SPRINGFIELD, MA -- Senior running back Tom Arcidiacono (Castleton, NY/Columbia) rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns but Springfield ended #11 Union's 11-game regular season winning streak with a 38-30 victory at Benedum Field Saturday night. Arcidiacono became the all-time Union career rushing yards leader in the contest that was delayed for an hour and a half due to lighting in the area.
Arcidiacono broke the record with a 21-yard rush to the Springfield 30 with 2:28 remaining in the second half. He finished the night with 3,730 career yards, passing George Beebe (1999-2002), who had posted 3,615 yards in his career.
Union's 11-game regular season winning streak tied for the fifth best in school history, joining the 1914-15 teams who combined for that mark.
Wide receiver Ryan Twitchell (Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) had 100 yards receiving on five catches, and quarterback Anthony Marotti (River Edge, NJ/River Dell) passed for 276 yards with a touchdown, completing 15 of 28 passes with two interceptions.
Defensively, Union was led by linebackers Vito Pellerito (Pompano Beach, FL/St. Thomas) and Chuck Pinckney (Slingerlands, NY/Guilderland), who recorded nine tackles each. Pinckney had 3.5 tackles for losses in the game.
Springfield quarterback Chris Sharpe rushed for 268 yards and four touchdowns, with an 11.7 average per carry. He completed four of five passes for 107 yards and two TDs. Sharpe opened the scoring with a 66-yard run just 48 seconds into the game on the third play of the contest. Marotti found Twichell with a 36-yard touchdown strike to cap a seven-play, 72-yard drive with 4:28 left and it was 7-7 after one quarter.
Ben Rapple (Queensbury, NY/Queensbury) converted on a 31-yard field goal attempt 11 seconds into the second quarter for a 10-7 Union lead, but on the next drive, Sharpe found Kyle Anderson for a 54-yard score at 12:30 for a 13-10 Pride lead. The see-saw scoring continued again as three drives later, Arcidiacono rushed in from 16 yards for a 17-13 Union lead.
It was short lived, as on the very first play off the ensuing kickoff, Sharpe broke free again, this time for a 69-yard touchdown run, and the Pride regained the lead at 20-17.
Marotti had a pass intercepted by Kevin Fessette (who wound up with nine tackles and two pass deflections) at the Unon 41.Three plays later, Brian Rose caught a Sharpe pass from the Union 20 for a score and a 26-17 lead, as the point after failed. That was the halftime score.
Union pulled to within two (26-24) as Arcidiacono capped a five-play, 55 yard drive that took just 2:12, with a five-yard touchdown run with 12:36 left in the third. After the Dutchmen stifled an 11-play drive by the Pride at the Union 27, Arcidiacono scored on a 33 yard run at 4:24 for a 30-26 lead, while the conversion failed. Back came the Pride, as Sharpe ran in from 34 yards for a 32-30 advantage with 2:49 left in the third (the point after missed).
Springfield's key drive to open it up to 38-30 consumed 7:48 off the clock after Paul Kalenski had an interception to stifle a Union threat at the Springfield 22 to start the fourth quarter. The 15th play of this drive that ate up most of the fourth stanza ended on Sharpe's fourth rushing TD, a four-yard scamper at 6:42 (and the kick failed for the fourth time for Springfield), making it a one posession game at 38-30.
Union drove nine plays with 58 yards, but at 3:51, a Marotti desperation pass failed from the Springfield nine, and the remarkable regular season streak came to an end.
Union opens the home season next Saturday vs. Muhlenberg at 1:30 p.m. at Bailey Field.
Box score
