Tyler Ward entered at quarterback in the third series of the game and led Western New England to the win vs. Springfield. Western New England athletics file photo

What constitutes a great rivalry? Longevity counts. Amherst and Williams have been battling for well over a century in a rival game that stirs the passions of alumni from coast to coast and overseas. The folks up in Maine from Colby, Bates and Bowdoin have been fighting over the CBB Trophy forever.

But can a rivalry be called great in its second year? Ask Western New England coach Keith Emery.

His Golden Bears played at Springfield for bragging rights to that Massachusetts city for only the second year and Emery will defy anyone to say it is not an outstanding rivalry.

"The crowd was incredible," Emery said. "It was estimated at more than 4,000 and it was definitely active. It was exciting. It was exactly what you want in a city series. There was a lot of emotion."

It was also dramatic. Western New England scored two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to pull out a 38-34 victory. Tucker Schumitz caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Ward with 5:30 left and Kevin Cook ran one in with 1:22 remaining.

All three players are seniors and there is also senior leadership in the Golden Bears' offensive line.

"Those seniors put us on their shoulders," Emery said.

Ward threw for two scores and had no interceptions. Cook ran for 98 yards and three touchdowns and Schumitz had seven catches, two for touchdowns.

The Golden Bears and the Pride play for something called the Pynchon SAW. It was William Pynchon who established Springfield in 1636, so there's your longevity if you want to stretch it.

There is also a logo being developed for the Pynchon SAW Game. Hopefully it will be as impressive as the one that Hampden-Sydney and Wabash just christened.

Few people can appreciate the new rivalry in a way that Emery can. He grew up in nearby Enfield, Conn., essentially a suburb of Springfield. He attended church in Springfield while living in Enfield and spent much of his time there. Many of his former high school classmates and friends were at Friday night's game.

But now it is on to another rivalry for the Golden Bears and again bragging rights for the Greater Springfield area is part of the package. And so in the Presidents' Cup as WNE gets set to battle nearby Westfield State.

"Now we are focused on the Presidents' Cup," Emery said.

It is also a meeting of 1-0 teams. Westfield opened with a 30-22 victory over Nichols, giving Pete Kowalski a victory in his first game as head coach.

Kowalski took a page from the late Bum Phillips.

"It's like Bum Phillips said, 'If you've got a big gun, shoot it.'" Kowalski said.

So Kowalski shot it and shot it. And then shot it some more. He gave the ball to Mike Mercadante 30 times. He responded with 196 yards and two touchdowns.

"He has been a great player for us. He was a good player as a sophomore and a junior but he had some injuries. But when he played we were tough to beat," Kowalski said.

"We have 20 seniors and they bonded together in the weight room and had a great spring season."

Falcons fly high

Fitchburg State opened with a 28-6 win over Becker and quarterback Garrett Dellechiaie, who showed growth as a freshman last year, continued to impress. He threw four touchdowns with no interceptions.

"He would be the first to tell you that he did not have a complete game," Fitchburg coach Pat Haverty said. "But he definitely did a nice job.

"I am just proud of all of them. We had a lot of holes to fill and had a lot of guys playing their first college game. I am pretty happy that we got out of camp moving in a positive direction.

"Last year we started really show and the emphasis was to see if this team could start fast and we definitely did."

That was an understatement. The Falcons scored three first-quarter touchdowns, scoring passes by Dellechiaie to three receivers.

Talib Barksdale was the man on defense for Fitchburg. He had nine tackles and returned an interception 47 yards.

Defense at Spartan Stadium

First-year Castleton State head coach Tony Volpone, once a quarterback, showed off his arm after the 20-13 overtime victory over Plymouth State. He fired the ball a good 40 yards out of the end zone to defensive coordinator Blaise Zambrano. That was Volpone's way of presenting the game ball to Zambrano, also in his first year at Castleton.

And why not? It has been a long time since Spartan fans have seen defense played this way. Even in their best year two seasons ago when they went 6-1 in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference and were playing for an NCAA playoff bid on the final day, they always had to outscore teams because they could not stop anyone.

Leading this defensive effort were Darren Callan (13 tackles), Ryan Stanek (10 tackles) and Brett Denning and Jay Morgan with nine stops apiece.

George Busharis, the starting quarterback all week, did not play due to what Volpone called "a violation of team rules" and Tyler Higley stepped in and performed well.

Bobby Lineberger kicked a 37-yard fiekld goal to put Castleton in front 13-10 with just 1:58 remaining, but Plymouth's Rob Giles, who never played high school football, kicked a 25-yarder for the Panthers with 51 seconds to play to send the game to overtime. 

Castleton special teams coach Steve Wolf, who also works with Seattle kicker Steven Hauschka, said, “Lineberger is getting better each day.”

Matt Rafus went over for the winning score from two yards out after Higley set it up with a 19-yard completion.

Rafus rushed for134 yards and two scores.

"The offensive line had a great vertical push and the defense put us in great position," Rafus said.

Rams win showdown

Framingham State defeated Endicott in the highly anticipated meeting of teams picked to win their conferences. Framingham quarterback Matt Silva went over for the winning score in the third quarter.

Matthew Mangano had two interceptions and returned one of them 71 yards for a score.

Salve Regina, expected to be in the NEFC race with Endicott, launched its season with a 33-27 win over Bridgewater State. Danny Ives had 12 tackles and an interception for the Seahawks and Dan Buonocore rushed for 144 yards.

UMass-Dartmouth's Nils Swenson had 14 tackles and recovered a fumble to key the Corsairs' 21-14 win over Mount Ida.

Both quarterbacks did plenty for Worcester State as the Lancers rolled past Anna Maria 38-6. Kevin Bumpus three for 304 yards and three touchdowns and Pat Viencik completed six of seven passes for 95 yards and a score.

Record watch

Castleton's Kevin Alberque is closing in on the New England Division III NCAA record for career kickoff return yardage. The record is held by Ernie Mellow who set it in 2011 with 2,199 yards. Alberque has 2,082.

MIT opens strong

MIT bears watching after opening with a 28-18 win over Pomona-Pitzer in which Pete Williams threw for two touchdowns and Justin Williams rushed for 126 yards.

The big games

SUNY-Maritime hosts Mass. Maritime on Thursday night in the seventh Chowder Bowl, It is Sept. 11, a date that has special significance for SUNY-Maritime head coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes who served a couple of years ago in Afghanistan and was an assistant at the Citadel when the Twin Towers were attacked. SUNY-Maritime will be trying to bounce back from a 36-20 loss to William Paterson.

Westfield State goes to WNE for the Presidents' Cup game.

"WNE is a great program and we know we have to improve," Kowalski said.

Norwich, the preseason choice to win the ECFC, will try to rebound after a loss to the Liberty League's RPI. Now, the Cadets get to measure themselves against another Liberty League foe with a trip to St. Lawrence.

Framingham State passed the big test against Endicott, but they have another challenge on Saturday with Rowan in town.