Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Senior quarterback Tyler Ward had an efficient passing to the tune of 13 completions in 20 attempts for 157 yards and four touchdowns, and classmate Kevin Cook rushed 17 times for 158 yards and another score, as Western New England University rolled to a 41-14 Senior Day victory over Nichols College in New England Football Conference action at Golden Bear Stadium on Saturday. The visiting Bison end their season 1-9 overall and 0-7 in the NEFC while the Golden Bears are now 8-2 and 5-2 in the conference.

Senior Andrew Walz added three touchdown receptions of 13, 15 and 5 yards to set the Western New England career record with 21. Walz--who had four catches for 48 yards on the afternoon--came into the game tied with Mike Roach, who had 18 from 1995 to 1998.

Andre Rickerson paced Nichols with 102 yards rushing on 17 carries. Quarterback Michael McCourt added 70 yards on the ground and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Brett Franciosi to get the Bison on the scoreboard late in the second quarter.

The Golden Bears scored touchdowns on six of their first seven possessions. Western New England took the opening kickoff and marched 60 yards on nine plays in 2 minutes and 26 seconds to take a quick 7-0 lead. Ward found Walz for a 13-yard touchdown pass and the Golden Bears never looked back. After forcing Nichols on a 3-and-out, WNE's next scoring drive was even more impressive following a 53-yard punt downed at its own 22. No matter as freshman Dante Aiken finished off an eight-play, 78-yard drive in 2:56 with a 26-yard run for his first career TD.

Western New England's lead ballooned to 27-0 by the midway point of the second quarter as Walz hauled in a 15-yard TD catch and running back Cook caught a 20-yard TD pass of his own.

With 1:34 left in the first half, Nichols engineered a long drive that consumed 14 plays and 56 yards in 6:33 time of possession. Franciosi received a 6-yard TD pass.

Western New England responded immediately in a tidy 78 seconds with an eight-play, 70-yard drive of its own, capped by Walz's last TD reception--this time for 5 yards--with just 6 seconds left. The Golden Bears held a commanding 34-7 lead at the intermission.

The teams traded touchdowns in the second half. Cook scored from 15 yards out at the 10:19 mark of the third quarter to make it 41-7. Nichols' Robert Ricci had a fumble recovery in the end zone for a TD early in the fourth to close the scoring.

Western New England outgained Nichols in several statistical categories including first downs (23-15), total offense (463-257), passing yards (159-18) and rushing yards (304-239). The Bison, interestingly, held a 36:08 to 23:52 advantage in time of possession.

Defensively, senior Kyle Jones led the Golden Bears' effort with team highs of seven tackles and 10 total. Junior Dean Soucie added five solo and nine total, while senior Walter Lewis (1 TFL/2 yards, 1 PBU) and sophomore Robert Sihlanick (2.5 TFL/7 yards, 1 sack/5 yards) contributed seven total tackles apiece. Matthew McEvily led Nichols with a game-high 11 stops (8 solo), followed by Brett McEvoy with 10 (7 solo) and Michael Ready had seven (6 solo).