Box Score UTICA, N.Y. (September 18, 2021) – The Western New England football team traveled to Utica College this evening to challenge Utica College for the first time in school history where the back-and-forth battle between the Golden Bears and the Pioneers ended with Utica winning 37-28.
Records:
- Utica College: 3-0
- Western New England: 2-1
How It Happened:
In a back-and-forth battle where both defense and offense shined, the Golden Bears came up short 37-28 to the Utica College Pioneers.
The Golden Bears scored the first touchdown at the 11:44 mark in the first quarter when Steven Fedorchak caught a 25-yard pass from Bryce Karstetter in the back right of the endzone followed by Matt Gilbert converting on the extra point to give the Golden Bears a 7-0 lead after a nine play, 75-yard opening drive. At the 7:08 mark, the Pioneers responded with a made field goal from the 47 to put the game at 7-3 in favor of Western New England. Less than three minutes later, at the 4:48 mark, Karstetter connected with Adam Razza in the endzone for a 23-yard pass in a six play 75-yard drive that was completed with a good extra point by Gilbert. The Golden Bears led 14-3. The Pioneers just kicked their offense up a notch to score on a 10-yard run at the 2:03 mark and made the extra point to get back within four (14-10). The first quarter ended with the Golden Bears ahead 14-10.
In the second quarter, the Golden Bears pinned the Pioneers in their own end zone and then were able to record a safety, which earned the team two points and the ball. In their next drive, Western New England went 74-yards in 16 plays to set Gilbert up for a 22-yard field goal that he made. At the half, the Golden Bears led the Pioneers 19-17.
In the second half, Utica took their offensive game to another level. The Pioneers opened the second half with a four play, 71-yard drive for a touchdown at the 13:32 mark along with the extra point to put themselves ahead 24-19. The rest of the quarter the two were evenly matched until the Golden Bears capitalized on their last drive of the quarter. The 10 play, 62-yard drive resulted in Gilbert making a 32-yard field goal to put Western New England within two of the Pioneers (24-22) heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
The fourth quarter was a scoring frenzy, starting with the Golden Bears taking the 28-24 lead after Karstetter connected with Razza on a 10-yard pass followed by the Golden Bears being unsuccessful on the two-point conversion. The Golden Bears had gone 83-yards in seven plays to take the 28-24 at the 6:52 mark. At the 5:06 mark, the Pioneers answered with a 23-yard pass to the endzone followed by a missed extra point to put Utica in the lead 30-28 with just over five minutes left to play. The Golden Bears were in desperation mode and attempting to regain possession later in the game and fell victim to the deep pass where the Pioneers had a 67-yard touchdown pass at the 2:31 mark to win the game 37-28 and serve the Golden Bears their first loss of the season.
Inside the Numbers:
- Western New England had 25 first downs to the Pioneers 17 while Utica recorded 492 yards of offense to the Golden Bear's 412.
- Utica tallied 368 yards passing and 124 yards rushing while the Golden Bears earned 240 yards passing and 172 yards rushing.
- There was a total of 18 penalties in the game with Utica earning 15 for a loss of 157 yards.
- Karstetter was 21-for-40 on the night for a total of 240 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
- EJ Dudley led the Golden Bears in rushing with 20 attempts and a total of 137 yards. Dudley's longest run of the night was 38-yards. Dillon Kohl also had a busy night with 12 carries for 37 yards.
- Fedorchak tallied seven catches for 90-yards and one touchdown while Razza recorded the longest completion of 34-yards on his four catches for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
- Gilbert went 2-for-2 in both field goals and extra points with his longest field goal being 32-yards. Gilbert scored a total of eight points in the game.
- Erich Keutmann led the Golden Bears defense with 10 tackles while Bailey Devine-Scott and Joshua Salem both tallied eight on the night.
- Ricky Montalvo recorded an interception for four yards.
Up Next:
The Golden Bears are on the road again next weekend for the third weekend in a row as Western New England travels to Salisbury on Saturday, September 25th for a 12 p.m. kickoff.
