SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 21, 2023) – The Western New England football team needed a last-minute touchdown in the final minute of Saturday afternoon's homecoming game to defeat the visiting Eagles of Husson University, taking down the Eagles by a final score of 10-9.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-3, 1-1 CCC
• Husson University: 5-2, 1-1 CCC

How it Happened:
After winning their previous five games over the Eagles before suffering their first loss in program history in 2022, Western New England looked for revenge on their guests on Saturday afternoon, looking to rebound from a 27-17 loss on the road. Husson could not mount a point on their first drive of the afternoon after Joe Shea came away with a six-yard loss sack on reigning CCC Player of the Year Nic Visser to force the Eagles to punt in the opening five minutes of the game. Neither team would be able to come away with a point on their first drives of the game after Western New England was quickly kicked off the field, grabbing just nine yards on their opening drive. The WNE defense came up big all afternoon long, coming away with a blocked punt when Jason Shumilla stuffed the Eagles next drive to give Western New England prime field position.

The Golden Bears mounted just 12 yards on the ensuing drive, though they came away with their first points of the game when Andrew Havens sent a 33-yard field goal through the uprights, giving the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead. Following the field goal, Western New England would take the Eagles off the field in quick succession when Ben Caulfield, Joe McNamara, Kyle Holt, and Donovan Davis stuffed the Eagles to take Husson off the field. No scoring would come after that, sending the teams into the second quarter of play.

Much like the first quarter, defense would be the name of the game as both teams were forced off the field quickly. Jake Chiasson, Joe Shea, and Dalton Franco would come away with remarkable defensive stops for the Golden Bears as Franco forced a fumble on Nic Visser, though Husson would recover their fumble, which brought up a fourth down punt. From there, neither team would come away with a point, as the lead was 3-0 in favor of the Golden Bears.

Another scoreless quarter would come about in the third as Western New England and Husson would continue to stay strong on the defensive end. The third quarter would end with a fumble by the Golden Bears on fourth down, resulting in an Eagles possession.

Husson grabbed their first three points of the game to begin the third quarter after a ten-play, 36-yard drive that would result in three points for the Eagles on a 43-yard field goal from Cason Markevich. Western New England would creep into Husson's defensive territory before another fumble would be coughed up by the blue and gold, this time recovered by the visitors as Husson took over on offense and made the Golden Bears pay for the turnovers. The Eagles would chew off 6:06 of the game clock in the fourth quarter on their 11-play, 64-yard drive, which resulted in six points on a two-yard touchdown run from Elijah Garnett, giving Husson their first lead of the game, 9-3. With just 2:10 on the clock, Western New England would need to put together their best drive of the afternoon in order to pull out the victory. Western New England would begin with a 34-yard pass from Conrad Swanson to De'Andre Harris to go along with a facemask penalty on the Eagles that pushed up WNE to the Husson 38-yard line. Swanson would make timely passes, completing passes to Tyler Borwhat and Ryan Larson to help WNE march down the field. A 74-yard drive would be capped off with 1:05 to play in the contest when De'Andre Harris grabbed his second touchdown of the season from nine yards out, getting the Golden Bears even with Husson. An extra-point attempt would sail through the uprights from Andrew Havens, giving WNE a 10-9 lead. Husson would begin their final drive of the game with 1:05 to play and would move down the field in quick succession. The game would come down to one final field goal attempt with Carson Markevich attempting a 49-yard chance, which would come up well short of the uprights as Western New England would survive and come away with a 10-9 victory over Husson.

Inside the Box:

• WNE completed 12 passes in the afternoon on 19 attempts, with Conrad Swanson helping Western New England to their game-winning TD drive, throwing for 106 yards in the win.
• On the ground, Dillon Kohl attempted 13 rushes for 50 yards. WNE recorded 88 rush yards in the game.
• De'Andre Harris recorded the final touchdown catch of the game, his second TD catch of the season.
• The WNE defense stood tall in the win, led by Jake Chiasson and Joe Shea, who both recorded ten tackles. Chiasson recorded 2.5 tackles for a loss, and Shea recorded three tackles for a loss to lead the Golden Bears.
• Ben Caulfield recorded six solo tackles, the most on the team.
• Tucker Buzzell recorded 12 tackles to lead all defensive players for Husson.
• Offensively, Nic Visser completed 20 passes on 34 attempts, throwing for 179 yards. On the ground, Elijah Garnett recorded 22 rushing attempts for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England travels to the University of New England on Saturday, October 28 for a 1:00 PM kickoff in CCC play.