Football Holds Westfield St. Scoreless to Maintain Possession of the President's Cup

WESTFIELD, Mass. (September 10, 2021) – The Golden Bears rolled past Westfield State 48-0 to earn the President's Cup and keep the trophy at Western New England for another year.

Records:

• Westfield State: 0-2
• Western New England: 2-0

How It Happened:

The Golden Bears came to play off the jump and started by pinning the Owls at their own 22 on the opening kick. In the first play, Jerry Woodard intercepted the pass and returned it 21-yards to the Westfield State 46 to give the Golden Bears back the ball. Western New England moved the ball down the field and on their fourth play of the drive Dillon Kohl ran the ball into the endzone from the 21 to put the Golden Bears ahead 6-0.

In the next defensive stint, Western New England made another big play, blocking a field goal attempt by the Owls to gain possession at their own 14. The Golden Bears scored again in the next drive with an 11-yard rush by Kohl with Matt Gilbert making the extra point to give Western New England a 13-0 lead with about five minutes left in the first quarter. On the kickoff, Westfield State fumbled the ball forced by Brandon Myers that Connor Dunn recovered for the Golden Bears at the Owls' 29-yard line. The Owl's picked up their defense to force the Golden Bears to turn the ball over on downs right before the first quarter ended. The Golden Bears led 13-0 after the first quarter.

Western New England started the second quarter forcing the Owls to punt. Both teams amped up the defense with no points scored in the second quarter until Western New England's third drive of the quarter. Bryce Karstetter threw his first touchdown pass of the game connecting with Matt Eylander at the 5:11 mark of the second quarter followed by a good extra point by Gilbert to put the Golden Bears ahead 20-0. In their next possession, the Golden Bears converted again in 10 plays. Tyler Millerick stepped in as quarterback and on his third play connected with Adam Razza in the back left of the end zone where Razza tiptoed to get both feet in to convert and earn the Golden Bears another six points. Gilbert scored once again making another extra point for Western New England to lead 27-0 headed into halftime.

The third quarter started slow offensively for the Golden Bears while the defense continued to hold the Owls scoreless. Jerry Woodard recorded his second interception of the game picking a pass by Peyton Capizzi and returned the ball 24 yards. With Millerick back at the helm the Golden Bears scored again with Millerick rushing the ball two yards followed by another Gilbert extra point to continue to extend the Golden Bears lead 34-0.

Millerick led the Golden Bears to another touchdown in the fourth quarter with another rush for 11 yards and Gilbert made the extra point. Western New England recorded another interception later in the quarter by Ryan Colin that was returned to the Westfield State six-yard line. Ian Britt converted for the Golden Bears with a six-yard touchdown rush for the final points of the game for the Golden Bears to win the game 48-0 and secure the President's Cup once again.

Inside the Numbers:

• Western New England had 27 first downs to the Owls' six while the Golden Bears recorded a 33 percent conversion rate on third downs and a 67 percent conversion rate on fourth down.
• The Golden Bears had 374 yards of total offense with 174 yards passing and 200 yards rushing while Westfield State recorded 135 yards of offense with 103 yards passing and 32 yards rushing.
• Karstetter completed 12 of 27 passes for a total of 126 yards and one touchdown while Millerick was three for five in completions for 43 yards and one touchdown.
• Kohl led the Golden Bears on the ground with eight rushes for 55 yards and two touchdowns while Millerick had seven rushed for 37 yards and two touchdowns. EJ Dudley had the most carries with 11 for 31 yards in total.
• Ryan Larson led the receiving corps with 60 yards on four catches while Eylander recorded a touchdown on four completions and 49 yards. Razza recorded his one catch of the night as a touchdown for the Golden Bears.
• Gilbert went 0-for-2 on field goals and 6-for-7 on extra points for a total of six points in the game.
• Jake Chiasson led the team with seven tackles while recording one sack for three yards. Brine Wotherspoon tallied six tackles with one sack for 10 yards while both Dalton Franco and Joshua Salem earned five tackles.
• Woodard tallied two interceptions for 45 yards while Myers recorded the only forced fumble for the Golden Bears.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears head to Utica, N.Y. next week for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, September 18^th against the Utica College Pioneers.