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Western New England University

The Official Home of Western New England University Athletics
FB 9.20.24
Bryan Hewitt
28
Winner Western New Eng. WNE 2-1 , 0-0
14
St. Lawrence SLU 1-2 , 0-0
Winner
Western New Eng. WNE
2-1 , 0-0
28
Final
14
St. Lawrence SLU
1-2 , 0-0
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
WNE Western New Eng. 0 14 7 7 28
SLU St. Lawrence 14 0 0 0 14

Game Recap: Football |

Defense Thumps St. Lawrence, Offense Provides Four Touchdowns in 28-14 Victory Friday

CANTON, N.Y. (September 20, 2024) – After finding themselves trailing 14-0 for the third straight game to open the season, the Western New England football team rallied back both defensively and offensively, as the WNE defense allowed just 56 yards in the final three quarters of the game while the offense produced three passing touchdowns to lead the way to a 28-14 victory over the Saints of St. Lawrence University (SLU) on Friday night.

 Records:
  • Western New England: 2-1
  • Lawrence University: 1-2
How it Happened:

The Western New England football team would win the opening kickoff of the game and elect to defer to receive the football in the second half, leaving the Saints of St. Lawrence University to receive the opening kickoff and mount the opening drive of the game. On their homecoming weekend, the Saints would start the game on time, coming away with the opening score of the game on their opening drive. St. Lawrence's leading rusher, Will Lederman, would lead the way for the opening score, running down the field for a 39-yard touchdown on a seven-play, 60-yard drive, giving SLU a quick 7-0 lead following the successful extra-point attempts by Clayton Folger. Western New England would look to open their first drive with points, seeing themselves trail in the opening quarter of the game for the third straight game to open the season. WNE would come out with two straight passes to start the game as Brady Lafferty would complete an 11-yard pass to Pat Harrigan while Lafferty would dial up a 12-yard pass to Cam LaPierre, grabbing two quick first downs. From there, Western New England's offense would be stymied by SLU's defense, as what looked to be a promising opening drive in response to the Saints touchdown would quickly result in a punt by John Moss for WNE, handing over the offense to the hosts.

Saint Lawerence would come out and put together a nine-play, 69-yard drive on their next opportunity and score their second touchdown of the game to take an early 14-0 lead over WNE. The offense for SLU would be highlighted by a 31-yard completion from SLU QB Daniel Lawther to WR Oskar Baldwin, while the two would link up again, this time in the end zone, picking up a 16-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 14-0 lead with four minutes to play in the opening quarter. The Western New England football team would see themselves trail by that score for the third straight week. To end the first quarter, the Golden Bears would look to put together points on the board in their second offensive opportunity of the game, though they would come up short on a fourth down play to turn the ball over on downs. Western New England's second drive would be highlighted again in the air as Lafferty would connect with Greg Perry for a WNE first down while the senior-to-senior linkup would continue with a 21-yard completion from Lafferty to De'Andre Harris, picking up another first down for the hosts. With a fourth and six opportunity looming, Western New England would fail to convert on the SLU 19-yard line, turning the ball back over to the Saints to end the quarter. Despite collecting four first downs and 75 yards of offense in the first quarter, the Golden Bears would be held off the scoreboard while St. Lawrence University notched 130 yards of offense, resulting in two touchdowns for 14 points to lead 14-0 after one quarter of play.

The Western New England defense, led by Nick Kolifrath, Thomas Gasbarro, and Jason Shumilla, would come up big to stop the Saints from driving on their opening drive of the second quarter. The WNE defense would quickly send the SLU offense off the field. Western New England would throw their first interception of the season on the next drive, though, again, the defense would not allow the Saints to move into scoring position, getting SLU off the field on a three-and-out drive, giving up just six yards as Malcom-Wilson Toliver, Kolifrath, and Shumilla would collect tackles to get the defense off the field. From there, Western New England would find their offensive game, coming away with their first score of the game on the next drive. Ryan Carlson would pick up 22 yards of offense on the next drive, while Brady Lafferty would find Ryan Larson for a 27-yard pass and catch, picking up the first six points of the game for the Golden Bears. John Moss would add his first career extra point for Western New England, giving the Golden Bears seven points on the board.

The Western New England defense would again kick the Saints off their own field on their second straight three-and-out, allowing the WNE offense back onto the field with three minutes left to play in the quarter. Despite coming off the field quick, the offense would get another chance after Ben Caulfield would pick-off Daniel Lawther, handing the ball back over to the WNE offense with 32 seconds left in the quarter. WNE would put together a five-play, 53-yard drive in just 32 seconds to find seven more points to tie the game at the half. Lafferty would start the drive with a 27-yard completion to Harrigan, while Larson would be back on the board with the next catch, a 13-yard grab. Western New England finished off the scoring drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Lafferty to De'Andre Harris, giving the Golden Bears their second touchdown of the quarter, evening the score at 14 at the half. In the second half, Western New England would hold the ball for just 6:51 of offense, though would produce 14 points. WNE collected 79 yards of offense and 57 yards of rushing, collecting 136 yards in the second quarter to Saint Lawrence's 57.

Western New England would receive the opening half kick and would start at the 35-yard line and would use over seven and a half minutes of clock on their opening drive, which would take 15 plays though would result in seven more points as the Golden Bears would score their third passing touchdown of the game to take their first lead of the contest. After the drive opened with just two yards on the first two plays, Lafferty would continue to sling the ball, completing a ten-yard pass to Perry to keep the drive alive. Lafferty would come up clutch for the WNE offense multiple times on third down, finding Tyler Borwhat for a 14-yard pass on third and 11 and again finding Harrigan on a fourth and three to continue to move the chains. The drive would end with a five-yard touchdown pass from Lafferty to Callaghan Daskam, the second straight week in which the two have combined for a WNE touchdown, giving the Golden Bears a 21-14 lead following the successful kick from Moss. 

Neither team would be able to generate anymore scoring in the quarter, as the TD from the Golden Bears would be the only scoring seen in the third quarter. The blue and gold would begin a drive with 1:10 to play in the third quarter and would carry that drive over into the fourth and final quarter of the game. Statistically, in the third quarter, WNE would pick up five first downs, while the WNE defense did not allow a Saint Lawrence first down in the quarter. SLU had just 18 yards of offense in the quarter, while the Golden Bears picked up exactly 100 yards of offense for the quarter. Jason Shumilla would pick up three tackles in the third quarter to keep the Saints off the scoreboard.

WNE would complete the drive they started at the end of the third quarter into the fourth quarter, and it would result in seven more points on the board in favor of the road team. Brady Lafferty opened the fourth quarter with two completions, including a 10-yard pass to Borwhat while a 17-yard pass would follow to Perry to keep the WNE offense on the field. The WNE run game would see Ryan Carlson and Matt LaMontagne pick up the final 20 yards of the drive, as LaMontagne capped off an 11-play 61-yard drive, converting a fourth-and-goal on the two-yard line to score six points for the Golden Bears to give WNE a 28-14 lead with 10:56 to play. The SLU offense would put up ten places and burn over five minutes of clock on their next drive of the game though would move just 20 yards up the field and would fail to convert on a fourth and 14 to go after Rogan Wotherspoon would quickly set the Saints offense with a 12-yard sack. Saint Lawrence would turn the ball over on downs, handing the ball over to the Golden Bears with just over five minutes to play in the game.
Western New England would need just one first down in the game to end it and would get that after Alex Silva made his WNE debut, followed by a Lafferty rush to give WNE a first down at the two-minute warning. Matt LaMontagne would finish off the game with a 16-yard run to put the game on ice as the Golden Bears football team would come away with a 28-14 victory over St. Lawrence University, their first road win of the season.

Inside the Lines:
  • After trailing 14-0 to start the game for the third time this season, the WNE defense held St. Lawrence to zero points in the second, third, and fourth quarters while the Golden Bears stormed back for 28 unanswered points to pick up the win. SLU collected just 56 yards total in the final three quarters after opening the game with 159 first quarter yards.
  • Jason Shumilla led the Golden Bears with six solo tackles and three assisted tackles, good for nine tackles in the win. Shumilla came up with one tackle for loss and one breakup pass.
  • Both Rogan Wotherspoon and Maurice Henlon picked up a solo sack, dropping St. Lawrence pack 17 yards.
  • Ben Caulfield picked up an interception for the WNE defense.
  • Offensively, Brady Lafferty commanded the QB position for WNE, completing 17 passes for 234 yards while tossing three touchdown passes. On the ground, WNE saw Matt LaMontagne run 16 times for 73 yards, picking up a TD. Ryan Carlson ran 17 times for 68 yards in the win.
  • Through the air, Western New England saw seven different receivers catch at least one pass, including De'Andre Harris, who grabbed three passes for 65 yards and a TD. Ryan Larson (2 catches for 40 yards) and Callaghan Daskam (1 catch for 5 yards) were the other two recipients of a touchdown.
  • WNE was only forced to punt three times in the contest while Rhys Suprenant made his WNE debut, completing four kickoffs.
  • In total, WNE produced 382 yards of offense while holding SLU to just 225 yards. The Saints produced just 11 first downs in their third straight loss to the Golden Bears overall.
Coaches Corner:
  • When asked about the outstanding play of the WNE defense in tonight's win, Head Coach Jason Lebeau commented "We came out a little slow tonight and got down early 14-0. Credit to them scripting quality openers for their offense. Once our defense settled down, we were able to execute at a high level. Defense never stopped believing in the plan."
  • Lebeau also commented on the play of his quarterback, Brady Lafferty, after tossing three touchdowns and leading WNE to a comeback victory. ""Brady is confident right now and playing at a high level. Our team has a lot of faith in him. Our offense put together a gritty performance and made a lot of plays when it mattered. Being down 14-0 does not bother this team. However, we do understand we need to start games better moving forward."
Up Next on the Schedule:
  • The Golden Bears return home for a non-conference contest with Susquehanna University from Golden Bear Stadium on Saturday, September 28 at 1:00 PM.
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