Bryan Feliciano (Clifton, N.J.) intercepted a pass on the Pride's six-yard line and returned in 50 yards inside Coast Guard territory. Cannizzaro found room up the middle for three yards out to make it a 14-0 contest to finish off a 10-play drive with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
Springfield forced a three and out and would then manufacture a 12-play drive that lasted 5:38 and was capped off by another Shtefan score, this time from two yards at the 9:26 mark. Nicholas Burgess (Clifton, N.J.) then came up with a huge play on special teams on the next drive as he was able to tackle Coast Guard's punter for a 12-yard loss and give the Pride a short field and start from the Bears 18-yard line. Four rushes later, Cannizzaro found paydirt from three yards away to make it a 28-0 at the 6:55 mark. The Pride tacked on its third touchdown of the second quarter on a 42-yard run up the right side by Wells, which gave Springfield a 35-0 halftime advantage.
After trading possessions to begin the second half, Springfield started its second drive from its one-yard line and marched 99 yards in just seven plays, with Wells connecting with Blane Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) for a 58-yard catch and run, before he powered into the end zone for a one-yard score at 7:31. Armando Torres (San Juan, Puerto Rico) would later get into the scoring column with a one-yard score which made it 49-0 with under three minutes left in the third. Coast Guard was able to take advantage of a Springfield fumble midway through the fourth quarter which resulted in their only score of the game, a 22-yard strike from Broock Desta from Jacob Wagner.
Next Saturday, Springfield will host Norwich at 12 pm.