Castine, Maine - November 4, 2017 - The Springfield College football team put together a dominating effort on both sides of the ball to roll to a 62-0 victory at Maine Maritime in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest on Saturday afternoon.
The Pride, which was ranked No. 21 in the latest AFCA National Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the D3football.com Poll, improved to 9-0, marking just the ninth time in program history that Springfield has won its first nine games of the season.
The 62-point victory was the Pride's largest margin of victory since it bested Merchant Marine, 64-0, in 2010. In today's win, Springfield totaled 585 yards of offense, including 549 on the ground as it averaged 9.8 yards per rush. The Pride's defense forced four turnovers, produced two defensive scores, and held the Mariners to just 75 yards of offense on 60 plays.
Jordan Wilcox (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) was sensational in the backfield for the Pride as he totaled 213 yards on just 14 carries and found the end zone three times. Classmate Tyler Hyde (Plantsville, Conn.) needed just seven carries to rack up 118 yards and two touchdowns, while Chad Shade (Pittsfield, Mass.) totaled 82 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Jedi Haynes (Windsor, Conn.) hauled in a 17-yard score and Dom Traversa (Pittsfield, Mass.) and Sam Greenfield (Providence, R.I.) each delivered defensive touchdowns.
Nick Giorgio (Cumberland, R.I.) had a team-best eight tackles and forced a fumble and Christian Zotti (Newington, Conn.) notched seven stops to go along with a fumble recovery and forced fumble.
After forcing the Mariners to turn the ball over on downs in their first possession of the game, Springfield needed just three plays to score the game's first touchdown as Hyde broke free down the sideline for a 63-yard score at the 10:09 mark of the first quarter. Following a three-and-out by the hosts, the Pride used a six-play drive, capped off a by 22-yard score by Wilcox, to make it 13-0 with 5:27 remaining.
Springfield erupted for 28 points in the second quarter, starting with a remarkable 92-yard touchdown run by Wilcox just 53 seconds into the quarter. A fumble recovery by Joel Sodeinde (Dartmouth, Mass.) then gave the Pride great field position on the Mariners 34, and Hyde scampered in from 19 yards out with 7:58 to play. Springfield went to its bag of tricks for a score at the 4:00 mark when Cory DeSimone (West Yarmouth, Mass.) took a pitch and tossed a strike to Haynes for a 17-yard score, and the Pride went into the half with a 41-0 advantage after Traversa picked off a pass and raced 32 yards for a touchdown.
After the teams traded turnovers to begin the third quarter, Wilcox plunged in from a yard out with 9:33 on the clock for the only score of the third quarter. Springfield found the end zone again with 13:13 left in regulation as it put together a nine-play, 96-yard drive that was capped off a by a 42-yard touchdown run by Shade to make it 55-0. The game's final score came on the ensuing drive thanks to a defensive score by Greenfield. Springfield would later hold onto the ball for the final seven-plus minutes to seal the conference win.
Springfield will play in its regular-season finale next Saturday when it hosts MIT at 12 pm on Stagg Field.