ONEONTA, N.Y., November 5, 2005 – Springfield College sophomore quarterback Chris Sharpe (Derry, N.H.) and senior fullback Andre Clayton (Manchester, Conn.) combined for 349 rushing yards and six touchdowns to lead the Pride to a 59-35 victory over Hartwick College in an Empire 8 Conference game at All-Weather Field on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 5).
The Hawks (4-5, 0-5 Empire 8) got on the board first when sophomore running back Lindy Crea finished off a three play, 80 yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run just one minute, 15 seconds into the game. On the second play of the drive, Crea broke for a 77 yard run to set up the scoring opportunity.
The Pride (3-6, 1-4 Empire 8) answered with three-straight touchdowns to take a 20-7 lead after the first quarter. Junior halfback Aland Joseph (Stamford, Conn.) scored on a 23-yard run to tie the game, 7-7. Clayton and Sharpe followed with rushing TD's from three yards out.
Hartwick scored twice in the second quarter on touchdown passes to sophomore wide receiver Richard Sands and senior wide receiver Matt Willis. Sands caught a 26-yard TD pass from freshman quarterback Jason Boltus, and Willis scored on a 12-yard pass to make the score 28-21 at the half.
Clayton and Sharpe each scored twice in the third and fourth quarters to put the game out of reach for Hartwick. Sharpe broke for TD runs of 58 and 43 yards, and Clayton scored from 13 yards and one yard. Sharpe led the Pride with 251 rushing yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Clayton rushed the ball 21 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns. Springfield held a 542-151 advantage in rushing yards for the game.
Boltus completed 23 of 39 passes for 363 yards and four touchdowns. Sands and Willis led all receivers with 99 and 95 receiving yards. Willis finished with three touchdowns on the day.
Crea went over the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for the first time in his career as he had 13 carries for 106 yards and one touchdown. He also caught five passes for 71 yards and returned two kicks for 58 yards.
Defensively, junior linebacker Ian Johnson (New Britain, Conn.) led the Pride with nine tackles (five solo) and a forced fumble. Junior Lucas Maciarello (Stillwater, N.Y.) finished with three interceptions for a total of 71 return yards, and junior linebacker Andrew Madigan (New Britain, Conn.) had six tackles.
Hartwick had three players reach double digits in tackles. Junior inside linebacker Jeff Dittman (Pleasantville/Pleasantville, N.Y.) had a game-high 11 tackles. Senior free safety Michael Palanza (Waverly/Waverly, N.Y.) and senior Alex Brown (Rome Free Academy/Rome, N.Y.) each finished with 10 tackles.
The Pride will next host Norwich University on Saturday afternoon, November 12, in SC's regular season finale. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
Michael C. “Mike” DeLong ’74 enters his 32nd season as a head football coach in the fall of 2013. He enters his 30th year at Springfield College alone. For the past 28 years, he has been the head coach at Springfield, his alma mater. Mike had also been the head coach at Maine Maritime in Castine, Maine in 1979 and 1980. Read more.
