Springfield, Mass. — October 2, 2010 — Led by freshman quarterback Austin Bateman, the Springfield College football team established single game records in rushing (676 yards) and total offense (717 yards) this afternoon at Amos Alonzo Stagg Field while defeating the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 64-0. With the win, the Pride is now 4-1, while Kings Point falls to 1-4.

It was a day of record-book watching as Springfield led 20-0 after one quarter and 55-0 at the half. SC scored nine more points in the fourth quarter as substitutes played liberally during the entire second half.

It was during the fourth quarter that the Pride broke the two records mentioned above. The old school record of rushing yardage — 596 yards versus William Paterson in 1996 — was broken first. Shortly thereafter, the old record in total offense of 662 yards versus UMass Dartmouth in 2000 was also broken. The new records are 676 yards rushing (in 70 attempts) and 717 yards in total offense. Springfield averaged 9.7 yards per rush and 10.1 yards per play on the day.

Kings Point gained 196 yards of total offense, averaging 3.5 yards per play, rushing for 105 yards and passing for 91 more.

Springfield played without three of its top four rushers — junior quarterback Josh Carter, junior fullback Alex Mendez, and senior halfback Joe Myhren, all nursing minor injuries. Bateman filled in very nicely at the QB slot, rushing for a game-high 171 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, including a long of 52 yards, and an average of 14.2 yards per rush. Right behind him was sophomore Mike Davis, who rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, including a long of 67 yards, and an average of 12.0 yards per carry. All the above yardage came in the first half.

Others with good rushing totals included freshman fullback Brodie Quinn, who gained 97 yards on the ground, including a long of 39 yards (8.8 yards per rush — all in the second half); senior halfback Antoine King with 72 yards and one TD, with a long of 25; junior halfback Mark Safer with 66 yards and two TDs in four carries, including a long of 27; and sophomore quarterback Brian Staub with 37 yards and one TD, and a long of 15.

Springfield attempted one pass in the game. But it was a successful 41 yard gain in the fourth quarter on a completion from Staub to senior wide receiver Scott McGrath

It did not take very long for the Pride to score — just 46 seconds in fact. After taking the opening kickoff to its own 40, SC went to work. The first play went for 21 yards by Davis. The second play went for 20 yards by Bateman. And the third play went for a 19-yard TD by Safer. A successful point-after by sophomore Ricky Peacock gave SC a quick 7-0 lead.

Kings Point took the ensuing kickoff and marched down to the Springfield eight yard line for what would turn out to be its best drive of the day. But a 25-yard field goal was blocked by sophomore defensive end Rob Ruggiero.

After an exchange of punts, SC marched 90 yards in nine plays with Bateman scoring on a 46-yard TD on a fourth-and-one. That made it 13-0, with 3:17 left in the first quarter. Thereafter, a 13-yard TD by Bateman came with 18 seconds left in that first period.

SC followed that up with a 35-point second quarter. The TDs were scored by Davis (3 yards) following a 44-yard punt return by senior Dom Marino with 13:27 left; by Safer (27 yards) with 12:29 left; by Davis (11 yards) with 6:32 left; by Davis (67 yards) with 4:22 left; and by King 15 yards) with 0:34 left.

In the fourth quarter, Peacock booted home a 33-yard field goal with 12:35 left; and Staub scored on a 3-yard run with 7:28 left to close the scoring.

Defensively for the Pride, senior linebacker Ken Goodwin, already an Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week twice this season, and senior defensive tackle Chris Kulcsar each had eight tackles. Junior cornerback Will Turner had an early interception. Junior defensive tackle Paul Freeman had seven tackles.

For Kings Point, junior linebacker Kevin Stapf (nine solos) and senior defensive back Marcus Broeder each had 10 tackles. Junior defensive lineman Michael Hagen added eight tackles, and senior DB Jacob Fabricius had seven.

Offensively for Kings Point, senior QB Derrick Ventre went 2-for-8 for 54 yards passing. That included one interception. Sophomore running back John-Leon Gosselin led the Mariners in rushing with 51 yards on 18 carries. Junior Mike Mitchell rushed for 45 yards on nine carries.

Springfield has the next week off. It will host Utica in an Empire 8 battle October 16 at 1:30 pm on Homecoming Day.