SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 20, 2021) – The Western New England football team hosted their first New England Bowl game earlier today where USMMA defeated the Golden Bears 63-35.

Records:

• Merchant Marine: 9-1, 5-1 NEWMAC
• Western New England: 7-4, 5-1 CCC

How It Happened:

The Mariners came out strong scoring 35 unanswered points in the first half before the Golden Bears we able to get any momentum offensively. Western New England punched in a touchdown with a run from Ryan Carlson on the one-yard line to cap off a nine play, 53-yard drive followed by an extra point by Matt Gilbert to get the Golden Bears on the board. Merchant Marine led 35-7 at halftime.

The second half opened with Western New England recording a six play, 35-yard drive with Steven Fedorchak catching a pass in the endzone from Conrad Swanson. Another good PAT for Gilbert gave the Golden Bears 14 points to the Mariners' 35. Merchant Marine answered to extend their lead 42-14 with 7:09 left in the third quarter. On the very next drive, the Golden Bears scored another touchdown this time Swanson ran the ball in from the seven to end an 11 play, 74-yard drive. Gilbert continued his success with another good PAT to get Western New England within 21 of the Mariners with 3:13 left in the third quarter. Just 10 seconds later Merchant Marine stole momentum with a 45-yard touchdown pass to lead 49-21. The Mariners scored one more before the end of the third to lead 56-21 heading into the final quarter.

It was in the fourth quarter where the Golden Bears outscored the Mariners 14-7. Western New England scored first on a 13-yard pass from Swanson to Fedorchak with a good Pat to get the Golden Bears to 28 points on the game. This only motivated the Mariners who scored on a 30-yard pass from Ian Blakenship to Matt Strong with a good PAT to score their final points of the game. The Golden Bears continued to push the ball offensively and Fedorchak had a diving 23-yard touchdown catch from Swanson to record the Golden Bears final points of the 2021 season. Western New England fell 63-35 in their first New England Bowl game.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears tallied 412 yards of offense, 234 passing and 178 rushing while the Mariners earned 579 yards, 429 on the ground and 150 in the air.
• Swanson stepped in as the back-up quarterback early on in the game and went 13-for-36 to total 234 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
• Swanson was also instrumental on the ground recording 15 rushes for 79 yards with one touchdown. Ian Britt recorded 12 attempts for 44 yards.
• Fedorchak led the receivers with six catches, three for touchdowns, and a total of 130 yards on the game. Matt Eylander tallied just two catches for 50 yards.
• Gilbert went 5-for-5 on PATs while Nolan Izzo kicked the ball off four times to total 221 yards.
• Erich Keutmann led the Golden Bears defense with 21 tackles, 14 solo and seven assisted while Joshua Salem recorded 17 tackles, seven solo and 10 assisted. Salem earned a sack for eight yards along with three tackles for losses of 20 total yards. Salem also forced a fumble in the game.
• Bailey Devine-Scott, Aaron Lamar, and Brine Wotherspoon all tallied seven tackles in the game while Jerry Woodard earned an interception and returned it for 18 yards.