By Darin MacEacheron
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College Pride hosted Maine Maritime on Saturday on Stagg Field. The Pride came into play with a 6-2 record while Maine Maritime entered with an underwhelming 0-7 mark.
The Pride took care of business handily defeating Maine Maritime 44-7. Four different players scored for the Pride including senior Joshua Thomas, who had three scores on the day. Although the offense took care of business all afternoon, it was the defense who truly dominated.
The Pride had Maine Maritime’s number from the start. In the first half, they held the Mariners to a mere 12 yards of total offense. The Mariners would have went the entire first half without a first down had the Pride not committed a penalty and even after they finally moved the chains, the Pride forced a fumble on the consequent play.
In the first half alone, the Pride forced two fumbles and added an interception after Jonny Bianchi had a pass thrown right into his coverage. In the second half, Maine Maritime ended up getting a touchdown but that didn’t take away from the team effort.
The Pride didn’t allow a single third down conversion as the Mariners went 0-15 on the day. Springfield also amassed 12 tackles for a loss with four of those beings sacks.
All season long head coach Mike Cerasuolo has praised playing as a unit and he was extremely pleased with how his defense performed Saturday.
“Our defense has played well all year and today was no different. We played with such speed and physicality and our coaching lead by Coach Holik (Defensive Coordinator) and the other defensive coaches did an excellent job. Overall, we just all played together and that’s what I always ask of this team.”
This defensive unit played great all around, it is hard not to look past individual performances. Senior defensive end Nick Giorgio added to his remarkable season with another dominating performance. On Saturday, hea notched four tackles for a loss, two sacks, a force fumble and a fumble recovery. He now leads the team in tackles (64), sacks (12.5), and forced fumbles (3).
Maine Maritime might not have been the toughest opponent for the Pride this season but this performance by this season was nothing short of spectacular. They constantly came together to the ball and made smart plays. Maine Maritime was not able to do anything all afternoon and only had the possession for 22 minutes. The Pride will look to continue their great defensive play as they head to MIT next Saturday in the last regular season game and the NEWMAC conference on the line.
Featured photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics