NEW LONDON, Conn.  -  The Coast Guard Academy football team hosted back-to-back-to-back NEWMAC champions Springfield College as conference football got under way on Saturday afternoon. The Pride would come out on top, 54-32, after using their option-oriented offensive attack to rush for 540 yards and seven touchdowns; Coast Guard won the air battle, throwing for 285 yards and four touchdowns.

The Bears fall to 2-2 on the season after the loss, while Springfield remains perfect at 4-0. The Pride host Worcester Polytechnic Institute for their next match-up on Saturday, October 5th, with kick-off set for 1:00 PM. The Engineers are 3-1 this season after defeating Norwich University, 14-0, in their conference opener on Saturday afternoon, but the Pride will be looking to continue their recent string of dominance against the team from Worcester,  whom they've scored at least 40 points against in their prior three clashes and winning each game by at least 30 points.

Springfield received the opening kick-off and made it to Coast Guard's 17-yard-line before Ramon Cruz (Washington D.C.) deflected a option-pitch by Springfield's quarterback. The sophomore defensive back picked the ball up at the Bears' 24-yard-line and mad it to Springfield's 24-yard-line before being chased down by an opposing offensive player. The Coast Guard offense then took the field and resorted to a bit of trickery for their first play of the game - Joe Armentrout (Oceanside, Calif.) took the snap and sent a backwards swing pass to Harrison Hensley (Riverview, Fla.), who was playing in just his second game this season after missing Coast Guard's first two with a hamstring injury. The sophomore running back sent the ball 23 yards to the end zone, where it was caught by Broock Desta (San Diego, Calif.) for the first score of the game. Brennan Holt (Benton, Ky.) converted on the point after, giving the Bears an early 7-0 lead with 12:58 left in the first quarter.

Springfield converted a field goal on their next drive and then forced Coast Guard to punt on theirs. The Pride would start to make their way slowly down the field before a 3rd-&-9 at the Bears' where their quarterback kept the ball on an option and took it 69 yards to the house; they would make the PAT to put the score at 10-7, which would hold until the end of the first quarter. Coast Guard would start the second half with the ball in the middle of their next drive, which ended on a 31 yard touchdown pass from Armentrout to Matthew LaBouliere (Pipersville, Pa.); Holt was successful on the PAT, giving the Bears a 14-10 lead with 10:16 left until halftime.

The Pride scored again on their next drive and stopped Coast Guard on fourth down in their next defensive appearance before scoring again to go up, 24-14. The Bears were unable to lessen the gap before halftime but started with the ball to open the second half. However, Springfield forced a fumble on the fourth play of the drive; the offense would turn the defensive turnover into a touchdown and a successful PAT to put the visitors up 31-14 with 13:53 left to play. Coast Guard would cut into the defecit after a seven play, 75 yard drive resulted in a touchdown. Their PAT attempt would be blocked, but the play was waived off after a running into the kicker call on the play; the re-do would be blocked as well, this time cleanly, making the score 31-20.

Springfield scored on their next drive and converted the PAT, making it a 38-20 game with 5:53 left. Neither team scored for the rest of the quarter, but Springfield started the final 15 minutes in great field position after getting to Coast Guard's 7-yard-line before time expired. The Pride scored and then forced Coast Guard into a four-and-out on the host's next drive, scoring again and converting the PAT after the change in possession to extend their lead to 52-20 with 11:25 left in the game.

Coast Guard got in great field position after the first play of their next play in which James Wheeler IV received a screen pass from Armentrout and took it 36 yards from the Bears' 25-yard-line before being forced out at Springfield's 36-yard-line. Coast Guard would score and convert the PAT just a few plays later, making the score 52-27 with 7:20 left. The Bears then forced Springfield to punt on the visitors' next drive and turned it into a 10 play, 70 yard drive ending in touchdown. Holt's PAT was successful to make it 52-34 with 35 seconds left. Springfield would kneel the ball after receving the ensuing to kickoff to run the clock out and claim the win.

Armentrout finished the game with 249 throwing yards and 59% completion rate with two touchdowns; he also ran for 14 yards.  Wheeler led all Coast Guard rushers with 57 yards on 20 attempts. Two Bears receivers picked up over 100 yards in receiving, with LaBoulliere finishing with 116 and two touchdowns and Desta finishing with 104 yards and one touchdown. The Springfield offense stuck with the ground game and ended up with three different rushers going for over 100 yards. Senior linebacker Grant Bayesa (Camp Hill, Pa.) led the game with 10 tackles (two solo, eight assist), while senior defensive back Nico Berrios led Coast Guard with three solo tackles.

Bears football will be on the road next week, heading to Cambridge, Mass. to take on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Engineers are 2-1 this season after falling in their NEWMAC opener against Salve Regina, 19-6. Coast Guard won last year's meeting, 36-14, but have a 4-7 record vs. MIT going back to the 2012 season.