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American International showed the rest of the league on Saturday that the road to the championship still goes through them. They handily defeated St. Anselm 48-26 and are the lone undefeated team left in the NE10.

The Yellow Jackets allowed an opening touchdown but then took control of the game by scoring 35 of the next 44 points. AIC used the big play and their usual punishing defense to win the game.

AIC quarterback Kevin Arduino had another big game as he passed for 346 yards and four touchdowns. He hooked up on two long touchdown passes with Evan Graham in which he slipped behind the defense.

The front three for AIC was strong as they held St. Anselm to just 55 yards in the game. They were applying the pressure and the linebackers plugged the holes to frustrate the St. Anselm offense line the entire game. The defense has been the hallmark of success for AIC throughout the years but this year's group is one of the strongest that they have had in a while.

The experience and confidence of the Yellow Jackets showed throughout the game. If anything went wrong, they adjusted accordingly and just continued with their game plan.

With AIC the lone undefeated team in the league, they control their own destiny right for hosting the NE10 championship game. They still have four games to go and still have tough games on their schedule. But the experience of the Yellow Jackets showed on Saturday as they are ready to repeat as conference champs.

Crash

On the other side of the field last Saturday, St. Anselm lost their first game of the season and were not able to match up well with AIC. They struggled running the ball and found some success in the passing game.

But too many turnovers and not enough big plays hurt the Hawks the entire game. Head coach Patrick Murphy has stressed total team victories and called Saturday's game "a complete team loss."

They had their chances but were not able to capitalize on them. One example was a fumble in the third quarter that they forced. The ball should have been recovered by St. Anselm but the ball continued to bounce around and eventually ended up in the hands of AIC.

Another example was a poor tackling effort on a pass to AIC tight end Gary Farley. Several secondary players thought that someone else was going to push him out of the bounds in front of the AIC sideline. But nobody made the play and Farley continued into the end zone for a 44 yard touchdown reception.

St. Anselm will need to put that tough game behind quickly as they have a huge two game road trip coming up. First, they travel to fellow one league loss member LIU Post this Saturday before a Friday night showdown at Assumption. If the Hawks are going to face AIC again, they need to take care of business of the road the next two weeks.

Elm City Trophy

For the fifth consecutive season, New Haven takes the Elm City Trophy as they defeated cross town rival Southern Connecticut 27-14. It was the first time this year that the Chargers' fate was not decided on the final play of the game.

New Haven quarterback Joey Bradley and wide receiver Ty Headen continue to shred opposing defenses. The duo hooked up 11 times in the game for 128 yards and a touchdown. Bradley had three total touchdown passes in the win along with 256 yards of passing.

The Chargers have dominated this series since they resurrected their football program in 2009. They dropped the first match up in 2009 and squeaked out a one point victory in 2010. The past four games have been one sided in the favor of New Haven as they have won by an average margin of 23 points.

Three of those wins have come on the blue turf of their home field including the latest victory. New Haven puts their three game winning streak on the line as they travel north to face AIC this weekend.

Close again

LIU Post has played six games in 2014 and they have played six games that have come down to the final whistle. The latest nail biter was a victory over Stonehill in which they scored with 22 seconds left to grab the 28-25 win.

Post quarterback Steve Laurino has been one of the top players in the league this year. He had a hand in all four touchdowns on Saturday and still leads the NE-10 in rushing touchdowns with 10. He is also second in touchdown passes to Bentley's Danny Guadagnoli with 12 on the season.

The Pioneers are now 4-1 in the league and have two huge games in the next two weeks. They host St. Anselm this weekend who is also 4-1 in the NE-10 right now and then host AIC who is 5-0 in the league.

They control their own destiny to play in their first championship game but I am guessing that the final four games will probably come down to the final whistle.

Controlled Chaos

The NE-10 still has six teams with a chance to play in the championship game on November 15th. AIC is the only undefeated team left in the league. St. Anselm and LIU Post both are 4-1 and one of the teams will have two losses since they are next on each other's schedule.

Merrimack, Assumption and New Haven are all 3-2 right now and need some help to play in the championship game. Merrimack and Assumption play each other this weekend so the loser of that game will be out of the championship game race. New Haven plays AIC so if they are able to pull the upset, they will stay in the hunt.

Stonehill suffered their third league loss to LIU Post and are mostly likely out of the repeat championship game performance. Since they have lost to three teams ahead of them, they will not have the tiebreaker to aid them. The other teams are out of the race as they have at least four losses in the league right now.

But with four weeks of football left before the big game, plenty of things could happen between now and then. Teams need to win games on the field if they want a chance to hoist the trophy and a shot at the NCAA playoffs.

Cursed

I picked Bentley to finish second in the league this year and after they defeated Mercyhurst in Week 1, my pick looked good. But five consecutive losses by a grand total of 20 points and they are out of the running for the league title.

It is now two straight seasons that my number two preseason pick did not live up to my hype. Last year, it was LIU Post in their return to the NE10. I picked them second and they struggled to a seventh place finish in the league.

Bentley has not played like a 0-5 team in the league. They have battled the top teams to the wire but have not been able to break through. They have had a chance to win all five games and it is giving first year head coach Bill Kavanaugh nightmares.

The Falcons have had just three losing seasons in the past 30 years. The last one came in 2008 which was the last season for legendary head coach Peter Yetten.