Here is a question that will spark a lot of debate.

Can the New Haven Chargers win the 2012 National Championship in Division II football?

If they are able to, they would be the first Northeast team to win the title. Both New Haven and IUP made it to the title game in the 1990's before falling. The Chargers were well positioned last year to take a run at the title but only made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Winston-Salem State.

With that experience and some of the things that they have already overcome this year, I would say that they have a decent chance at making a run. Of course, they will need to win this Saturday against IUP to start the journey but the team has been focused on this goal ever since they returned from North Carolina last fall.

New Haven has faced their fair share of adversity this season. They have taken on all comers on and off the field to finish the season with a perfect record and earn a first round bye in the Division II playoffs.

Osiecki Injury

He was primed to have a great senior season. Ryan Osiecki was the reigning Offensive Player of the Year in the NE-10 and had high hopes to excel even more this season. The first game of the season showed that he was ready for prime time as he was 20 for 27, 254 yards and two touchdowns in a 45-18 victory over Merrimack.

But the adversity hit in the second game for Osiecki. He was injured early in the game at Saint Augustine's and the entire Charger fan base held their collective breaths. New Haven won the game 24-21 for their second win of the season but the focus was on Osiecki and his injury.

The injury turned out to be a bit more than anticipated as Osiecki missed the next four games and five weeks of football total. Ronnie Nelson stepped up his role for the Chargers and led them to four victories in Osiecki's absence.

The first two missed weeks were against teams that New Haven was supposed to handle easily and they did. Pace and St. Anselm were the first two victims that Nelson led the Chargers to easy victories. New Haven then had a bye week and Osiecki was expected to return against Assumption.

Nelson was again under center and the Chargers won the game going away. Then the biggest game of the season was in front of Osiecki and the Chargers. But it was Nelson again that was under center against a then undefeated Bentley team on their home turf. New Haven used a strong defensive effort to win the battle of undefeated teams and the return of Osiecki was official.

Head coach Pete Rossomando said after the Bentley game that Osiecki would start in five days when they traveled to Stonehill for a nationally televised Thursday night game. Since Osiecki had not gotten any snaps in practice for five weeks, the coaching staff was not comfortable with him playing in game action. He was finally able to get some repetitions in practice for the Stonehill game and he finally got the call for the game.

Despite his first pass being dropped, he had a solid game including a game-winning drive in the final five minutes of the game. He was back and the Chargers hit their stride. They won easily over Southern Connecticut the following week and then beat AIC in consecutive weeks to hoist the first ever NE-10 championship football trophy. He was also named Most Outstanding Player of the championship game.

Osiecki started six games this year and completed 70% of his passes. He threw 14 touchdown passes and just four picks this season. It was not the type of stats that most people thought that Osiecki would have in his final season but they in position to compete for a national championship and that is exactly where Osiecki would rather be.

Tough Break

He had been a main stay in the defensive line for the New Haven Chargers since their return to the football field in 2009. Ahmet Baki Basci had appeared in 38 games for the Chargers in his four years. But it was a freak injury that ended his season.

Baki Basci dislocated his ankle and broke three bones in his foot during a practice leading up to the Bentley game in October. The injury ended his season and his fellow defensive line mates needed to step up more in his absence.

It was pretty obvious in the first game without Baki Basci that his fellow players on the defensive line responded. They held Bentley to six yards rushing in a 17-13 victory and completed control the line of scrimmage. They pushed the Bentley offensive line all around the field.

Raheem Stanley was very close to Baki Basci and asked him if it was OK if he could wear his # 96 for a game. It was too late for the Bentley game but he was able to wear the number for the nationally televised game against Stonehill. It was a sign that the New Haven defense was fully united and ready to carry the team towards their goal of competing for a national title.

Baki Basci will not be playing this Saturday when New Haven plays IUP in the second round of the playoffs but his presence will be felt on the sidelines. He has been a fixture on the Charger sideline in his wheelchair, cheering on his fellow teammates during good and bad times.

Bull's-eye

It was the game of the year in the NE-10 and it was a sign that the league has risen their standing in the national eye. The cameras of CBS Sports Network descended on the campus of Stonehill to see the Skyhawks take on the sixth ranked team in the country.

New Haven welcomed back Ryan Osiecki from injury after missing the previous four games. His first pass was dropped but that didn't stop him from having a solid game.

The New Haven defense struggled with the passing game of Stonehill. They tried to pressure Stonehill quarterback Logan Meyer the entire night but he continually found seams in the secondary of the Chargers. The Skyhawks took a 41-31 lead early in the fourth quarter after Meyer connected with Nate Robitaille for his fourth touchdown pass of the game. The undefeated season for New Haven was in serious jeopardy as they had no answer for Stonehill.

But the Chargers did what they had done all season long, they faced the adversity head on and started the comeback. Osiecki orchestrated the offense down the field on their next drive in just three minutes to cut the lead to three, 41-38.

The New Haven defense stepped up and forced Stonehill to punt the ball back to the Chargers' offense. After a penalty to start the drive, Osiecki went to work. He converted third down plays and found his receivers to move the ball up the field.

They drove inside the five yard line and faced the biggest decision of the season. After they were stopped on third down, they called timeout to decide whether to kick the field goal to tie the game and send it to overtime. Or they could go for it and win the game with a fourth down play.

They decided to roll the dice and went for it on fourth down. Victor Jones got the hand-off and was initially stopped. But his second effort got him the necessary yards to move the chains for the Chargers.

Two plays later, Osiecki found Jason Thompson in the corner of the end zone and New Haven escaped with an improbable victory. It was their second win on the road in five days against two of the better teams in the NE-10.

New Haven has faced adversity all season long. They seem to thrive in the face of it and play their best football. They are one of 16 teams left in the Division II playoffs right now and have as good of a shot at making it to the title game as the rest of the teams still playing this Saturday.

They have openly talked about their goals for the season and have succeeded with a couple of them to this point. Now comes the biggest test of winning four playoff games in a row and they are going to be focused on one week at a time.

Can they do it?