No. 10 Football Defeats Western Connecticut, 21-7
DANBURY, Conn., Oct. 11, 2003 – Springfield College junior fullback
Tim Lutgens (Greenwich, N.Y.) rushed for a career-high 195 yards and two touchdowns as the 10th-ranked Pride defeated Western Connecticut State, 21-7, this afternoon in a Freedom Football Conference (FFC) game at the West Side Athletic Complex.
SC moves to 6-0 (3-0 FFC) for the fifth time in school history. This afternoon’s win marks the 10th-straight regular-season victory for the Pride and its eighth-consecutive FFC win.
Since 1998, the winner of this game has gone on to win the FFC title and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
While Lutgens carried the SC offense, it was the Pride’s defense that was the real story. Springfield held Division III’s sixth-highest scoring offense (46 ppg) to just seven points and 107 yards on the ground.
SC senior cornerback
Mike Kimmel (Peabody, Mass.) had two interceptions in his first game back since the season-opener at Salve Regina on Sept. 6th. Junior linebacker
Mark Bartelini (Montrose, N.Y.) registered one and a half sacks.
After a scoreless first quarter, Lutgens capped a 15-play, 82-yard drive that spanned 6:15 with a four-yard TD rush.
On the first drive of the second half, the Colonials evened the score when quarterback Mike Scipione hit Jeff Ward for a 30-yard touchdown pass to make it 7-7.
A key penalty occurred with 2:45 left in the third quarter. The Pride had the ball on the Western Connecticut 39-yard line. On a fourth-and-six play, the Colonials were hit with a roughing the kicker penalty that moved the line of scrimmage to the West Conn. 34 yard line. On the ensuing play, Lutgens went three yards up the middle to give the Pride a first down at the Western Connecticut 31. Four plays later, junior quarterback
Ryan Sylvia (Marion, Mass.) raced for a 13-yard TD to put the Pride ahead for good at 14-7 with 0:38 remaining in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Kimmel recorded his first interception and returned it 12 yards to the SC 49-yard line. With 13:27 left, Sylvia broke two tackles for a 13-yard gain on a critical third-and-seven to give the Pride a first down at the West Conn. 35-yard line. One a third-and-nine from the Western Connecticut 34, Lutgens rumbled 12 yards to the Colonials' 22 for another huge first down. Two plays later, Lutgens scored his second touchdown, this one from seven yards out.
The Colonials made one final push, but senior strong safety
Ryan Santo’s (Warwick, R.I.) interception in the end zone one a second-and-goal from the six yard line with 3:39 left ended Western Connecticut’s hopes.
“The two turnovers in the second half were turning points in the game and the play of [Tim] Lutgens was unbelievable”, said SC head coach
Mike DeLong after the game.
Kimmel recorded his second interception at the SC 41-yard line with 1:57 left to play.
Team Links
Head Coach Mike DeLong
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.
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Contact Head Coach Mike Delong
E-Mail | Phone: 413.748.3156
