Springfield, Mass. – November 30, 2024 – The nationally-ranked Springfield College football team earned a 54-27 victory over UMass Dartmouth in the NCAA Division III Championship Second Round on Saturday afternoon at Stagg Field.
The game pitted a pair of previously undefeated, 10-0 squads in the first meeting between the two schools since 2015. Springfield, which was ranked 20th in the latest AFCA Division III Coaches Poll and 23rd in the D3football.com Poll, moved to 11-0 and will travel to take on the defending national champions and No. 2-ranked Cortland Red Dragons next Saturday. UMass Dartmouth, who had won the last three MASCAC Championships, had its season come to a close at 10-1.
The fullback duo of Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.) and Joseph Cannizzaro (Lincoln Park, N.J.) combined for 53 rushes and 311 yards on the day to headline a Springfield offense that had the ball for 39:12 and totaled 468 yards on the ground. Shtefan was the featured back throughout the afternoon, producing 190 yards and two scores on 36 carries. Blane Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) also found the end zone twice on the afternoon as Springfield tallied seven touchdowns to establish a new program record for points in a season, with 540 through 11 games, while the 54 points was the most ever for Springfield in a postseason game. Springfield reached the 11-win mark for the first time since 2000, which is the same year that the Pride last advanced to the third round of the national tournament.
Defensively, Nick Gonzalez (Parsippany, N.J.) tallied seven tackles, including a sack, forced and recovered a fumble, and blocked an extra point, while Tyler Paladino (Cross River, N.Y.) added seven stops. Springfield limited the Corsairs to 3-of-12 on third down and just 61 rushing yards.
Dante Aviles-Santos threw for 371 yards and four scores, Angel Sanchez hauled in nine catches for 144 yards and two scores, while defensively, Shane Meerbott was credited with 19 tackles.
UMass Dartmouth wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard as they needed just over a minute to go 75 yards for the game's first score when Aviles-Santos zipped a 12-yard score of Sanchez to give the visitors an early lead. Springfield answered right back with a nine-play, 60-yard drive which featured eight rushes from Shtefan, the last proving to be a three-yard score at the 9:20 mark. Following a three-and-out by the Corsairs, Springfield would double up its lead at the 4:48 mark when Dante Vasquez (Rockland, Mass.) got free on the edge and barreled over his defender for a 15-yard score. Springfield extended its lead to 21-7 thanks to a 40-yard score by Cannizzaro with 14 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
UMD would answer back in under a minute as Aviles-Santos found Thomas Zednick for a 27-yard strike to make it a one-score game with 14:20 remaining in the first half. Springfield would march right back down the field and Drew Heenan (Londonderry, N.H.) got into the scoring action as he tucked behind his line for a six-yard score at 10:45. Hart would give Springfield a 34-14 halftime lead following his three-yard score at the 3:50 mark as he capped off a 10-play, 74-yard drive which lasted over five minutes.
After the Corsairs forced a fumble on Springfield's opening drive of the second half, the visitors cut it to 34-21 when Aviles-Santos threaded a pass to Naseim Harrison from nine yards out with 8:02 remaining in the third. The visitors would turn Springfield over on downs on their next possession as the momentum began to shift, only to have Joe Maurer (Wilbraham, Mass.) intercept a pass on the very next play and return it 55 yards for the defensive score as the lead grew to 41-21.
Hart would slice through the defense for his second score of the game as he scampered in from 24 yards out with 10:33 left in regulation to as the lead ballooned to 48-21. Aviles-Santos would again connect with Sanchez for a 26-yard strike at 7:49 following an eight-play, 72-yard drive, but Springfield would ice the game with an 11-play drive that chewed up 5:20 off the clock and was culminated in a bruising four-yard score by Shtefan with 2:28 to play.
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No. 20/23 Springfield College Delivers 54-27 Victory Over UMass Dartmouth In NCAA Division III Championship Second Round
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20241130_xypm.xml
2024
Mass-Dartmouth
27
Springfield
54
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mass-Dartmouth (10-1) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| No. 23 Springfield (11-0) | 21 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 54 |
Nov 30, 2024