Wild Ride

You might remember the clip of former Green Bay head coach Vince Lombardi yelling "What the hell is going on out here?" Well, that is the perfect way to explain the first half of the NE-10 season.

Last Saturday was the wildest ride that I can remember as everything hit the fan at the same time. Winless teams defeated undefeated teams. Struggling teams seemed to play like championship teams and it was just one of the most incredible days ever.

The topper was when winless Southern Connecticut traveled north to Stonehill and knocked off the league's only undefeated team. Not only did they knock them off, they dominated them in all facets of the game.

Southern quarterback Rob Nittolo tossed four touchdown passes in the game and the Owls finally played four quarters of good football. There were glimpses in each of the first four games that this was possible and it finally happened. The defense caused five turnovers including four fumbles and a key interception late in the game that sealed the upset.

It all started earlier in the day when American International rebounded from a tough loss last week to beat LIU Post 44-17. Everything was clicking for the Yellow Jackets in a rematch of the NE-10 championship game last year.

And then there was Merrimack and their victory on the blue turf in New Haven. The Chargers were undefeated in the league coming into the game but left the game with a 14-10 loss. Nick Davis and Jere Brown hooked up with 1:44 left in the game to propel Merrimack to their second consecutive victory.

So what does this all mean for the NE-10 standings? You have eight teams jumbled right now with 3-1 and 2-2 records that all have a legitimate shot at playing each other in the championship game. Teams that seemed ready to pull away from the herd were pulled back into the mix. Teams that seemed left behind are now back in the race.

We might be in for one of the wildest rides in the league imaginable. Most of the eight teams in the mix right now will face each other over the coming weeks so we still have a lot to be decided in the league. Stay tuned as the wild ride is just beginning.

Pick Six Nation

American International has always been known as a solid defensive team and last Saturday was no different. The Yellow Jackets shut down LIU Post in a 44-17 victory.

The defense scored twice on pick sixes that seemed to help swing the tide for AIC. Andrew Justice started the fun when he picked off Jeff Kidd and returned it 45 yards to the house. Less than three minutes later, Malik Cooper followed suit and had a pick six of his own. This time from 30 yards out to extend the AIC to 30-7 at the time.

Mike Ford was credited with the longest interception of the game but was unable to get it to the end zone. He picked off Kidd at the goal line and took the ball 73 yards back to the Post 27 yard line. AIC was not able to capitalize on the play as the half ended three plays later.

But they are all just following their big time teammate Daquan Holmes. He had his 13th career interception in the victory and now is tied for 13th place all-time in the NE-10. He is one short of the Yellow Jacket record held by Bob Parker and Markell Rice.

Holmes has returned four of those picks to house including two in a game last September against Stonehill when he recorded a 60 and 100 yard pick six. Ironically, all of his touchdown returns in his career have occurred during the month of September the past three seasons. He is within reach of the all-time NE-10 record held by LIU Post's Woody Aime. He picked off 19 passes from 2003-2006.

American International seems to get energized from their defensive plays and last Saturday was no exception. The Yellow Jackets are now 2-2 in the league and are still in play for a championship game appearance for the fourth straight year if the defense continues to make those big plays.

Bruising BacksSpecial Teams

Assumption has a good offensive and defensive attack. They can score at will and stop teams with a punishing defense. But it was their special teams that was the difference in their 51-19 victory at St. Anselm.

"How about our special teams," head coach Bob Chesney said. "There were six major plays in the game. To recover a punt for a touchdown, to take a kick back for a touchdown, especially with the offense that St. Anselm has, they were major plays."

It all started with a near blocked punt on St. Anselm's first punt. But the unit did their job the next time on the field. Tyis Boykin found a seam and blocked the punt to give the Greyhounds the ball on the 30 yard line. It led to an eventual James Ward touchdown. It did not stop there.

On the next Hawk punt, Dylan Oxsen partially deflected the punt and it traveled just 24 yards. That drive led to a Cole Tracy field goal and 17-0 lead for Assumption.

"Starting fast, that is the thing that you have to do," Chesney said. "For whatever reason, it is tough to come up here and start fast."

Late in the second quarter, St. Anselm cut the deficit to seven after an Eric Fairweather 70 yard scamper for a touchdown. Enter the Assumption special teams to save the day.

Deonte Harris took the kickoff 87 yards back to the house for a 27-13 advantage at the half for Assumption. The momentum had completely swung to St. Anselm but was taken away with another huge special teams play.

"It was a big momentum swing at that time," Chesney said. "It was very good timing."

It continued in the third quarter as the punt snap was dropped and Assumption jumped on the loose ball at the 18 yard line. Three plays later, Assumption found the end zone and was in complete control of the game.

The pain for St. Anselm continued as Covaliu fumbled the punt and the Greyhounds again emerged from the pile with the ball. DJ Hernandez had the ball for Assumption and they used that turnover for another Cole Tracy field goal.

The final nail in the coffin came as Assumption punted the ball back to St. Anselm in the fourth quarter. The ball was bouncing inside the five yard line when it was touched by a Hawk player and was recovered in the end zone by Assumption's Thomas Hurley.

Assumption is in a three way tie for first place right now with a 3-1 league record. Stonehill and New Haven lost so they are all tied at the top of the league. They have another huge game on Friday night as they host New Haven.

Injuries

St. Anselm was hoping for a much better performance on Saturday against Assumption but injuries are starting to take their toll for the Hawks.

Two weeks ago, starting quarterback Yianni Gavalas injured his shoulder when he scrambled for a first down and took a good hit on the shoulder. He has missed the last two weeks and was in a sling on the sideline last weekend. It does not look good for Gavalas for the rest of the season.

Punter and kicker Shane Grayson was injured during the week and missed the Assumption game as well. His steady leg was missed at times on Saturday as punts were blocked and extra points were wide.

"We were terrible on special teams," head coach Patrick Murphy said. "We had a late injury in the week for our regular punter/kicker. We just didn't handle adversity very well."

Leading receiver Ryan Monette was also hurt last week against American International and did not see the field in the loss to Assumption. He also returns kicks for the Hawks.

Three key missing components are not an excuse for the Hawks as they lost by 32 points to Assumption. They made enough other mistakes that went a long way to the one sided game.

Tackles Galore

New Haven linebacker Tyler Condit is usually all over the field making plays. But Saturday was a game for the record books. He finished the game with 25 tackles including 11 of the solo variety.

The 25 tackles is a NE-10 single game record that was previously held by Todd Lowe of Merrimack. He had 24 tackles in 2004 game against CW Post.

He also was credited with a sack, four tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles in the 14-10 loss to Merrimack.

Condit has been a force for the Charger defense for the past couple of years. He is always around the ball and one of the better defenders in the league.