Top Team

After stumbling two weeks ago at home to New Haven, American International showed last Saturday that they are the team to beat in the NE-10. They drove the field in final four minutes to win the game over LIU Post 27-24 and take control of their own destiny.

Quaterback Kevin Arduino did not have the greatest game but played his best when it counted. He was sacked on the first play on the winning drive but then calmly led the Yellow Jackets down the field. He was seven for nine on that drive for 70 yards and capped off the drive with a one yard touchdown run on fourth down.

Arduino has been the best big game quarterback in the NE-10 for the past four years and the victory over Post was just another feather in the cap for him. He still has the league title and another NCAA berth in his sights for this year.

He has been at his best on the road in the league as he has not lost on the road in the regular season since his freshman year in 2011. In fact, he has only lost twice on the road against NE-10 opponents and it happened twice in same stadium in New Haven. He lost a regular season game in 2011 and then the 2012 championship game.

This AIC team was written off by a lot of people on the message boards but always seems to rise to the occasion. They have two games left and both are very winnable. They travel to Merrimack this weekend and then close out the regular season with Pace.

Mr. Everything

LIU Post quarterback Steve Laurino is having a great season. But his performance on Saturday might have clinched the league's Offensive Player of the Year award.

Despite not being able to get his team into the end zone in the first half, he put the team on his back in the second half and nearly pulled off the victory. Laurino scored his league leading 14th rushing touchdown in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, he threw his 17th touchdown of the season which is good for second in the league right now. He then capped off the day with a receiving touchdown as Post ran an end around and Laurino hauled in the 37 yard touchdown pass to take a brief lead in the 4th quarter.

It was just a typical day at the office for Laurino as he has rushed for and passed for a touchdown in all eight games this year. He has been the best offensive player in the league this year by far.

His team is now tied for second place in the league and if they win out, they will earn a slot in the championship game on November 15th. I am pretty sure that Laurino will trade in all of his offensive stats for a chance to raise the winning trophy at the end of the game.

Defense

The Assumption defense has been one of the most underrated units in the league. They are completely dominating teams right and a big reason why the Greyhounds have won four games in a row.

Their latest victim was the top ranked offense of St. Anselm and they limited them to just seven points. And those seven points were scored very late in the game when the backups were in the game.

Assumption allowed a total of 32 points in the month of October in their four victories. That is pretty impressive for a unit that continues to keep the Greyhounds in the hunt for a championship game slot.

The defense will face another challenge this weekend when they host Bentley and one of the best passing offenses in the league.

Defense, Part Two

Southern Connecticut has struggled through most of the season but one of their bright spots has been their defense. It was again on display last Saturday as they defeated Stonehill 17-14.

They held the Skyhawks to just 236 yards in the game. They were on top of their game in the first half as Stonehill had just 86 yards of offense and 75 of those yards were on their lone offensive touchdown drive of the game.

The defense even picked up the offense as Brian Wilcox picked off a pass and took it 25 yards into the end zone for what eventually become the winning points. Except for two games this year, the defense has held opponents under 30 points and kept the Owls in those games.

Southern Connecticut will face the dual threat capability of LIU Post this weekend.

Defense, Part Three

New Haven linebacker Tyler Condit continued his stellar season as he had a huge game in the 42-14 victory over Merrimack. He was credited with 16 tackles, nine of the solo variety.

He also was credited with a half sack and had 1.5 tackles for a loss. For the season, he leads the league with 85 tackles at a clip of 10.6 per game.

He also has 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, fumble recovery and an interception. He has been a big reason why the Chargers have won five straight games and are tied for second place right now.

Condit will look to continue his defensive excellence when his team travels to face Pace this Saturday.

Standings

It is amazing how balanced the NE-10 has become. At the end of September, we had only one team that finished the month undefeated. For the month of October, we had two teams run the table in the month and we have a dog fight for a place in the championship game.

Assumption and New Haven both finished the month 4-0 and are now tied for second place in the league. The third team tied for second place, LIU Post went 3-1 in the month and was one play away from an undefeated month as well.

We now have four teams with a legitimate shot at playing for the trophy on November 15th. AIC has the inside track to playing in and hosting the game. They are at Merrimack and host Pace over the final two weeks of the season. If they win out, they will be the top seed in the league.

Second place looks like a mess but one team has the advantage. Despite their loss to AIC, Post still has the upper hand on New Haven and Assumption as they defeated both teams earlier in the season. That will help them with potential tie breakers. If Post wins out, they will earn a spot in the championship game. They travel to Southern Connecticut this weekend and then host Bentley to close out the regular season.

Assumption is next up based on their victory over New Haven in September. They wish that they could have the Post loss back as they lost by one point and had a lead late in the game. The Greyhounds also have a favorable schedule as they host Bentley and finish on the road at Stonehill.

The long shot of the group is New Haven. Despite their victory over AIC two weeks ago, they would need to finish in a tie with the Yellow Jackets to have any shot at playing for the title. They dropped two heart breakers to Assumption and Post and that might keep them from playing in their second title game in three years. They travel to Pace this weekend and close out with St. Anselm at home.

The final two weeks of the season will have a lot of scoreboard watching between these four teams. They have already played each other and the results speak for themselves. These teams control their own destiny and need to win out to have any chance at playing for the trophy.

Logo

I sent out a question on Twitter during the game two weeks ago between LIU Post and St. Anselm. If you have noticed the end zones for Post, it still has the old name of the school, CW Post.

The sports information department of the Pioneers responded to me last week and said that the name is actually sewn into the field. It is strange to see the old name on the field when they are trying to re-brand the school as LIU Post.

But it also cost some money to sew the old name into the field and would cost additional money to re-sew the new name into the field. So the old name is alive and well on the football field.