NEWTON, Mass. – Springfield College collected seven sacks, forced three fumbles, and got a defensive score in a 41-0 victory over Mount Ida in non-conference football on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
Mount Ida allowed just six points in the first fifteen minutes, but three scores by the Pride in the third quarter put the game out of reach for the Mustangs (1-2).
Springfield sophomore quarterback Jonathan Marrero (Boston, Mass.) ran for 150 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for a touchdown on his only completion of the game, a 21-yard pass to Jason Woods (Middletown, Conn.), which came on the first play from scrimmage after the visitors recovered a Mustang fumble late in the third.
For Mount Ida, junior quarterback Jawad Yatim (Shrewsbury, Mass.) threw for 126 yards on 11 completions, but saw his rushing totals negated by 7 sacks, for a loss of 56 yards.
Danny Macalena (Congers, N.Y.) led the way for the Pride with two sacks and ten tackles, with four and a half of them for a loss of 33 yards. Macalena also forced a fumble, while senior Corey Kiaser (River Vale, N.J.) had eleven tackles for the Springfield defense.
The Pride took just three plays on their opening drive to get on the board when Marrero busted a 43-yard touchdown run. The lead stayed at 6-0 for the visitors when Dominique Spaulding (West Hartford, Conn.) blocked the extra point attempt by Tyler Rouse (Hagaman, N.Y.), a feat that Spaulding would accomplish again on Springfield's final touchdown, a nine-yard run by Marrero with just under thirteen minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Mount Ida trailed by just 6-0 after the first quarter, but Springfield took their opening drive of the second 57 yards in 3:19, and capped it with a four yard touchdown rush by Brodie Quinn (Pittsfield, Mass.). Marrero got the points back from the blocked attempt in the first quarter by rushing to complete a two-point conversion and make it a 14-0 game.
After the break, the Springfield defense, which held Mount Ida to 57 net yards on the ground, forced a three and out, and then needed just two plays to get into the end zone again, with Marrero breaking free for a 67 yard score.
The Mustangs looked to be driving late in the third quarter, helped by a 32-yard rush by sophomore Melquan Pinkney (Springfield, Mass.), who had 57 yards rushing on the afternoon. Mount Ida advanced the ball to the Springfield 19 yard line, but freshman quarterback Bobby Chavous (Portsmouth, R.I.) had his pass intercepted by senior Sam Weiss (Glasser, N.J.), who galloped 93 yards for a defensive TD.
Senior Frank Greene (Hamden, Conn.) forced a turnover for the Mustangs when he picked off Timothy O'Brien (E. Bridgewater, Mass.) with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter. Greene returned the ball to the Springfield 36, but the Mount Ida drive stalled after a personal foul and a false start penalty.
Senior Jon Proto (North Haven, Conn.) led the Mount Ida defense with eleven tackles and a forced fumble, and sophomore DeAndre Lawrence (Middletown, Conn.) had ten tackles, including two of them for a loss.
Bryan Stetson (Cranston, R.I.) and Chandler McCoy (Norcross, Ga.) were the top Mount Ida receivers, combining for eight catches and each totaling 58 yards of passing offense. D'Andre Smith (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) had an effective day returning kicks for the home team, gaining 112 yards on two attempts.
Quinn gained 48 yards on the ground for Springfield, who netted 306 yards on the ground.
Mount Ida was 8-21 on third down conversions, while Springfield was just 1-11, though the Pride converted three of their five fourth-down chances and both of their red zone opportunities.
The Pride improve to 3-0 on the season and remain perfect against the Mustangs, now having won all five of the team's meetings, dating back to 2008.
Mount Ida will have next week off as they enjoy their bye week, and will prepare for their first Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) game of the year, which will be on October 5th against Gallaudet, back on Alumni Field (12:00 pm).
The Pride will travel to Rochester next Saturday for a 12:00 pm game as they open up their Liberty League schedule.