Owls Football Hosts WNE in Presidents' Cup Game on Friday Night

WESTFIELD, Mass. -  Westfield State University hosts Western New England University in the 35th "Presidents' Cup" football game on Friday night, with kickoff at Alumni Field at 7:00 p.m.

The Presidents Cup is the trophy presented to the winner of this local rivalry game. The Golden Bears lead the series 20-14 all time, and have won 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two schools.

LAST YEAR: Westen New England scored on their first six drives in running out to a 38-14 halftime lead.   Westfield got a 6-yard TD run from Jordan Smith(Coventry, Conn.) and a 33-yard TD pass from Colby Piers (Milford, Mass.) to Michael Foley (S. Windsor, Conn.) for the final margin.  Tyler Millerick threw four TD passes for the Bears.

LAST WEEK:  Westfield State fell to Anna Maria by a 51-26 final score.  The Owls fell behind 17-0 early and did their best to rally, getting two TD catches from Dean transfer Corey Jackson, Jr. (W. Hartford, Conn./Farmington),  and an 89-yard TD run from Smith, which set a school record for longest TD run in program history.  Western New England fell to Springfield College, 28-14.  Dillon Kohl's 1-yard TD run gave the  Golden Bears a 14-9 lead at the half, but the second half was all Springfield as the Pride scored three unanswered touchdowns to get the win.

WESTFIELD STATE ON OFFENSE: Smith, who the Owls top rusher in 2022 with 569 yards and caught 33 balls for 313 yards, started the year hot with 122 rushing yards in the loss to Anna Maria.   Senior QB Colby Piers completed better than 60 percent of his passes in 2022, but had a sub-par day last weekend while completing 10 of 30 passes for 122 yards.   He did find two appealing new targets in transfers Will Brewster  (Westfield, Mass.) (SCSU) and Jackson, Jr. (Dean).  Brewster caught two balls for 52 yards and a TD, and both of Jackson's catches went for touchdowns.  The Owls await the return of senior Michael Foley, who led the team with 529 yards receiving, who was just granted an additional "covid year" of eligibility from the NCAA.  The Owls return Sean Ferguson (Foxboro,Mass.), Sean Murray (Milford, Mass.), Gilberto Hernandez (Springfield, Mass./Central) and Vincent Cirillo (Chicopee, Mass,) on the offensive line, but injuries have shuffled the lineup early in the season and several newcomers also saw valuable snaps in the season opener.

WESTFIELD STATE ON DEFENSE:  The Owls return a veteran core on defense, anchored by MLB Tyler Cooley (Randolph, Mass./Archbishop Williams), who led the team in tackles a year ago.   Cooley made nine stops in the season opener.   Cameron Danahy (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake) also returns at OLB and led the team with 10 tackles, (4 for losses) and a sack last week.  Returnees Cade Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Dylan Clark (Bellows Falls, Vt.), and Ethan Russell (Montague, Mass./Frontier) anchor the defensive line.   In the secondary, newcomer Marckus Allen-Nesmith (Glassboro, N.J.) made 10 stops and returned an interception for 16 yards, and Cecil Villa (Springfield, Mass./Putnam) made eight tackles (seven solo) against Anna Maria.

WESTFIELD STATE ON SPECIAL TEAMS:  Owen Thompson (Plympton, Mass./Silver Lake) punted seven times for an average of 37.4 yards last week, and freshman kicker Cooper Harvey (Niskayuna, N.Y.) was 2/3 on extra points.    Junior Curtis Dion (Seymour, Conn.) was solid in the return game, averaging 23.8 yards per kick return.

WNE ON OFFENSE:  The Golden Bears traditionally play a fast-tempo, no-huddle offense.   Senior QB Conrad Swanson completed 14 of 29 passes for 180 yards and a TD last week, and ran the ball 13 times for 41 yards.   Kohl was WNE's second leading rusher a year ago with more than 500 yards on the ground, and toted the rock 13 times for 38 yards in the season opener.  D'Andre Harris led the bears with 44 catches for 652 yards and 5 TD's in 2022, and was the top receiver against Springfield with four catches for 83 yards.  Ryan Larson caught 19 balls for 211 yards

WNE ON DEFENSE:   ILB Jake Ciasson was the Golden Bears leader in tackles, getting in on 14 stops in the opener.   Nose guard Cayden Porter made 11 tackles and combined with LB Kyle Holt for one of two sacks. Saftey Jason Shumilla was in on 10 tackles last week.

WNE ON SPECIAL TEAMS:  Andrew Havens punted seven times for an average of 36 yards, and converted both extra point opportunities for the Golden Bears in the season opener.  Cam LeBlanc popped a 17 yard punt return last week.

LIVE COVERAGE:  The game will be videostreamed live on WestfieldStateOwls.com and on the MASCAC.tv channel, which is available on Roku and Apple TV devices.  Westfield State students Zach Bianco and Brayden Cutler will have the call of the game.  Live stats are available on WestfieldStateOwls.com.

A LOOK AHEAD:  Westfield State will open conference play with a game at Western Connecticut on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7:00 p.m., while Western New England will host St. Lawrence (NY) University in a non-conference game on Saturday, Sept. 16.