Springfield, Mass. - November 11, 2023 - The Springfield College football team secured its third-consecutive New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship on Saturday afternoon as it cruised past Maritime, 51-6, on Stagg Field.
With the victory, the Pride earned the NEWMAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament, marking the ninth appearance in the national tournament in program history. Springfield has won four NEWMAC Championships, previously in 2022, 2021 and 2017 and will go to the national tournament for three-straight seasons for the first time in program history. The Pride will enter the national tournament with an 9-1 record and have strung together 19th-consecutive conference victories, which is the seventh longest streak in Division III.
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 5:00 on Sunday.
Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.) totaled a team-best 133 yards and a score, Blane Hart (East Lyme, Conn.) found the end zone twice as he ran for 83 yards on five carries, and Springfield finished the afternoon with 341 rushing yards. Facing short fields much of the day, Springfield's offense was only on the field for 61 plays. Defensivley, Aiden Lewin (Orlando, Fla.) notched a team-high seven tackles and Will McKay (Tewksbury, Mass.) registered a pair of interceptions and Tyler Pohlman (St. James, N.Y.) had a trio of pass breakups.
Springfield needed just five plays to score the first touchdown of the game as Shtefan knifed his way through the defense from 10 yards out to give Springfield a 6-0 edge at the 12:55 mark for the first of Springfield's three first-quarter touchdowns. After a three-and-out by Maritime, Hart and Shtefan combined for all seven touches on the next drive, with Hart taking a toss on the left side for a four-yard score at 8:26. Joe Maurer (Wilbraham, Mass.) would rip off a 43-yard punt return following another three-and-out, and after a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Maritime on the return, the hosts took over on the 20 yard line. Jacob Silvester (Lancaster, Mass.) later pushed his way in from a yard out as the Pride's lead ballooned to 20-0 with 4:29 left in the first quarter.
Springfield's longest drive of the afternoon resulted in its first score of the second quarter when Sean Brown (Westford, Mass.) sliced through the line from four yards out, capping off a 13-play drive that lasted nearly seven minutes with 10:10 on the clock. Springfield would head into the half with a 30-0 advantage following Christian Hutra's (Holmes, N.Y.) 49-yard field goal late in the frame.
The Pride came up with its first turnover of the game on the Privateers first drive of the second half as McKay's first pick of the day was possible after Colby Richardson (East Hartford, Conn.) drilled the quarterback as he threw. Four plays later, Springfield found the end zone again as Hart found room down the visitors sideline for a 49-yard touchdown. McKay came up with a sensational diving interception just two plays later to five the Pride terrific field position at the Maritime 30. Hart would connect for a crushing block three plays later, springing Dante Vasquez (Rockland, Mass.) for an 18-yard touchdown with 7:12 on the clock as Springfield's lead grew to 44-0.
The visitors would get on the board with 4:03 left in the third as a seven-play, 75-yard drive was culminated on a seven-yard TD by Steven Stassi to Luke Caliendo. Springfield tacked on the final score of the game just under two minutes into the fouth when Silvester found Noah Wagnblas (Ansonia, Conn.) in the back corner of the end zone as the senior elevated and snatched the ball above the defender for the sensational touchdown.
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