SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 19, 2024) – The Western New England football team dropped the visiting Colonels of Curry College on Saturday afternoon from Golden Bear Stadium on Golden Bear weekend, taking a win in their first Conference of New England game 47-21.

Records:

• Western New England: 4-2, 1-0 CNE
• Curry College: 2-4, 0-1 CNE

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears got off to a slow start after winning the opening kickoff and electing to receive. The WNE offense would quickly be forced off the field by Adem Kica of Curry, while two pass incompletions would send Western New England to a quick three-and-out. The Colonels would rush up the field on just three plays to put the first six points on the scoreboard on their opening drive after Curry RB Montie Quinn would collect two rushes for 22 yards, while a pass from Colonels QB Michael Moriarty would find Colin Ridley for a 39-yard score to put Curry ahead early 6-0. The Colonels would drain the extra point to take the first 7-0 lead. On the next offensive drive of the game for the Golden Bears, points would be added to the scoreboard after a six-play, 48-yard drive would result in three points after Chris Digiacomo would put together a 24-yard field goal for WNE, who trailed 7-3. The Western New England defense would come up large on the next drive of the game for Curry, seeing Thomas Gasbarro, JJ Josefik, and Garrett Swayhoover step up in a big way to force Curry to punt, which would result in just an 18-yard boot to get WNE good starting field position, looking to take their first lead of the game. That is exactly what the offense did for Western New England, as an eight-play, 82-yard drive resulted in seven points for the Golden Bears to give WNE a 10-7 lead. On the drive, De'Andre Harris would grab two catches combining for over 30 yards, while Ryan Carlson would move the ball up the field on a 13-yard rush. On first down and ten from the 17, the Golden Bears would put together a 17-yard touchdown pass when Brady Lafferty found Greg Perry in the endzone for the score, giving WNE the lead following the extra point made by John Moss with 1:59 to play in the opening quarter. Curry would continue their next drive of the game in the second quarter after collecting four first downs and over 100 yards of offense in the quarter.

Western New England would force Curry off the field in the opening stages of the second quarter after an incomplete pass would be thrown on fourth down at the WNE 43-yard line, giving Western New England another good starting position. Cam LaPierre's 22-yard catch to start the drive would spark the offense to quickly move down the field as the drive would be capped off with the second throwing touchdown of the game from Lafferty, this time finding Pat Harrigan in the endzone for the 23-yard score, giving Western New England a 16-7 lead. The Colonels would not go away easily, as with 7:08 to play in the second quarter, Curry would pick up another Moritary to Ridley connection, this time for a 15-yard score, as the Colonels got within two points of the lead, a 16-14 deficit.

The Golden Bears would come around and continue to put drives together that would result in points as a 42-yard touchdown pass from Lafferty to Harris would be the next score of the game for the Golden Bears, who took a 23-14 lead. Curry would go three-and-out thanks to Swayhoover, who made two tackles on the three plays from Curry. Western New England would beat the buzzer to end the half as Digiacomo would connect on a 29-yard field goal to give Western New England a 26-14 lead at the half. The Golden Bears totaled 12 first downs in the second quarter and 149 receiving yards to lead the way.

Limited scoring would be seen in the third quarter as the visiting Colonels would be held without a point in the frame. The Western New England defense, led by Jason Shumilla and Thomas Gasbarro, would prove to be too much for the Colonels in the quarter. WNE would put together a ten-play drive on their opening drive of the half though would not be able to record any points on the board. Same could not be said for their second offensive drive of the quarter when Cam LaPierre would catch his third touchdown pass in two playing weeks, coming away with a four-yard score to give the Golden Bears a 33-14 lead. Ryan Larson would collect a 22-yard catch on the play to lead the offense down the field. WNE would take that lead into the final quarter of play after picking up 77 total yards in the quarter while holding Curry to just 22.

It would be all WNE in the fourth quarter as the Golden Bears would collect an early touchdown to quickly put the game out of reach. Matt LaMontagne would pick up the seven-yard score for WNE to give the Golden Bears a commanding 40-14 lead. Ryan Carlson would bring the ball 27 yards down the field to lead the run game on the drive that last just 2:18 to get a score for the Golden Bears. Curry would come back and score with still 7:32 remaining in the game as Moritarty would scramble from five yards out to find the endzone, getting Curry their only score of the second half. Paul Gorry would and Callaghan Daskam would cap off the final touchdown of the game for Western New England as WNE would record a 35-yard touchdown pass to lead 47-21. Western New England's defense would drop Curry on their final two drives of the game, holding the Colonels to seven rushing yards of offense in the fourth quarter to take the first CNE victory of the season, a win by 26 points.

Inside the Lines:

• Brady Lafferty threw 17 completions for the Golden Bears on 25 attempts, tossing for 290 yards and four total touchdowns.
• Ryan Carlson ran the ball 20 times for Western New England, netting over 100 yards in the game, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Matt LaMontagne had the rushing touchdown for Western New England, running a total of 11 times for 47 yards.
• De'Andre Harris recorded seven WNE catches for 135 total yards while scoring a touchdown. Cam LaPierre, Pat Harrigan, Callaghan Daskam, and Greg Perry picked up the other four TD's through the air for the Golden Bears.
• Defensively, Western New England saw Garrett Swayhoover record seven total tackles, three solo and four assisted, while picking up 0.5 tackle for loss. Nick Kolifrath was in on seven tackles while forcing one fumble.
• WNE pushed Curry back for a total of six tackles for loss, led by Thomas Gasbarro, who recorded 1.5 tackles for loss, two breakup passes, and six total tackles.
• Adem Kica totaled 14 tackles for the Colonels to lead the way, including 0.5 tackle for loss. Albert Pujols recorded nine tackles in the game for Curry.
• Chris Digiacomo collected two field goals for Western New England, a 24-yarder and a 29-yarder. John Moss punted twice, once inside the 20-yard line.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England remains at home for their next game against Endicott College on Saturday, October 26 at 1:00 PM.