SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – September 17, 2007 – After one week of polling, the Springfield College football team has been ranked #3 in New England Division III. In addition, the Pride is ranked #18 in the D3football.com national poll, a drop of nine spots from its #9 perch of one week ago.
Springfield was ranked #1 in New England in last year’s final Division III Coaches Poll. But a 33-30 loss at Montclair State last Saturday in New Jersey evened Springfield’s record at 1-1 here in 2007. The Pride had opened the 2007 campaign with a fairly convincing 35-13 victory at Union on September 8.
In the national poll, no other team from New England is listed in the Top 25. Only Williams is included within “others receiving votes.”
In the New England Division III Coaches Poll, WPI (3-0) was voted #1 with four first-place votes and 115 points overall. WPI claims victories over Worcester State, UMass Dartmouth, and Becker. In the #2 slot is Curry (3-0) with four first-place votes and 113 points. Springfield (1-1) has four first-place votes and 108 points. Williams (0-0) has the remaining two first-place votes and 102 points.
The rest of the New England Division III Coaches Poll finds Husson (3-0) in the fifth spot (66 points), Plymouth State (2-0) at #6 (62 points), Trinity (0-0) at #7 (59 points), Western New England (2-1) at #8 (32 points), Amherst (0-0) at #9 (31 points), and Mass. Maritime (2-1) at #10 (21 points). Also receiving votes, with the following point totals, were Westfield State (16), Western Connecticut (14), and Middlebury (13).
Springfield will next visit Alfred, its first conference opponent of the season, as its road show continues this Saturday (Sept. 22) at 12 noon. The Pride will begin the campaign with four straight road games. On September 29, Springfield will travel to Utica, another Empire 8 foe, for a 12:30 pm encounter. The Pride’s first home game will come on Saturday, October 6, at 1:00 pm versus Husson.
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.
