Football 9/27/2025 5:08:00 PM

Fourth Quarter Comeback Stopped Short In Conference Opener For WNE Football

Box Score BIDDEFORD, Maine (September 27, 2025) – The Western New England football team fell behind early in their Conference of New England opener against the University of New England, but stormed back to take a third-quarter lead before UNE answered with 21 points in the frame, finishing off the Golden Bears, 37-31.

Records:

Western New England: 2-2, 0-1 CNE
University of New England: 4-0, 1-0 CNE

How It Happened:

First Quarter:

The Golden Bears won the opening coin toss and elected to defer and receive in the second half, seeing the outstanding UNE offense, ranked ninth coming into today's action in all of Division III, take the field first. UNE opened with an eight-play, 69-yard drive in just 1:51 to score the first touchdown of the game, led by UNE's top running back, Damien Jones, scoring a one-yard run to put the home team ahead 7-0.
WNE's first drive of the game lasted just six plays as the Golden Bears could not respond with a score on UNE. Western New England's second drive of the game resulted in another score for the Nor'easters after Matthew McGuire had a punt blocked by UNE's Teighan Jeremy, who took the ball back to the house, putting the Nor'easters ahead 13-0.
No more scoring came from the quarter. Western New England's offense produced just one completed pass but rushed for 78 total yards. UNE totaled 96 yards of offense in the opening quarter.

Second Quarter:

Western New England used momentum on a seven-play drive to end the first quarter to come up with points on the first play of the second quarter as Kelan Cornell rushed for a one-yard run, putting the Golden Bears on the scoreboard. Max LoGrasso's extra point was good, cutting UNE's lead down to six, 13-7. On the next UNE drive, Ben Caulfield collected his first pick of the season, but an outstanding afternoon from UNE's Teighan Jeremy continued, intercepting a pass from Kelan Cornell, swinging the possession back to the Nor'easter offense. The second quarter featured three straight interceptions as Brian Lawrence snagged a pass at the UNE 26-yard line, handing the ball back to Western New England on offense.
The Golden Bears did not find points, unable to take advantage of the two interceptions in the frame. The WNE defense held the Nor'easters to no points in the second quarter, led by Johnny Ferrentino and Maurice Henlon.
The final drive of the half led to three points for WNE as a 14-play 63-yard drive that lasted 5:36 of clock led to a 28-yard field goal from LoGrasso as UNE led 13-10 at the break. Western New England's defense held the Nor'easters to just one first down and 13 yards in the quarter.

Third Quarter:

Both teams brought the offense in the third quarter, combining for 35 points in the frame. With Western New England receiving the opening half kick, they were able to start on offense and came up with their first lead of the game as Kelan Cornell found De'Andre Harris for a 32-yard touchdown pass, putting the Golden Bears ahead 17-13, capping off a six-play, 64-yard drive. UNE quickly answered as Chris Lang found John Germano for a 29-yard touchdown, putting the Nor'easters back in front, 20-17.
Western New England went a quick three-and-out on their next offensive drive with 10:11 to play in the quarter, but the Nor'easters did not go down quietly, scoring another touchdown through the air, this time a 23-yard score to Alex Yeaton, giving the Nor'easters their double-digit lead back again, 27-17. Needing a response, Western New England got one on a ten-play drive with Matt LaMontagne rushing for a two-yard touchdown. On that drive, WNE wide receiver De'Andre Harris eclipsed 2,000 yards in his career, becoming just the fifth Golden Bear in program history to reach the milestone.
With WNE down 27-24, UNE received the ensuing kickoff and took the ball to the house as Damien Jones took off for a 95-yard kickoff return, once again lifting the Nor'easters to a double-digit lead.
The wild third quarter saw UNE accumulate 200 yards of offense, with WNE picking up 118 of their own.

Fourth Quarter:

UNE finished off a drive that began in the late stages of the third quarter into the fourth and picked up a field goal from 20 yards out to take their largest lead of the game, 37-24. Both teams were forced to punt on their first full offensive drives of the quarter. Johnny Ferrentino and Nick Kolifrath led the blue and gold on defense to keep the Nor'easters at bay.
Western New England drove down the field on their next chance, going down in 12 plays and collecting 79 yards in five minutes of clock, reaching the UNE six-yard line before Cornell's second interception of the afternoon ended the drive The WNE defense stepped up once more, however, forcing a UNE punt with 3:44 left to play in the game, getting the offense back onto the field.
The Golden Bears did get down the field in just over two minutes and were able to score on the first career touchdown from Drew Caouette, finding Kevin Acosta for a 14-yard touchdown, getting back within six points, trailing 37-31. In an attempt to onside kick, UNE recovered, but was forced off the field in 1:08, giving Western New England 27 seconds of clock to get 62 yards down the field following a 35-yard punt. The time ran out too fast for Western New England to get down the field, gaining only 17 yards before time expired, giving UNE its first-ever win over Western New England, 37-31.

Inside the Lines:

Despite racking up 491 total yards of offense, Western New England fell to open conference play on Saturday afternoon.
Kelan Cornell and Drew Caouette split quarterback duties for the Golden Bears on Saturday, combining to go 18/37 through the air, collecting a combined 251 yards and two touchdowns. De'Andre Harris led receivers with six catches for 113 yards and a score. Jova'n Hill grabbed three passes for 51 yards.
On the ground, Cornell rushed 18 times for 97 yards and scored a touchdown. Matt LaMontagne rushed 23 times for 94 yards, also picking up a touchdown.
Johnny Ferrentino led Western New England with 14 tackles, two solo, and 12 assisted tackles on the afternoon. Nick Kolifrath registered his first sack of the season and totaled 12 tackles, eight solo and four assisted.
Ben Caulfield and Brian Lawrence both picked up interceptions for the blue and gold.
On offense, UNE was led by John Germano, who caught three passes for 84 yards and scored a touchdown. Quarterback Chris Lang completed 13 passes for 213 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Damien Jones rushed for a touchdown and added a kickoff return touchdown, a 95-yard score, to lead the Nor'easters to victory.
The Golden Bears went 4/16 on third down on Saturday and 3/5 on fourth down.