SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 14, 2025) – Coming off a resounding 70-7 win in their final road game of the season last week, the Western New England football team returns home for the final game of the season on Saturday afternoon, hosting Nichols College in Conference of New England action on the final day of the regular season. WNE Football will honor its class of 2026 prior to kickoff, recognizing 11 outstanding seniors. 

Last Time Out:

Western New England had their way in the thumping last weekend over Maine Maritime Academy, picking up 70 points in the 70-7 victory. The Golden Bears scored on every offensive drive they had, opening with a 56-yard touchdown reception to cap off a quick two-play, 76-yard drive that needed just 39 seconds after the WNE defense got the Mariners off the field with ease to begin the game. The WNE defense had an answer for every MMA drive, kicking the home team off its own turf with a pair of three-and-outs to begin the game. The dominant Golden Bears' offense collected three touchdowns in the opening quarter to open the game with a 21-0 lead after the first 15 minutes of play. The Golden Bears opened the second quarter with another score, finishing out a five-play, 59-yard drive, taking just ten seconds of the opening quarter to score again. WNE picked up four touchdowns in the second quarter overall, while the Mariners came away with just a single score for the entire game, coming in the second quarter, as the blue and gold led 49-7 after the opening 30 minutes of play. 

Three rushing touchdowns by the Golden Bears capped off the scoring in the second half, seeing WNE run away with the game early and score its most points in a game since November 4, 2023, when the blue and gold took care of this Saturday's opponent, Nichols College, 69-28. In total, MMA completed two passes on eight tries, throwing for a total of 27 yards, while the Mariners' run game amassed 166 total yards, scoring just the one touchdown. Western New England threw for 341 yards in total, going 24/26 in the game. The run game produced 304 net yards on 34 carries, averaging just under nine yards per run. The WNE defense recorded a pair of sacks and two interceptions to earn a big win in the final road game of the year. 

Nichols College is coming off a 63-19 loss last time out on home field against the Eagles of Husson University. The Bison have lost their last four games overall and have given up 248 points in those four games combined. The Bison trailed by just seven heading into the second quarter thanks to a late touchdown with 1:42 remaining in the frame on a seven-play, 62-yard drive that ended in a 34-yard touchdown. Husson quickly took over in the second quarter, outscoring the Bison 14-0 as the Nichols defense could not stop the pass game from Husson as the Eagles threw for 181 yards and four touchdowns in their win. The Eagles took a 28-7 lead at the half and scored again to open the third quarter on an 85-yard kickoff return to blow the game wide open, leading 35-7. Nichols did pick up 12 points in the third quarter and trailed 42-19 after 45 minutes of play, but another big quarter from Husson, this time in the final frame, put the game away for good as the Eagles outscored Nichols 21-0 and picked up a big 63-19 victory over the Bison.

Offensive Threats (WNE):
The Western New England offense has been impressive for much of the year this season, and Saturday's win was no exception to that. Quarterback Paul Gorry came up with 21 completions on 23 attempts for a career high, throwing for 257 yards and four touchdown passes in the win. De'Andre Harris was on the other end of those passes, catching eight in total, picking up 170 yards of offense and scoring one touchdown. The 170 yards brings the Weymouth, Massachusetts, native 48 yards away from tying the all-time receiving yards record in the program's history, set back in 2021 by Steven Fedorchak, who broke a 14-year record during his time in blue and gold. Harris is averaging a career-high 89 yards per game this season and has hauled in seven touchdown passes, tying the most of his career. Christian Delgado caught five passes for 51 yards in the win over MMA while Kevin Acosta, James Burg, John De Camps, and Jordan Moran all had touchdown catches for the Golden Bears. 

The run game brought forth 304 net yards last week, led by Matt LaMontagne, who carried the ball eight times for 98 yards, scoring two touchdowns. LaMontagne has now rushed for 13 touchdowns on the season. Matthew McGuire was also in the end zone twice for the Golden Bears last week, taking the ball 12 times for 89 yards, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. McGuire now has three touchdowns over his last two games played. WNE's Jason Pratt also provided a spark for the run game last week, picking up 59 total yards, scoring his first career touchdown in the win. The Western New England run game has produced 2,054 yards this year, while the pass game has picked up just south of 2,000 yards, at 1,896.

Offensive Threats (Nichols):
A pass heavy offense saw quarterback Ian Snow throw 35 total times last week against Husson, completing 21 of those passes for 299 yards, throwing for two touchdowns overall. Snow's favorite target all season long has been Jack Morvan, who caught nine passes for 146 yards, picking up both touchdown receptions through the air. Morvan became the first Bison to record over 1,000 yards receiving in a single season last week and is averaging 119 yards per game on the year, totaling 11 touchdowns in each of the last three seasons. Additional receivers for Nichols include Aaron Canuel, who has 436 receiving yards and three touchdowns this season, as well as Kevin Fuoroli Jr., catching 25 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns for the season. Nichols has gone with a running back by committee this season as five Bison have at least 100 yards rushing for the year, but the team has yet to break over 1,000 yards on the ground. The Bison are led by Evan Toth, who has run 48 times, netting 263 yards and four touchdowns for the season. Toth is joined by Carson Clark, who has rushed for 220 yards and three touchdowns for the year. Ricardo Navedo, Ethan LaGuardia, and Ian Snow are all over 100 yards with each having at least one score this season.

Lockdown Defenders (WNE):
Western New England's defense allowed just two pass completions and under 200 yards last week at Maine Maritime to go along with holding the team to just seven points, their second straight game holding opponents under seven points for the year. Michael Canavatchel stepped up for the blue and gold with seven total tackles, one solo, and six assists. Canavatchel also notched his first sack of his career, a seven-yard loss. Maurice Henlon also recorded seven tackles for Western New England, a pair of solos and five assisted tackles, picking up a half tackle for lost yardage. Logan Watts picked up three tackles, including a full sack for a loss of eight yards, helping the Golden Bears stop any MMA chances. Evan Dunker and Johnny Ferrentino collected interceptions for the Golden Bears, the 14^th and 15^th interceptions of the season. 

Lockdown Defenders (Nichols):
The Bison have given up a hefty number of points this year, 483 in total, giving up an average of 54 points per game. Caden Kehoe leads the Bison with 46 tackles on the season, 28 solo tackles, and 18 assisted tackles. Kehoe has a tackle and a half for loss as well as a pair of breakup passes for the year. AJ Samuel has recorded 4.5 tackles for loss on the year for the Bison, for a loss of 19 yards. Samuel has picked up nine solo tackles and 23 assisted tackles. Kevin Branch has a pair of sacks to lead the Bison on the season as well as a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. In a pair of wins this season, the Nichols defense has given up 21 and 20 points. In losses, the Bison have surrendered 448 points over five games. 

Special Team Leaders (WNE):
Max LoGrasso tied a WNE football single-season record with ten extra point makes last week in the win over MMA. LoGrasso is now 43/45 on the season in extra points. The Lynn, Massachusetts native has also made eight field goals this season, which sits second most in the conference. The Golden Bears were not forced to punt last week against the Mariners, scoring a touchdown on all ten drives. 

Special Team Leaders (Nichols):
Nick Foynes is responsible for the kicking and punting duties at Nichols this season. Foynes punted twice last week against Husson, averaging 47.5 yards between the two punts, putting one inside the 20-yard line. The sophomore has attempted 29 punts overall this season, collecting 1,179 yards overall, putting six inside the 20-yard line, forcing seven fair catches, and picking up five 50+ yard kicks. Foynes has attempted four field goals, making three of those, and has picked up 23 PAT makes on 29 attempts. The Bison special teams have given up three kickoff returns for a touchdown on the year, while the Bison have been snakebitten without a kickoff return for a score. Mike Orvil leads Nichols with 178 yards of kickoff return, while Kevin Fuoroli Jr. has a net 124 yards. 

The Game:
The two teams will meet for the final game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium. WNE has won its last 17 meetings all-time over Nichols and has won all games played on home turf since 2003. This will be the second straight season the Bison and Golden Bears meet on the final day of the regular season. 

2025 Schedule (WNE):
9/6         vs. No. 13 Springfield College..........W, 23-22
9/13       at  Salve Regina University.................. L, 34-28 (OT)
9/20       vs. Worcester State University..........W, 48-13
9/27       at  University of New England*............L, 37-31
10/4       vs. Husson University* .....................W, 35-10
10/18     at  Endicott College* ...........................L, 45-24
10/25     at  Curry College*.................................L, 52-31
11/1       vs. New England College*..................W, 55-0
11/8       at  Maine Maritime Academy*..............W, 70-7
11/15     vs. Nichols College* ...........................1:00 PM

*Conference of New England Game 
Home Games Noted in BOLD
 
2025 Schedule (Nichols College):
9/6         at  MIT…………………………………………...........L, 46-13
9/13       vs. U.S. Merchant Marine..................L, 56-24
9/20       at  U.S. Coast Guard Academy…..........L, 92-60
9/27       vs. New England College*...............W, 41-21
10/4       at  Maine Maritime Academy* .........W, 49-20
10/18     at  Curry College* ..............................L, 71-27
10/25     vs. Endicott College*.......................L, 56-3
11/1       at  University of New England*..........L, 58-34
11/8       vs. Husson University*.....................L, 63-19
11/15     at  Western New England* ................1:00 PM

*Conference of New England Game 
Home Games Noted in BOLD