Springfield, Mass. - November 13, 2021 - The Springfield College football team delivered a hard-fought 28-14 win over Catholic to win the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship at Stagg Field on Saturday.
With the victory, the Pride earned the NEWMAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, marking the seventh appearance in the national tournament in program history. Playing at home for just the third time this season after seven road games, Springfield improved to 7-3, 6-0 as it captured its second conference title, with the other coming in 2017 during the conference's inaugural year of sponsoring football. Catholic dipped to 6-4, 4-2 with the loss.
Springfield will now await its postseason opponent when it tunes into the NCAA Division III Championship Selection Show, which will air on NCAA.com at 5:30 on Sunday.
It was a tale of two halves for the Pride, as it had 21 first downs and scored 28 points in the first half, while defensively, the Pride forced three turnovers in the second half to hold on for the victory. Springfield had 353 yards of total offense, including 314 on the ground, as the Pride had six players with at least 25 yards rushing, led by Tim Callahan's (Enfield, Conn.) 74 yards. Patrick Tuohy (Columbia, Conn.) came up big on special team with three second-half punts that averaged nearly 47 yards per boot. Defensively, Aiden Lewin (Orlando, Fla.) had 12 tackles and an interception, while Mark Montano (North Haven, Conn.) added seven tackles, an interception, pass break up.
For Catholic, Madden Lowe was 25-for-47 for 291 yards, but threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. Preston Jeffrey hauled in five catches for 103 yards and Noah Miller tallied a team-best 12 tackles. The Cardinals had 387 yards of offense and held the Pride to 5-of-13 on third down.
After Catholic's first drive ended in a 42-yard missed field goal, Springfield marched 75 yards over nine plays as Ryan Deguire (Schenectady, N.Y.) found daylight from 11 yards out for the game's first touchdown at the 9:02 mark. The Pride's defense responded again, forcing a turnover on downs, and Springfield found the end zone just 2:38 later as when David Wells (Shelton, Conn.) scampered in for a five-yard score to cap off a seven-play, 61-yard drive with 3:00 remaining in the first.
The visitors answered back with their lone touchdown of the first half as Lowe connected on a deep corner fade to Owen Shields, who wrestled the ball away from a Springfield defender for a 14-yard score with 13:32 left in the frame, making it a 14-7 contest. The Pride would score on its next drive when Patrick Ladas (Berlin, Conn.) plowed his way up the middle from a yard out to give Springfield a two-touchdown lead with 8:31 on the clock. Lewin would then pick off Lowe on Catholic's next offensive play and returned it to the visitors nine-yard line, setting up a three-yard touchdown from Callahan less than a minute later as the lead ballooned to 28-7.
Springfield battled its way to another turnover on downs and the Pride's field goal attempt in the final seconds of the half was wide left as the hosts took a 28-7 cushion into the break.
The teams traded turnovers to start the second half, and after Catholic stopped Springfield on fourth down inside the Cardinals 20 yard line, Lowe orchestrated a nine-play 84-yard drive that was capped off by a 20-yard touchdown run by Kevin Licciardi on 3-and-9 with 4:19 left in the third.
After a three-and-out, Tuohy unleashed a 54-yard punt into the wind to flip the field, but Lowe would put together another impressive drive that brought the ball to the Springfield two-yard line. Back-to-back Catholic penalties made it first and goal from 27 yard line, and the Pride's defense locked in and got off the field on fourth down as Montano flew through the air to break up a pass in the end zone with 12:20 to play in regulation.
Springfield's next drive ended in a punt, but Montano made a sensational diving interception on Catholic's next drive to give the Pride the ball back with six minutes to play. The Cardinals defense delivered a three-and-out, only to have Tuohy rip a 46 yard punt, and Torane Burton (Nantucket, Mass.) made a big hit on the return as the visitors took over on their own 31 yard line with 4:04 to play. Three plays later, Ronald Beard (Dix Hills, N.Y.) elevated at the goal line for the Pride's third interception of the day, and six rushes from Callahan later, Springfield was able to run out to clock to claim the NEWMAC title.