Two weeks in the books in the NE-10. Every team but AIC has played a league game and the league schedule kicks into high gear this weekend.

Road Trips

Several NE-10 teams spent a lot of time on the bus the past couple of days seeing different parts of the country that they are accustomed to. They made the longest road trips of the regular season to finish out their non-conference schedule as they traveled into deep into WVIAC and CIAA country. As for the results of the game, Meatloaf said it best, "Two out of three ain't bad."

First, AIC traveled 410 miles to take on WVIAC preseason favorite Shepherd in their home opener. AIC had not played Shepherd since the late 1980's as they played four times, beating them each time.

The Yellow Jackets stopped in Pennsylvania at Bucknell University Friday afternoon to practice and make final preparations for their first game of the season. They looked good early but allowed 34 straight points to drop the game.

Second, New Haven made the 560 mile trek to Durham, NC to play Saint Augustine's Saturday night in the rain. It is the second time in three games that they played in the state of North Carolina. Their season ended there when they fell to Winston-Salem State in the quarterfinals last December.

They made the trip overnight Thursday and arrived in North Carolina Friday morning. They practiced at NC State Friday to finalize the game plan. They were successful in their trip as they beat Saint Augustine's 24-21 after a delay in the first half due to lightning.

Third, Bentley traveled the furthest of the NE-10 road warriors this week as they had to go 650 miles to Buckhannon, WV to play West Virginia Wesleyan. The trip was very successful as the Falcons won the game 27-16, ending a 12 game home winning streak for the Bobcats.

After a rough opening weekend out of conference, the NE-10 bounced back nicely with a 2-1 record against Division II teams, 1-0 against Division III schools and 0-1 against Division I FCS teams.

Early Impressions

I have seen eight of the nine teams in person the first two weekends of the season. I will see the ninth, AIC this weekend when they travel to Merrimack on Saturday. Here are my impressions on each of the teams I have seen.

New Haven is clearly the best team in the league. They have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball but the hand injury to Ryan Osiecki is something to keep an eye on. Ronnie Nelson is a capable backup and has seen plenty of time over the past two seasons. The Chargers have high hopes for the season and the sky is the limit for them.

Merrimack is still an unknown. They lost to a Division II powerhouse on the road and beat a Division III team at home. They have the ability to score with ease as Joe Clancy is directing the offense up and down the field. He has a lot of weapons to distribute the ball to. The big question for the Warriors is their defense. If they can play well, the Warriors will be in each game. The toughest thing for Merrimack is their September schedule. They already played New Haven but have AIC and Southern Connecticut at home the next two weeks. If they sweep the games, they will be a dangerous team the rest of the season.

Bentley showed a lot of grit with the win at West Virginia Wesleyan. Even though WV Wesleyan is not a powerhouse team, the bus trip and road atmosphere showed that the Falcons will be in the mix for the title this year. Danny Guadagnoli showed that he is ready to play in this league and the Bentley defense is always strong. They have a tough October schedule and we will see how they handle it.

Assumption has showed that they will be competitive in each game. After losing in the final seconds at Bowie State, they rallied late to beat St. Anselm in their home opener. The Greyhounds will need to lean on their defense against some of the better offenses in the league. Nick Haag and Mike Bates are all over the field. With the re-emergence of Uly Gibson, Assumption is a team that nobody can overlook.

Stonehill showed that they are ready to compete this year. After a tough first half against Bloomsburg, the Skyhawks showed some spark in the second half and it carried over to their first win over Southern Connecticut in school history. The defense is out to make a statement and they made it in holding the Owls off the scoreboard for the first time in 128 games. The offense has some play-makers and they are ready to emerge from the bottom half of the league.

St. Anselm was over-matched in their first game at Kutztown. But they rebounded nicely with a close, competitive game at Assumption last Friday night. They are looking for some more consistency at the quarterback position and that will help the offense move the ball. The biggest improvement for the Hawks is their defensive line. They held Assumption running back Matt Pedone in check and did not allow many big plays in the game.

Southern Connecticut is in an unfamiliar position as they have struggled in the first two games of the season. The team is young and doesn't have the firepower that it has had in the past. Jacob Jablonski is currently injured and they have a freshman quarterback playing in place. They turned the ball over too many times against Stonehill and face an uphill battle for the rest of the month with Saint Augustine's at home and a trip to Merrimack.

Pace is still in learning mode for most of the players. They struggled at Bentley in the opening game and were over-matched against a ranked Division I FCS team. The Setters have a very young roster and are going to hit a lot of speed bumps this season.

Running in place

After two weeks of play, only one running back int he league has crossed the 100-yard mark in a single game. Vaughn Magee rushed for 151 yards in Southern Connecticut's 13-0 loss at Stonehill. He is the only NE-10 running back to cross the century mark in rushing yards. Most of the running backs have been in the 60-80 yard range per game in the first two weeks.