SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (September 6, 2024) – The Western New England football team saw an early 21-6 deficit turn into a 32-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter of play, but the Pride of Springfield College would score the final ten points of the game to take a 38-32 victory over the Golden Bears in the annual SAW Pynchon Game under the lights at Stagg Field on Friday. 

Records:

• Western New England: 0-1
• Springfield College: 1-0

How it Happened:

It took just two plays and 54-yards for the Pride to score on the opening drive of the game. A 51-yard rushing touchdown by 1,200 yard rusher from 2023, Arsen Shtefan, would give the Pride the early 7-0 lead. Western New England would march their offense onto the field for the first time in 2024 and would run a six-play drive that would muscle just 14-yards of offense, failing to match Springfield's opening drive score, forcing the Golden Bears to punt the ball away. The Pride would be on the board again on their very next drive of the game after an eight-play, 79 yard sequence would result in a 14-point lead for the home team as Joseph Cannizza would rush home an eight yard touchdown to give the Pride the 14-0 lead. WNE would muster just 25 yards of offense in the first quarter while Springfield would rush for 146 yards and total 163 yards of offense in the first quarter. 

The first play of the second quarter would go in favor of the visitors, as the Golden Bears would get on the board for the first time in 2024 after senior QB Brady Lafferty would find senior Pat Harrigan for a 40-yard touchdown pass, putting the Golden Bears on the scoreboard, trailing the Pride 14-6. WNE would fail to convert their extra point, trailing by eight points after the score. The Pride would swiftly answer with another rushing touchdown, this time coming by Springfield's QB Jacob Silvester. The five play, 56-yard drive would be sparked with a 53-yard rushing play by Shtefan, while Springfield would convert on second-and-goal, taking a 21-6 lead over the Golden Bears. Western New England would quickly be forced off the field in their next drive of the quarter, picking up just three plays and losing eight yards of offense in the sequence as Billy Carr, a 50 tackle man in 2023, would wrap up the WNE quarterback to knock the Golden Bears off the field. Fortunately for Western New England, Springfield would fumble the football as Tyler Reinke would recover the ball which would start some momentum for the visitors. Two drives later, Western New England would pick up a four play, 66-yard drive that ended up in the endzone for six more points for the Golden Bears as running back Jason Black would record his first career touchdown run for Western New England, as the Golden Bears would now trail 21-12. The drive would be sparked by two successful pass plays by Lafferty to Harrigan, as the two linked up for 46 yards of offense on the drive. "Our guys are very resilient," said Western New England Football Head Coach Jason Lebeau. "There was never a doubt we would be in this game in the fourth quarter. They continued to stick together and battle."

Following the touchdown by the Golden Bears, Springfield would pick up their second fumble of the game as Tyler Reinke would be involved on the fumble again, this time forcing the fumble while Cayden Porter would recover the ball, sending the Western New England offense back on the field. The offense would work a seven play 44-yard drive, capped off by an 18-yard touchdown pass from Lafferty to Cam LaPierre, while Chris Digiacomo would connect on the point after attempt, getting Western New England back within two points after trailing by as many as 15 in the game. On the next play of the game, a kickoff, Wilbraham, Massachusetts native Joe Maurer would take the ball 95-yards to give the Pride a 28-19 lead, a lead which stood at the half. 

The Golden Bears would open the second half with the ball and would march down the field for an eight play, 71-yard score after Ryan Carlson would drive into the endzone to get Western New England back within two points of the lead. Jason Black would lead the Golden Bears in the contest in rushing and picked up 24 yards on the drive to set up Carlson for the score. Springfield College would get aggressive on their first offensive drive of the game and that would come back to backfire on the team as a fourth and three pass with 5:50 to play would fail, turning the ball over on downs, handing the ball back to the Golden Bears. The Golden Bears would take advantage of the miscue by the home team and would erase their deficit and take their first lead of the game on a 15-yard rush from Jason Black, giving WNE a 32-28 lead. Brady Lafferty would dial up a 28-yard completion to Greg Perry on the drive while Black would finish the play on a seven play 63-yard drive. The Golden Bears would go for a two-point conversion though would not be able to capitalize, taking a four-point lead at the end of the third quarter. When asked about the play of Black, Lebeau mentioned the trust the team already has in the first-year running back. "We have a lot of trust in Jason (Black) and knew he would have a good game tonight. He is extremely coachable and will continue to get better as we move forward." 

Springfield College would open the fourth quarter with a touchdown, erasing Western New England's lead quickly as Blaine Hart would get into the endzone again. SC would take a 35-32 lead with still 13:47 to play in the final frame. On the ensuing drive, Western New England would fail to move the ball up field as a sack would cost the Golden Bears while a five-yard punt would put Springfield College in quick scoring position. The Pride would record a touchdown on their next drive, though it would be taken back on a flag on the play so Springfield College would settle for a 28-yard field goal that would be kicked through the uprights, giving the home team the 38-32 lead. 

The opening play of the next offensive drive for the Golden Bears would result in the first interception of the game as the Pride would quickly kick Western New England off the field. Multiple defensive Golden Bears would help get Springfield off the field to give WNE one final chance to score to tie the game or take the lead. Malcolm Wilson-Toliver, Ike Ogbonnanze, Jason Shumilla, Tyler Reinke, Joe McNamara, and Ben Caulfield would all help the Golden Bears get the offense back on the field. On their final offensive drive of the game, the Golden Bears would earn one first down though would be backed up on Springfield's third sack of Lafferty of the game, forcing a fourth and 11 in which the Golden Bears would not be able to come away with a score, allowing the Pride to end the game with a 38-32 victory over the Golden Bears, taking the SAW Pynchon Game for the second straight season. 

"We played really hard tonight but did have some mistakes that we will fix." ended Lebeau. "However, there are more positives than negatives for us moving forward. That is a good football team we played tonight. We will be ready next week."

Inside the Lines:

• The Golden Bears saw QB Brady Lafferty complete 13 passes for 202 yards, throwing two touchdowns in the losing effort. 
• Pat Harrigan led the receiving core for Western New England, picking up five catches for 122 yards, scoring one touchdown. 
• On the ground, Western New England's Jason Black rushed 14 times for 73 yards, collecting two touchdowns in the game. 
• On defense, Western New England saw Ike Ogbonnanze total five solo and four assisted tackles, good for nine total tackles in the game. Michael Canavatchel, Rogan Wotherspoon, and Tyler Reinke all recorded seven tackles, each. 
• WNE wiped away a 21-6 lead to take a 32-28 lead after three quarters of play, though would see Springfield College outscore the Golden Bears 10-0 in the final quarter to come away with the win. 
• Arsen Shtefan ran 26 times for 215 yards as the Pride ran the ball on 58 of their 65 plays on the night, totaling 362 rush yards. 
• WNE netted 295 yards of offense, though was forced to punt five times, averaging 25.4 yards per punt.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England opens their home schedule on Saturday, September 14 at 1:00 PM, welcoming Salve Regina University for Family Appreciation Day at Golden Bear Stadium.