WESTFIELD, Mass. – Western New England's Steven Fedorchak (Guilderland, NY) caught nine passes for school records of 319 yards and five touchdowns as the Golden Bears retained the Presidents' Cup in a 56-35 shootout win over Westfield State at Alumni Field on Friday night.
The Golden Bears (2-0) jumped out to a 14-0 lead on 53 and 69-yard scoring strikes from QB Alec Coleman (Arlington) to Fedorchak, beating the Westfield State defense over the top on both occasions.
The Owls answered with an 11-play, 46 yard drive which was set up by a Tod Holloway (Ludlow) 42-yard kickoff return, and capped by a 3-yard TD pass from Jake Cassidy (Salem, Mass/Lawrence Academy) to Evan Garvey to cut the lead to 14-7 less than nine minutes into the game.
The teams traded blows, with Fedorchak adding another 69-yard catch, this one from Brandon Smith, and then Westfield got a 59-yard touchdown run from wideout Cam Gallagher (Uxbridge) on a jet sweep play. Fedorchack caught a 35-yard TD from Coleman with 1:25 left in the first quarter to give Western New England a 28-14 lead at the quarter.
Fedorchak caught his fifth TD of the game on a 35-yard strike from Coleman with 1:09 left in the first half, then the Owls punched in a 2-yard Shane Clark (Bellows Falls, Vt.) TD run to make the score 42-28 at the half.
Clark finished with a pair of touchdown runs for Westfield State.
In total, the Golden Bears racked up 701 yards of total offense. Coleman finished 22-27 passing for 403 yards and 5 TD's. Peter Hoff (Shelton, Conn.) rushed for 55 yards and a touchdown.
For Westfield, Cassidy finished 17-27 for 201 yards a touchdown. Senior WR Evan Garvey (Dalton, Mass./Waconah) caught eight passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Gallagher finished with 56 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving. Holloway averaged 35 yards per return on seven kickoff returns.
Naquez Saunders (Norfolk, Va./Bayside) led the Owls defense with eight tackles and an interception. David White(Walpole) added eight tackles and recovered a fumble.
Erich Keutmann (Washingtonville, NY) led WNE with 12 tackles.
Westfield (0-2) will next play at Framingham State on Saturday, September 21.
