SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Western New England University took care of Curry College 56-21 on Saturday afternoon in CCC Football play at Golden Bear Stadium. The Golden Bears improved to 5-1 overall while the Colonels slipped to 2-5.
Curry was the first team to get on the scoreboard as they put together a 10-play, 44-yard drive finished off by a 15-yard pass from Nick Juvelier (Centereach, Mass.) to Zach Levy (Bellingham, Mass.) in 3:20. Nick Oliveira (East Providence, R.I.) converted the extra point to make the score 7-0.
Five minutes later, Jared Wolfe (Seaford, N.Y.) hurled in a five-yard pass from Alec Coleman (Arlington, Mass.) to cap off an 11-play, 57-yard trip in 4:27 to get Western New England on the board. The point after was good from Valentin Wagner to knot the game at seven.
The Golden Bears outscored the Colonels 21-0 in the second quarter to break the game open. A 10-yard pass from Coleman to Evan Cain (Berlin, Mass.), an eight-yard run from Peter Hoff (Shelton, Conn.), and a 52-yard interception return from Deonte Daniels (Springfield, Mass.) went down as scoring plays to increase the lead to 28-7 heading into halftime.
Curry came out of the half and scored two touchdowns to close the gap to seven. Levy scampered in from three yards out to finish off a five-play, 65-yard possession. Later in the stanza, Juvelier capped off a 13-play drive with a pass from 13 yards out to Steven Elice (Stoughton, Mass.). PAT's from Oliveira were good after both scores to trim the deficit to just seven, 28-21.
Western New England closed the contest out strong, outscoring the Colonels 28-0 for the remainder of the third and entire fourth quarter. Three of the scores came from Coleman. He closed the third quarter with a 27-yard touchdown run and then connected with Adam Razza (Watertown, Conn.) and DeAndre Russell (Bridgeport, Conn.) for touchdown passes.
The final score of the contest came on a one-yard run from Ryan Schenck (Farmingdale, N.Y.) with 1:07 to go in regulation.
The Golden Bears offense was led by Coleman who threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns, while also running five times for 41 yards and a score. Hoff led the game with 57 yards rushing and also scored one touchdown.
Defensively, Mike Chirco (Weedsport, N.Y.) and Joshua Salem (Dracut, Mass.) led the team with 12 and eight tackles, respectively. Chirco also had a half of a sack for three yards, a forced fumble, and two quarterback hurries. Matt Anastasi (Stoughton, Mass.) posted seven tackles. Joey DeCoste (Littleton, Mass.) and Ryan Smith (Weston, Vt.) finished out the leaders with six tackles apiece.
The Colonels were led by Juvelier, who went 28-for-45 for 238 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Levy racked up 46 yards on six carries and a score to lead Curry in the ground game. Levy hauled in seven catches for 104 yards and a score. Elice pulled in three receptions for 41 yards and one touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, Marcus Greenidge (Flushing, N.Y.) paced the Colonels with 10 tackles. Jeremy Eliades (Berlin, Conn.) and Luc Zikianda (Lynn, Mass.) followed behind with seven tackles each while Gregory Silvia (Coventry, R.I.) registered six tackles.
Both teams return to action with a 1 p.m. conference game next Saturday with and Curry hosting Salve Regina University and Western New England hosting the University of New England.
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