By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
Hosting a second round playoff game for just the first time since 2006, the Springfield College football team, led by head coach Mike Cerasuolo, knew a game like today’s clash with the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth is more than just a football game – it’s a program-defining game.
The Pride did just that with their signature brand of smash mouth football, and came out victorious 54-27 in a battle of 10-0 teams.
“The leadership these guys provide day in and day out, our fourth- and fifth-year guys, they are the reason why we’ve had a chance to be successful, it’s always the players,” Cerasuolo said. “What they’ve done, and how hard they work, both on and off the field, and truly represent this program in a first-class manner.”
Although the scoresheet indicated that Springfield dominated the game, that was not the case.
The Corsairs elite passing attack, led by three-time MASCAC player of the year Dante Aviles-Santos, struck first.
They started off the game with a deep-ball to star wideout Angel Sanchez, drawing a pass interference penalty. Four plays later, the two connected for the first time in the endzone, and UMass Dartmouth took a 7-0 lead just 64 seconds into the game.
“Obviously there’s going to be punches thrown at us, but we want to throw the first punch,” Sanchez said.
Despite having dominated their opponents for most of the year and rarely having to play from behind, Cerasuolo and the Pride were not fazed by the Corsairs’ strong start.
“They never waivered at all throughout the course of the game, offensively or defensively,” Cerasuolo said.
The Pride responded with a bruising nine play drive, in which NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Year Arsen Shtefan shouldered eight of the nine carries, capping it off with a three-yard score after accounting for 49 of the 60 total yards.
That dominant rushing attack was the story of the first half, as Springfield had 382 rushing yards in the first half alone, and before the Corsairs had time to blink the Pride led 34-14 at the half.
All five of the primary rushers got into the end zone in the first half, with Shtefan and his fullback partner Joe Cannizzaro, as well as both running backs Blane Hart and Dante Vazquez and quarterback Drew Heenan as well.
Heenan came into the game as the starter after Jacob Silvester suffered a knee injury in the Pride’s final regular season game against SUNY Maritime and was unable to suit up. He executed the Pride’s complex triple option offense flawlessly in the first half, making the perfect read on almost every play.
“It was huge getting the bye week, getting that chemistry in the meshes with the entire offense, and we had the utmost confidence in [Heenan],” Shtefan said. “He’s the general of the offense, he let us set the pace and the tone, and we were off running.”
Heenan made his one mistake at the beginning of the third quarter. The Pride ran an option play to the right side, forcing a pitch to Vazquez that almost fell in the lap of UMass Dartmouth defensive lineman Kairis Codeo and was recovered by teammate Sam Alicea.
Aided by a pair of pass interference calls on contested deep balls down the field and a controversial fourth-down conversion, the Corsairs capitalized on the turnover and cut the Pride’s lead to 13, making it a two-score contest.
The Corsairs attempted a surprise onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, which they may have recovered if the ball did not glance off one of their players before it reached 10 yards down the field.
Inheriting great field position, the Pride thought they had an answer as Hart scampered for a 26-yard score down the sideline, but left tackle Craig Connell was called for a blindside block penalty and the touchdown was called back.
The Corsairs got their third consecutive defensive stop as Heenan’s pass for Sean Brown was broken up by defensive back Shane Meerbott, who’s 19 total tackles led the UMass Dartmouth defense.
After having a ton of success with deep balls to the perimeter of the field, Aviles-Santos dialed one up for Sanchez to start the drive, with a potential touchdown making it a one-score game. Safety Joe Maurer read the play to a tee, rolling his coverage to the sideline and undercutting the ball to snag the floating pass out of the air. Maurer started toward the middle of the field before bursting back out to the numbers, and by the time he got to the 15-yard line his teammates escorted him to the end zone with a convoy of blockers, bringing the Pride’s lead back up to 20 points.
On the next drive, Nick Gonzalez stripped Aviles-Santos and recovered the fumble, all but sealing the game for Springfield deep into the third quarter. With their dominant rushing attack, Hart and Shtefan each found paydirt in the final period to give the Pride a 54-27 win.
Coming into the game, UMass Dartmouth was allowing just over 150 rushing yards per game, but the Pride tripled that number plus some to spare as the Corsairs were unable to figure out how to stop the Springfield rushing game.
“They are the number one rushing team in America for a reason, throughout all Divisions of football,” linebacker Mike Henricksen said. “Watching film all week, we know that they are a physical team that likes to run downhill.”
Awaiting the Pride is a date with defending national champions Cortland, and a rematch of the 2021 first round matchup which Cortland won 26-21.
“Cortland is a great team, obviously they won the national championship last year,” Cerasuolo said. “But that’s the level we want to try and compete at and continue to move on with this group of guys, and I think that’s the most special part, is to continue to have an opportunity to be with these guys for another week and go from there.”
The game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Cortland, and will be available to watch on ESPN+.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics.