Instant Classic

It is rare that games live up to the hype and last Friday's game with New Haven and Southern Connecticut delivered. It featured two high powered offenses and two hard hitting defenses. And two schools within three miles of each other.

New Haven scored 42 points after falling behind 13 points early in the third quarter to grab the Elm City Trophy for the second straight season. The Chargers started their assault on the opening kickoff as Mike DeCaro returned the kick 90 yards for an early advantage. It continued in the second half as Ryan Osiecki picked apart the Southern secondary with his numerous deep threats.

This win puts New Haven at the top of the NE-10 right now. They are clearly the best team in the league but they still have a lot of hurdles to clear in the coming weeks. First up is AIC and their outstanding defense. Then a visit from Bentley before a trip north to the other undefeated team in the league, Merrimack.

The Chargers will take the games one at a time and are clearly focused on AIC. They will shift focus after that game to the next opponent and so on for the remainder of the season. They learned a valuable lesson last season about overlooking an opponent and it will not happen again.

Teams will bring their A game against New Haven for the rest of the season.

Backup Plan

Both teams have solid starting quarterbacks but the backup signal callers played a big part in the outcome of Merrimack's 33-29 victory over Bentley. One quarterback left with an injury and the other was shifted to the outside to play receiver.

Bentley quarterback Bryant Johnson was injured early in the third quarter and it changed the fortunes of the Falcons after he was not able to return. They put up 29 points in the first half and were held scoreless in the second half.

Merrimack quarterback James Suozzo lined up a number of times at the wide receiver position as Joe Clancy took the reigns under center. Suozzo even caught a pass for six yards as a receiver. Clancy rallied the Warriors to the big win with two touchdown passes including the game winner that went 83 yards to Isaiah Voegeli.

This was a big win for the Warriors and kept them right in the middle of the NE-10 title battle. They face another test this Friday night when they travel to Assumption and face a decent Greyhound defense.

Out for the Season

For the second consecutive season, New Haven running back Victor Jones is out for the season with an ACL injury. It is a tough break for a player who battled so hard in the offseason to get ready for the season.

Jones was starting to have a breakout season in 2010 when he was injured. He had a great game at Bentley after the Charger running game had struggled for the preceding year and a half. He just passed the 1,000 mark when he was ruled out for the rest of the season last year.

This year, he was splitting time with Mike DeCaro and formed one of the better backfields in the conference. Jones is a senior this year and it is unknown right now if he would petition the NCAA for a medical redshirt to play one more season.

Freshman Success

There are a number of solid quarterbacks in this league and it usually tough for a freshman to see significant playing time in their first season. But two quarterbacks have emerged and are having very solid campaigns for their respective teams.

AIC redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Arduino has been very good this year and is quickly making his mark in the league. He leads the Yellow Jackets in rushing with 479 yards and seven touchdowns. He has also thrown for 961 yards and four scores through the air. But most importantly, he has helped AIC to a 4-2 record and is right in the thick of the NE-10 title hunt.

Assumption freshman signal caller Kevin Bumpus also has exceeded expectations and helping the Greyhounds stay competitive in the league. He has thrown for 783 yards in five games including three touchdown passes. He is also third on the team with 182 rushing yards but is the team leader with four rushing touchdowns.

He had his best game of the year to date last Saturday as he ran for two scores and also tossed for another touchdown. He accounted for 248 yards of total offense and three touchdowns as he led the team in rushing with 154 yards.

There are a lot of other freshmen who are making impacts across the league but the quarterback position gets a lot of credit and blame when things are going very well or very bad. They are leaders on the field and have to direct 10 other players to do their job on each snap of the football. It is tough for freshmen signal callers to make an immediate impact but Arduino and Bumpus are showing that they are exception to the rule.

Monstrous October

The month of October was scheduled to separate the contenders from the pretenders in the NE-10. And the first two weekends are living up to the hype. Last weekend saw two good games and this weekend has several solid match-ups as well.

First in Waltham, Southern Connecticut and Bentley play a game that will see the loser fall behind the eight ball in the NE-10 title chase. Both teams stumbled last weekend against rivals and neither of them can afford to lose this game. The loser of the game will have two losses in the league and still have a number of tough games to go on the schedule.

Down in New Haven, AIC brings their physical defense to take on the Chargers. Both teams play a physical brand of football and look to establish their stamp on this game. New Haven is coming off a big win over cross-town rival Southern Connecticut and AIC took care of business over winless St. Anselm.

Each weekend in October is proving to have a hand in the eventual champion of the NE-10. If last weekend is any indication, we still have three more weekend of great football on tap.