Naperville, Ill. – December 14, 2024 – The Springfield College football team had its historic 2024 campaign come to a close as it was defeated by North Central, 27-3, in the NCAA Division III Championship Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

A week removed from defeating the defending national champion and No. 2 ranked team in the country in Cortland, the Pride traveled to the Midwest to take on the No. 1 ranked team in the nation. North Central had won the 2019 and 2022 national championships and finished as the national runner-up in 2021 and 2023 as it reached its fifth-straight appearance in the national semifinals.

It was a historic season for the Pride, as it set a program record for wins (12) and became just the second team from New England to ever reach the national quarterfinals, matching the feat that Springfield also did in 2000.  Springfield concluded the year with 5,554 rushing yards, the most in the history of Division III, while the Pride's 583 points scored were the most ever in the 134-year history of the program.

Arsen Shtefan (West Hartford, Conn.) concluded his remarkable senior season with a 92-yard effort on the ground to boost his season-rushing total to 1,716 yards, the most in Division III this season.  Springfield held the ball for 34:41 in the contest and rushed for 227 yards.  Defensively, Springfield was tremendous, limiting the Cardinals to its fewest offensive output in 44 games as the 27 points were the fewest since it totaled 24 in the 2021 Stagg Bowl.   Colby Richardson (East Hartford, Conn.) tallied seven stops, and recovered the fumble her forced, while Nick Gonzalez (Parsippany, N.J.) added seven tackles of his own.

North Central took the game's opening drive 70 yards in eight plays to score the game's first touchdown as Luke Lehnen found Thomas Skonka for a two-yard pass to make it a 7-0 contest just under five minutes into the contest. Springfield turned over the Cardinals later in the quarter when Richardson punched out the football to give the visitors possession at the 4:54 mark.  The Pride was able to march inside the Cardinals 25 yard line, but was turned over on downs to snuff out a promising drive.

North Central would tack on a 26-yard field goal at the 10:40 mark of the second quarter from Andre Casas, capping off a 13-play drive which chewed 6:02 off the clock.  The Cardinals lead grew to 17-0 with 1:47 left in the half after a three-yard score by Sean Allen, which served as the exclamation point of a 91-yard drive.

Springfield was able to get on the scoreboard in the waning moments of the frame as Springfield took the ball 49 yards in 10 plays before Ian Wernik (Plymouth, Mass.) drilled a career-long 37 yard field goal into the wind with six seconds left.

The lone points of the third quarter came off the leg of Casas with 3:49 on the clock to finish off a seven-play drive to push the hosts lead to 20-3.  With under 11 minutes to play, the Pride marched all the way down to the North Central 13 yard line before it had a touchdown called back for a penalty.  Springfield turned it over on downs, and North Central sealed the game with an eight-play drive which concluded in Lehnen connecting with Jack Rummel on a 15-yard score with 7:14 remaining in regulation. Springfield's final drive of the season ended inside the North Central 20 yard line but the Cardinals came up with an interception to secure another trip to the national semifinals.
 
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