Four Quarters

The signs have been there all season. Assumption has had good stretches of football in the first six games of the season. But everything came together perfectly last Friday night in their 44-24 victory over Merrimack. The Greyhounds played for a full 60 minutes, much to the delight of their head coach Cory Bailey.

He was very pleased with the effort and hoping that it is a start of things to come in the final weeks of the season. The Greyhounds won the game by slowing down the explosive Merrimack offense to just 24 points and just 385 yards. The Warriors were crossing the 600 yard mark with ease in the weeks leading up to the game.

Merrimack coach John Perry mentioned earlier in the week that Assumption had the best front seven in the league and it showed. They were able to pressure quarterbacks James Suozzo and Joe Clancy all night long, forcing them to make quicker throws than they would like.

The Assumption offense also showed some life behind a couple of different quarterbacks. Kevin Bumpus started the game but a roughing the passer penalty forced him to the sidelines for the rest of the game. Gabe Homiski took over and was very effective in relief. Sam Previte also took snaps in the Wildcat formation for the Greyhounds.

The bad news for Assumption is that they are off this weekend. That is good news for the St. Anselm as they hope that the momentum that the Greyhounds have might wear off before their October 29th match-up.

And then there was one

With Merrimack's loss to Assumption Friday night, New Haven is the lone undefeated team in league play right now. The Chargers took care of business against AIC on Saturday and are also undefeated against D2 opponents. Their lone loss is against D1 FCS member William & Mary who is just 2-2 after the near upset by New Haven on September 17th.

Hail Mary times two

In case you left the Bentley/Southern Connecticut game early on Saturday, you missed one of the best near comebacks in some time. The Owls were in control of the game in the final minutes of the game, leading 31-17.

Bentley got the ball back with just over two minutes left in the game and started to drive down the field. Quarterback Bryant Johnson was taking what the defense was giving him and completing 8-10 yard passes to get Bentley across midfield. Following a timeout and with less than a minute left, Johnson threw the ball in the end zone and Jeff Hill came down with the pass with 29 seconds to go. The Falcons missed the PAT and trailed by eight. They were able to recover the ensuing onside kick and now had a chance to tie the game.

Johnson again took what was the defense allowed and moved the offense down the field. He then tossed another Hail Mary pass that was hauled in by Hill with four seconds left on the clock. Bentley then had to go for two to tie the game but the Southern Connecticut defense stepped up and forced an incompletion. The Owls shut the door as they recovered the onside kick to escape with a much closer victory than anticipated several minutes earlier.

I was listening to the second half at sportingnewsct.com. After the second Hail Mary was caught and Bentley was lining up for the two point conversion, the streaming went dead and I was furiously clicking refresh as well as clicking on the live stats to see what happened. Technology is a wonderful thing until there is an issue.

So if you are going to leave a football game early again when a team is within striking distance, think twice next time.

Rotating QBs

There seems to be a new trend in the league as many of the coaches are playing multiple quarterbacks during the game. Some coaches are forced into the practice due to injuries and some coaches are using the opportunity to change up their offensive attack.

New Haven has been rotating in Ronnie Nelson for Ryan Osiecki each game of the season. Nelson brings a different look for the Chargers as he is a more mobile quarterback than Osiecki and helps New Haven run the ball more efficiently.

Southern Connecticut has been playing Jacob Jablonski for Kevin Lynch mostly on every third offensive series. Coach Rich Cavanaugh has been trying to get Jablonski game action and he has been producing in those situations. He was effective in the New Haven game two weekends ago as he led the Owls on a scoring drive.

Merrimack has also been rotating James Suozzo and Joe Clancy this season. Both have seen action and Suozzo has even lined up as a receiver when Clancy has been under center.

Assumption has been on the other side of the street. They have sustained a lot of injuries to their quarterbacks and have been forced to move other players from other positions to take snaps. Kevin Bumpus, Gabe Homiski, Sam Previte, Sean Mayo and Derek Fernandes have all seen time behind center for the Greyhounds this season. Previte is the only one to see action in all seven games but most of his touches are in the Wildcat formation.

This is not a new trend in college football as teams have been playing multiple quarterbacks in games for years. You are only able to simulate game situation in practice so much so it is good for the backup to get actual snaps in a game against a hostile defense.

Tough Schedule

October has been a good month for NE-10 fans as the top teams have lined up against each other on the field. But two teams have had a tougher October than most. Bentley and New Haven drew the short end of the scheduling straws as they have had a pretty tough four week stretches in the month.

Bentley started their tough stretch on September 30th as they hosted AIC under the lights. They won the game 28-10 and it is their last victory. They then traveled to Merrimack and hosted Southern Connecticut, dropping both games by a total of six points. They finish the tough stretch with a trip to New Haven this weekend and need to take the game to even their record to 2-2 over the brutal stretch.

New Haven played the same four teams but with very different results. They opened the stretch with a win at Southern Connecticut. Last weekend, they welcomed AIC and walked away with a 34-20 victory. They host Bentley this weekend before finishing the four game stretch with a trip to Merrimack. If they are able to sweep the four games, they will be in the driver seat for the league title and a possible trip to the playoffs.

Great Way to Start

There have been a lot of players this year that have had multiple touchdown games but one topped the chart last weekend. Stonehill running back Jermetrius Troy scored four times in the first half of the Skyhawks' 49-0 victory over Pace.

He scored twice in both the first and second quarter with each touchdown run getting longer and longer. He capped off the second drive of the game for Stonehill with a fourth and four run for 10 yards into the end zone. His second score was from four yards out on the ensuing drive for the Skyhawks.

His third score of the game came from 20 yards out on the second play of the second quarter. Two of the three Stonehill drives started in Pace territory. The final touchdown run might have been the most exciting.

Following a Pace punt into the end zone, Troy took the handoff and went 80 yards for his fourth touchdown run of the game. He finished the game with 214 yards, a career high that were mostly gained in the first half. His legs helped Stonehill run for a total of 376 yards in the game and win their first game in six tries.