By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – After forcing a punt on the first series of the game, the Springfield College football team quickly moved down the field in just six plays before fullback Arsen Shtefan capped off the drive with a touchdown. Despite missing the extra point, it was a theme for the Pride, as they cruised to a 51-7 win over WPI at Stagg Field on Saturday to improve to 5-0 on the season.
Springfield ran for 525 yards on just 57 rushing attempts, averaging over nine yards per carry.
“We always say it starts up front,” left tackle Craig Connell said. “We had a great week, and we prepare for this so we know that’s our plan coming in every week.”
On the ensuing WPI drive, Engineers quarterback Mike Ingraffia challenged Springfield cornerback Tyler Paladino on a deep throw to the sideline, but Paladino was ready. Following the receiver step-for-step, he made a sliding effort on the slightly underthrown deep ball to secure the interception.
Taking over on their own 43-yard-line, the Pride quickly got into the end zone, with Blane Hart popping off a 44-yard rushing score to extend the Pride’s lead to 13-0.
The Engineers started to find some momentum on their next drive, pushing the ball deep into Springfield territory with a combination of tough up-the-middle runs and some short passes into the flats. But facing a third and 11 on the Springfield 28 yard line, Ingraffia’s pass over the middle was tipped at the line of scrimmage, falling right into the lap of first-year defensive lineman Aaziah Scott.
“You steal possessions and get great field position, and then when you convert [turnovers] into points, it’s huge,” Pride head coach Mike Cerasuolo said. “It turns the momentum of a game.”
Sean Brown broke off runs of 19- and 37-yards to get the Pride within 10 yards of the WPI end zone, but they were able to stonewall Joe Cannizzaro on three straight rushing attempts, forcing the Pride to settle for a short field goal, which first-year kicker Ian Wernik converted.
WPI’s next drive ended like the two previous, as Ingraffia threw deep into double-coverage, and Paladino came down with his second interception of the game.
The Pride capitalized on an Engineers’ turnover for the third consecutive time. After Jacob Silvester missed Bradley Barcello on what may have been a long touchdown throw, Blane Hart was able to break free for a 58-yard touchdown on the next play.
On a key fourth and three on the ensuing WPI drive, Springfield linebacker Colby Richardson perfectly timed a weak-side blitz, hurrying Ingraffia and forcing the incompletion.
“They played great complementary football all game,” Cerasuolo said.
Facing a third and five at midfield, Silvester found Noah Wagnblas on a slant route over the middle of the field. Wagnblas caught the ball in perfect stride, galloping past the pursuing Engineers’ defenders for a 53-yard passing score.
“We liked how they aligned to things, and the players executed it,” Cerasuolo said. “Noah did a great job of stepping up and had a couple big catches today.”
Springfield extended its lead to 44-0 after the first two series of the second half, with Hart and Shtefan finding paydirt for their third and second scores, respectively.
After each team exchanged punts, Silvester scored on a quarterback sneak to push the Pride’s lead to 51.
“They did an unbelievable job,” Cerasuolo said. “It was just everybody doing their part, from the offensive line and the quarterbacks reading to the halfbacks and fullbacks. Everybody played their part, so it was awesome, and the kids played unbelievable.”
The Engineers scored on their next drive, a nine-play effort that ended with Ingraffia finding Josh Castro for a two-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. But at this point, it was too little too late.
The Pride ran out most of the remainder of the clock on their next series, extending their NEWMAC winning streak to 21 straight games.
“It was a complete team win,” Cerasuolo said.
Springfield will look to make that 22 in its next contest on Saturday, Oct. 12 at MIT, the last conference team to defeat the Pride, in the final contest of the 2019 season. In order to extend the win streak, the Pride just have to keep it simple and stick to their one-day-at-a-time philosophy, according to Connell.
“We just have to show up every day with intent to get better,” Connell said. “We can always clean some stuff up, watch the film, and get back to it next Saturday.”