By Nick Pantages
@nick_pantages22
On a chilly Homecoming afternoon at Stagg Field, the Springfield College football team used their signature identity – a swarming defense and versatile rushing offense – to cruise to a 35-7 win over Merchant Marine.
The Mariners, who run a similar offense to the Pride featuring the triple option, saw their rushing attack stuffed by the physical front-7 of the Pride. Senior linebacker Hunter Hayes led the unit, recording a team and career-best 12 tackles in the win.
“[We] put in the time, energy and effort, and just bought into what the coaches were telling us,” Hayes said. “We do that every week, but especially with something different this week, I think we had to lean on and trust each other to play everyone’s responsibilities, and have everybody do their 1/11th.”
Hayes had been a solid contributor, mostly on special teams, but not in a starting role starting from his first season in 2022. Now, in the middle of his senior year, Hayes has emerged as a standout linebacker for the Pride following the graduation of their previous duo of Billy Carr and Aiden Lewin.
“It’s been awesome,” Hayes said. “I put a lot of time into football, I’ve been playing my whole life, so it’s kind of rewarding. But it’s coming to the end here these next couple of weeks, so I’m kind of reflecting on that and just grateful for the opportunity to play here.”
After a stop on their opening drive, the Pride offense got started behind fullback Stanford Davis and quarterback TJ Welch. But facing a third down, Welch dropped back and hit wingback Luke Zoller down the right seam for 39 yards, and James Green took a pitch play to pay dirt the next play to give the Pride an early lead.
The Pride and head coach Mike Cerasuolo opted for some trickery after forcing two three-and-outs, faking a run to the right to run an end-around to the left for Green, who went down the left sideline with a convoy of blockers, cruising into the end zone for a 63-yard score.
“We’ve seen it for the last couple years that they were really scraping hard from the backside,” Cerasuolo said. “So it was just something we have in our offense all the time, and fortunate that we have good players to execute it.”
The Pride and Mariners traded stops, and Springfield’s aggressive defense forced another before Green struck again, taking a toss to the left side right around midfield and racing into the maroon turf of Springfield’s end zone, giving the Pride a 21-0 lead they took into halftime.
However, it was the Mariners that opened the scoring in the second half, embarking on a 10-play drive, leaning on their standout sophomore quarterback Bubba Mustain and senior fullback Danny Ferris, with Ferris escaping for a 24-yard score to finish the drive.
But as its offense has done so many times, Springfield responded after its opponent scored. This time it was Welch, who had been mostly contained during the game, breaking away for another explosive play, a 53-yard rushing score for the Pride.
On what may have been its last chance, Merchant Marine had a long drive, but the Pride’s defense held strong once again, with the Mariners all but waiving the white flag by punting to end the drive.
In all, the Pride held the Mariners to under three yards per play, adding another impressive performance to their catalog.
“[They are] unbelievable,” Cerasuolo said. “Just how hard they play, how physical they are, and disciplined as well. Playing against that style you have to have a lot of discipline, and they do, and we are fortunate to have really good players as well.”
Davis stormed in for a 33-yard touchdown following that, capping off an impressive 35-7 win for the Pride over the Mariners, who came into the contest at 5-1, including a win over Salve Regina their last time out.
It is also homecoming weekend for the Pride, giving Cerasuolo and his team a chance to play in front of the past and present of the Springfield College community. As an alumnus himself, Cerasuolo recognizes how important it is to put on a good performance in the Homecoming game for the fans.
“It’s awesome, that’s what homecoming is all about,” Cerasuolo said. “It’s the thing that makes this place so special, is the people coming back to celebrate Springfield College and the Brotherhood, and to be able to play in front of all these people means a lot too.”
Springfield advanced to 5-2 with the win, pushing its winning streak to four games, with all four wins by multiple scores. They will travel to Vermont on Nov. 1 to take on Norwich before returning home for its last two games of the season.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College football