By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
After one of the toughest weeks in the program’s history, the Springfield College football team scored two late touchdowns to hold off crosstown rival Western New England 38-32.
Cornerback Tyler Pohlman’s father, Kenny Pohlman, was murdered in an act of gun violence last week, leaving the team devastated. The Pride players’ focus was shifted to not only preparing for arguably their biggest game of the season, but also supporting their grieving teammate.
“I’m so proud of these kids and how hard they’ve worked, but more importantly, the type of men that they are becoming and the support and love that they showed a teammate throughout a very challenging time. And that means a hell of a lot more than anything we put on a scoreboard,” said Pride head coach Mike Cerasuolo.
Pohlman’s teammates also struggled with the loss. “Not only is Ty an extremely important member of this team, but so is his dad,” graduate safety Joe Maurer said. “He is a big supporter of this team, and rest in peace to Kenny Pohlman — we are gonna miss him.”
Pohlman led the team out onto the field, and the Pride hit the field rolling in the first quarter, as Arsen Shtefan scored a touchdown 54 seconds into the game. His fullback partner, Joe Cannizarro, pounded a score of his own from eight yards out later in the period.
However, the Pride were unable to convert a fourth-and-three on their third drive, giving the Golden Bears some momentum.
Western New England quarterback Brady Lafferty hit his first of two touchdown passes on the day, a beautiful jump ball throw to the sideline to lanky receiver Pat Harrigan.
Both teams tallied touchdowns on their next drives, with Western New England punching in a five yard rushing touchdown following a one-yard quarterback sneak by Jacob Silvester.
On Springfield’s ensuing drive, Silvester coughed the ball up on an option play. The Golden Bears fell on it and inherited great field positioning. Lafferty quickly struck, throwing his second touchdown of the quarter, and cutting Springfield’s lead to just two points due to two missed extra points by the Golden Bears.
Springfield responded almost immediately. Maurer caught the ensuing kickoff on the left side of the field, and took a couple strides towards the middle of the field until he found a hole on the right side of the Pride’s kick return blocking. The rest was history, with Maurer scampering in for a 95-yard kick return touchdown.
“I had the easy part,” Maurer said. “It was blocked beautifully and there was like a 15-yard hole, and I just had to go through it.”
Springfield stopped Western New England on its last drive of the half, leaving the Pride with a 28-19 lead going into the break, with the kick return arguably the most important play of the night.
“It was huge. Just to get some space and momentum, and obviously taking that back,” Cerasuolo said. “Joe has been a tremendous player as well during his entire career here, and he came back for a fifth-year for a lot of reasons, but he loves to play the game.”
The Pride’s momentum did not last long however, as the Golden Bears manufactured two long touchdown drives that culminated in one- and 15-yard rushing scores. With a failed two-point conversion mixed in, Western New England held a 32-28 lead going into the final quarter, and it looked like it had a great shot of snapping Springfield’s two-year reign with the Pynchon Saw trophy.
However, given all the Pride have gone through over the past week and a half, a four-point deficit was not going to faze them. Senior running back Blane Hart capped off an eight-play drive with a seven-yard score, giving the Pride their lead back.
“These guys are always resilient, and they’ve always shown that throughout their careers here,” Cerasuolo said.
The Pride got another stop on Western New England’s next drive, with first-year kicker Ian Wernik burying his first career field goal when the Pride regained possession.
On Western New England’s next play following the field goal, middle linebacker Aiden Lewis dropped perfectly into his middle of the field zone, undercutting the shallow post that Lafferty was targeting, and securing the turnover that demoralized the Western New England offense.
The Pride got their third and final stop of the fourth quarter following the field goal. On second and long, Maurer made a fantastic play on a receiver screen over the middle, charging in and making a clutch tackle that may have been a chunk play for the Golden Bears had he missed it.
“I was just reading it out [at safety] today,” Maurer said. “I was playing the post a lot, so just making sure it was a run or a pass then coming down.”
The Pride kneeled it out after Lafferty’s fourth down pass attempt to Harrigan was incomplete, giving them their third consecutive win over the Golden Bears, and second straight defense of the Pynchon Saw Trophy.
Following the game, the team delegated Pohlman to accept the trophy from President Mary-Beth Cooper, and he was mobbed by his teammates, showing him their support.
“We said we aren’t winning for Tyler, we are winning with Tyler,” Cerasuolo said. “Because of all that he’s meant and all the preparation that he always puts in, the practice habits he had, and he would always perform whenever the game was. So it was important for us to pay tribute to him and his dad and his family by being like Tyler today. Practicing hard and ultimately performing the way Tyler would perform on the field as well.”
Cerasuolo continued, “All the people that mattered the most in his life had to show up for him, and that’s what we were trying to do for Tyler today is just show up. Our guys do that, and I learned a lot from [Men’s Lacrosse Coach Keith] Bugbee over the years about showing up with the intent to help another person out, and especially another brother on this team, and that’s what these guys did.”
Despite the big win, the Pride do have some things to work out.
“In all three phases, I thought we were excellent at times, and times we needed to improve,” Cerasuolo said.
Last season, their defense was almost impenetrable, but they conceded 32 points on Friday night, and also fumbled twice and turned the ball over three times on downs.
The Pride offensive continuity added some extra stability to an offense that grades out as one of the best rushing attacks in the country, at all levels. They return every player that rushed for 100 yards last season, with fullback duo of Shtefan and Cannizzaro opting to use their extra eligibility to return.
Along with Silvester and Hart, Dante Vazquez steps in as a key returner, where his blocking and ball carrying ability make him an important player for the Pride’s offense.
“We have a tremendous group of guys back there that have played a lot of football at Springfield College,” Cerasuolo said. “They know the expectations and standards of what we are looking for.”
The Pride did suffer some big losses as well.
All-Region performers on the offensive line TJ Dipasquale and Thomas Evans graduated, as did Quinn Sweeney, another All-Region defensive lineman. Linebacker DJ Brown also used up his eligibility, leaving the Pride depleted in the trenches.
But their players up front are not completely new.
“[Our coaches] do a great job of developing those kids so that they are all in a position to be ready to play,” Cerasuolo said. “And we’ve got a number of guys up front that have played a lot of football over the years. Some guys missed last year, some it’s their first time starting, or they’ve played on and off. So we have really good depth down there.”
The goal for the Pride is to defend their NEWMAC crown again and win their fourth consecutive conference title, but that is very far in the future for Cerasuolo and his staff.
“We are just focused on having a good practice today, living in that mindset that everything we do on and off the field is in the moment,” Cerasuolo said.
They will have a chance to fix the defense and turnover concerns on Sept.14 in Bangor, Maine against Husson on the road, as they look to move to 2-0.
Photo courtesy of Springfield Athletics