DUDLEY, Mass. (November 16, 2024) – The Western New England football team dropped 56 points on the hosting Bison of Nichols College on Saturday afternoon to come away with a commanding 56-28 victory. Three Golden Bears, Matt LaMontagne, Paul Gorry, and Greg Perry, picked up two touchdowns each for Western New England, while the WNE defense came away with three sacks, led by Nick Kolifrath, who had one and a half.

Records:

• Western New England: 6-4, 4-2 CNE
• Nichols College: 3-7, 0-6 CNE

How It Happened:

The Golden Bears would receive the opening kickoff of the game and would set their offense up at the Nichols 29-yard line after Matthew McGuire would bring the ball 20 yards up the field to start WNE off. Brady Lafferty would complete his first four passes of the game: a seven-yard pass to Ryan Larson, a four-yard dish to Pat Harrigan, a five-yard completion to Ryan Carlson, and an eight-yard pass to Tyler Borwhat to keep the chains moving. Matt LaMontagne would spark a 19-yard run on the drive while the Golden Bears would finish the drive with seven points as Lafferty would link up with senior Greg Perry for a six-yard touchdown pass, giving the Golden Bears a 6-0 lead. John Moss would add the extra point for the Golden Bears to put WNE ahead 7-0 with 10:35 to play in the first quarter after the 11-play 71-yard drive would end in a score. Nick Kolifrath would force the Bison off the field quickly with a tackle to open the Nichols offense, as the Bison were off the field in just 47 seconds. The Golden Bears would be on the scoreboard again, needing just 1:06 to find seven more points to extend their first quarter lead. Ryan Carlson would run for 15 yards while the drive would finish off with a 41-yard touchdown pass from Lafferty to Cam LaPierre, giving the Golden Bears a 14-0 lead with still 8:41 to play in the first frame. Nichols would get on the board on their next drive of the game after a big 65-yard touchdown catch and run from quarterback Will Migliaccio to Jack Morvan would result in the first score of the game for the home team, cutting the Golden Bears lead back to seven, following a made extra point from Danny McKenney. The Nichols defense would then come up with a big interception to interrupt Western New England's next drive of the quarter as Nichols' Derrick Revolus would start the Bison in great field position at the WNE 39-yard line. The Bison would drive for three minutes and 30 seconds, needing eight plays on the drive, but the Western New England defense would come up with a big stop on fourth and five to force an incomplete pass to jump start their next offensive drive. Western New England's Jason Shumillia would record two tackles on the drive while Nathaniel Mathis would follow suit with two of his own. Despite the stop from the WNE defense, the Golden Bears would not be able to take advantage of the momentum, being forced to punt the ball away after gaining just nine yards in five plays on the drive. The Golden Bears would take a 14-7 lead after one quarter of play. WNE recorded seven first downs, 55 rushing yards, and 86 passing yards in the first quarter, good for 141 total yards overall in the first 15 minutes.

The first play of the second quarter would result in six more points for the Bison after another long touchdown pass would be completed by Migliaccio, this time to Joshua Vitti, who hauled in a 44-yard touchdown pass. The Bison would convert the extra point and would even the score at 14 after just two plays. 46-yard drive. Following the score from Nichols, Western New England would use nearly half of the rest of the quarter to convert seven more points of the board to regain the lead after a 13-play, 64-yard drive would result in points for the Golden Bears. The drive would be highlighted by an 11-yard run from Matt LaMontagne, while Brady Lefferty would find De'Andre Harris for a 22-yard pass to convert a WNE first down. The Golden Bears would continue to march down the field, converting small yet important yardage on each play. The final play of the drive would come on third and one from the Nicols one-yard line when Paul Gorry would take the snap and rush into the end zone for the Golden Bears, picking up his fourth rushing touchdown of the season to earn the Golden Bears their lead back. Western New England's extra point would fly through the uprights, leading Nichols 21-14. The Golden Bears would score again in the second quarter to again take a 14-point lead. This time the Golden Bears would use three big plays to move down the field, going 86 yards in five plays in just 1:23 to pick up points. The drive would open with a 13-yard completion pass to Ryan Larson, while LaMontagne would rush for 20 yards and then for 14 yards, converting 14 yards on the play. A personal foul penalty on Nichols would move Western New England up to the Nichols 24 yard line, where Lafferty would let the ball fly in the air to Greg Perry, who would receive his second touchdown on the day, taking Western New England's lead back to 14-28-14. Western New England would make a stop on defense in the final two minutes of the half, taking a 28-14 lead after 30 minutes of play. The second quarter brought 63 yards of running and 116 yards of passing and receiving for the blue and gold. Nichols ran for just one yard in the second while passing for 73.

Four different tacklers for the Golden Bears would open the third quarter by quickly forcing Nichols off the field. Nathaniel Mathis, Rogan Wotherspoon, Nick Kolifrath, and Maclom Wilson-Toliver would pick up tackles that saw just a three-play, five-yard drive for the Bison end. The Golden Bears would take advantage of their first offensive possession in the second half, scoring more points. WNE needed 11 plays and just over five minutes of game time to grab a 35-14 lead. The small plays would lead to the biggest play of the drive for Western New England when LaMontagne sprinted 31 yards to the house for a touchdown, giving the Golden Bears the 21 point lead, their largest of the game. WNE continued to add to their score in the third quarter after Lafferty would toss his fourth touchdown of the game to his third different receiver as Callaghan Daskam would grab a 13-yard score, his sixth touchdown of the season, giving WNE a commanding 42-14 lead. Western New England would go nine plays and 70 yards down the field to convert the score. WNE would pull off trickery right before the score when Cam LaPierre tossed a 27-yard completion to Pat Harrigan to set up the Golden Bears on the score. That is how the quarter would end, with the Golden Bears leading 42-14, scoring 14 more points in the quarter overall. Nichols produced 64 yards of throwing in the third quarter, while the Bison ran for negative yardage overall. WNE rushed for 74 yards while throwing for 66, picking up over 100 yards in all three quarters to start the game.

Both teams would come across with 14 points in the fourth quarters each. Nichols would put up the first touchdown of the quarter after a 15-yard touchdown would be converted to shrink Western New England's lead down to 21, 42-21. Western New England would continue to score with their high-powered offense as LaMontagne would rush his second touchdown of the game to the house to give the Golden Bears their 28-point lead back, 49-21. The sophomore would have a career day on the ground overall. The drive would go eight plays and 60 yards for the Golden Bears, who put up a game high in points on the afternoon for the season. The two teams would trade scores in the quarter as Nichols would be on the board again, seeing a reception from Topher Ryan give the Bison 28 points for the game. WNE would put up one final score for their season when Paul Gorry rushed for a two-yard gain, completed a 39-yard pass to De'Andre Harris, and then finished up the quick four-play drive with a 21-yard rushing touchdown, his second of the afternoon, giving the Golden Bears a 56-28 lead, a lead in which WNE held for the remainder of the game, defeating Nichols College by the 28-point margin.

Inside the Lines:

• Offensively, the Golden Bears were dominant on the run, rushing for 267 total yards in the game. Matt LaMontagne ran 15 times for WNE for 163 total net yards while scoring twice in the game, a career high in rush yards. Ryan Carlson contributed 16 carries for 74 yards overall.
• Paul Gorry completed one pass in the game for 39 yards while running six times for 37 yards, running home two WNE touchdowns.
• Brady Lafferty threw 27 completions for 45 yards and four touchdowns on the day. Lafferty grabbed 249 total yards of offense for WNE.
• Three different receivers caught a touchdown pass for the Golden Bears, as Cam LaPierre, Callaghan Daskam, and Greg Perry (2) were all on the board for WNE. De'Andre Harris caught three passes for 74 yards, the most for the Golden Bears in terms of yardage.
• Nick Kolifrath stepped up in a big way for the Golden Bears, picking up four solo tackles, two assisted tackles, three total tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.
• Austin Pzczolkowski picked up a full sack for a loss of 11 yards for WNE in the game.
• DJ Gordon had an interception for WNE on the day, his second of the season.
• John Moss was a perfect 8/8 on PATs on the afternoon to lead the WNE special teams.

Coaches Corner:

• Head Coach Jason Lebeau praised his squad after their final game of the season. "Bigger than wins and loses, we had a great group of guys this season that were closely connected from day one. I will always remember the people and relationships from the 2024 team. I look forward to building off the positives from this year and growing from some of our mistakes. The growth process towards 2025 begins right away."

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England wraps up their ten-game slate with a 6-4 record, 3-2 in Conference of New England play.