Springfield Runs Past Hartwick Football
ONEONTA, NY – Visiting Springfield outscored Hartwick 41-21 in the second half to pull away for a 62-41 victory on Saturday at Wright Stadium. The Pride, which improves to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the Empire 8, registered 659 yards on the ground en route to the win. The Hawks recorded season-highs of 41 points and 462 yards of offense on the day in the setback. Hartwick is now 2-6 overall and still looking for its first conference win at 0-5.
Senior quarterback Dan Brainard (Owego, NY/Owego) threw for a season-high 359 yards on 25 completions and three touchdowns for Hartwick. Senior wide receiver Jordan Wilkins (Portsmouth, NH/Hyde School) made seven catches for 119 yards with one touchdown and sophomore receiver Chris Hoose (Leeds, NY/Cairo-Durham) made five catches for 92 yards and two scores. Senior running back Anthony Casimano (Gansevoort, NY/Schuylerville) ran for 85 yards on 18 carries.
For the Pride, quarterback Josh Carter, who entered the game ranked 2nd in the country in scoring and 14th in rushing, scored four touchdowns and ran for a game-high 246 yards on 29 carries. Austin Bateman ran for 195 yards and three scores and Mark Safer notched 133 yards and a touchdown on 12 rushes.
In the first half, Springfield built a pair of 11-point leads, but 10 Hartwick points in the final 9:08 cut the deficit to one, 21-20, at the break. The Pride would score three consecutive times in the third quarter to build a 22-point lead, 42-20, and it led by as many as 28 points, 62-34, late in the fourth quarter.
Springfield scored on its first three drives to start the day. The Pride's third touchdown gave them a 21-10 lead thanks to a Bateman 47-yard run. Casimano capped a 61-yard drive with a 3-yard scamper on the Hawks' next possession and Alex Tesoriero (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia HS) later kicked a 27-yard field goal to cut the lead to one at halftime.
The Pride would register touchdowns on six of its seven possessions in the second half. Bateman ran in from 16 yards out on the first, Carter broke loose for a 62-yard touchdown run on the second, and Mike Davis rushed for a 5-yard score on the third for a 42-20 lead.
Brainard hit Hoose for a 32-yard score just before the end of the third quarter for Hartwick but a Safer touchdown early in the fourth would build the Pride's lead back up to 49-22.
Wilkins and Hoose both made touchdown catches from Brainard in the fourth. Carter, however, matched the touchdown total with a 19-yard run followed by a one-yarder for Springfield's final points.
Hartwick's Bryan Schweitzer (Babylon, NY/Babylon) and Springfield's James Kikel tied for a game-high 12 tackles. Clyde Miller (Rochester, NY/Glenville State) added 11 tackles, all of which were solo efforts. He also forced a fumble. Max Nacewicz made five tackles for the Pride, including two sacks with one forced fumble.
The Hawks hit the road next weekend as they travel to Frostburg State on Saturday, November 5. The game with the Bobcats is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start. Springfield is also on the road next Saturday. The Pride travels to Utica for a 1 p.m. game.
