I will be previewing all of the NE-10 football teams over the next 10 days. I will roll out each team in my preseason poll from # 10 to # 1. The NE-10 will release the coaches preseason poll towards the end of August.

The season starts on September 5th when American International travels to face PSAC opponent East Stroudsburg.

Here is the my pick for # 9 in the league in 2013:

St. Anselm College Hawks (2-9, 1-7 NE-10)

Coach: Patrick Murphy, 6th season (9-42)

Opening Game: September 7th vs. Bowie St.

2013 Schedule

2012 Stats

2013 Roster

St. Anselm is a team that coaches are fearful to play. They can put up points in bunches with their hurry-up offense. The defense continues to improve each year and this team seems to get better each year.

The Hawks' offense drew national attention last year after the win over Seton Hill. Sophomore quarterback Andrew Murphy threw for 612 yards and seven touchdowns. He already served notice to the league that he was able to run the St. Anselm offense and frustrate opposing defensive coordinators. But Murphy has some competition at quarterback as Ray Doucette is back for his senior year. Expect both to battle it out in the preseason camp for the starting role. Senior Keith Charles is expected to see the majority of work out of the backfield. He is also the kick returner and very explosive in the open field. Juniors Justin Bernard and Ahkeen Williams will see a lot of passes in their direction in the Hawks' wide open offensive scheme.

Defense has always been an issue for St. Anselm. They only lost a couple of starters to graduation as the Hawks will need to improve upon their 44.6 points per game given up. Senior linebacker Ethan Sylvain is the leader of the defense. He is the top returning tackler and hopes to add to those numbers. Junior defensive lineman Andrew Lebowitz is part of a young defensive front that hopes to win the battle of the trenches. Senior defensive backTrevor Jessie will anchor the secondary.

Head coach Patrick Murphy has been seeing improvement each year since he took over the Hawks' helm six years ago. He has been able to recruit good players that enjoy his fast-paced style of offense. His line play on both sides of the ball has gotten better with big and strong athletes that he has recruited in the past couple of years. The Hawks are a tough match-up for most teams and not the pushover of years past.