Very Special

Assumption has been the best team in the NE-10 this year. And the main reason for that has been their special teams. It is an often overlooked part of the game but has fueled the Greyhounds to an 8-1, 7-1 NE-10 record this year.

The latest example occurred last Friday night as the Assumption special teams accounted for the first 24 points of the game in route to a 40-7 victory over Bentley. It all started on the first punt of the game for Bentley.

Assumption stormed the line, blocked the punt and recovered it deep in Bentley territory. They kicked a field goal to grab the early lead. And then the fun started.

Bentley got off the next punt but did not realize who they were punting to. It was Deonte Harris who was attempting his first punt return of the season. He grabbed it on the 11 yard line and never looked back. 89 yards later, he was in the end zone and the Greyhounds led 10-0.

"Our thought this week was that Bentley was so great on defense," Assumption head coach Bob Chesney said. "We had to do something more and we had to get something going with Deonte."

Another Cole Tracy field goal made it 13-0 before things got stranger than usual. Two bad snaps by Bentley on consecutive punts attempts resulted in safeties for Assumption and then led 17-0.

And then enter Harris again. After offsetting penalties on the first attempt, Bentley needed to punt again and this time, Harris corralled it at the 48 yard line and took it back for his 2nd return touchdown of the game.

"That is the third side of the coin that people don't talk about," Chesney said of his special teams unit. "The amount of time and energy that we devote to special teams is great. I am glad that it showed up again."

It was the second straight weekend that Assumption was credited with two safeties as American International had the same struggles in snapping on punts.
It is not enough to have an explosive offense and a dominating defense but the special teams unit for Assumption is getting rave reviews and it all starts in practice.

"Coach Canan has been an amazing coach," Tracy said. "He emphasizes every little detail throughout practice. It is crisp and he is on everyone if they are not doing the right thing."

Assumption will play for their first football championship on November 14th and you can count on their special teams playing a big part if they are able to hoist the trophy at the end of the game.

Mr. TDRecording Break Day

Assumption kicker Cole Tracy has had a pretty good year thus far. Last Friday night, he was three for three on field goals and set a school and NE-10 record for made field goals in a season.

His third field goal of the night gave him 16 on the season, breaking former Assumption kicker Tad Beuchert's record of 15 back in 2013.

"It is an amazing feeling," Tracy said. "The records are great but winning is more important. We need to keep this going."

Tracy is also pretty automatic with extra points as well. He is 38 for 40 through nine weeks and leads the Greyhounds with 86 points this year. He has been a big part of the success of Assumption this year not only on scoring but pinning opponents deep in their own territory on kickoffs.

Kicking is often overlooked by most teams but has been a priority for Assumption and a big part of the reason why they are playing for a championship.

More Records

American International DB Daquian Holmes picked off his 15th pass on Saturday and broke the school record previously held by Bob Parker. The record breaker occurred in the third quarter of the Yellow Jacket's 20-3 loss to Merrimack.

Stonehill kicker Steve Grzywacz kicked five extra points on Saturday and become the all-time leader in points in Stonehill history with 205. He passed former running back Eddie Vachon who held the record with 204. He now has 109 extra points to go along with 32 field goals which are also school records.

St. Anselm punter/kicker Shane Grayson set a school record when he had two punts inside the 20 yard line against Stonehill. That brought his total for his career to 39, eclipsing the record of Shea Cerio.

Home Games

If you did not attend a LIU Post home game this season, you definitely missed out.

The Pioneers had just four home games in the regular season and all four of them were exciting right to the end. Three of them favored the home team and one featured a miracle ending.

It all started on September 12th when Assumption rolled into town. The game featured two teams picked to finish towards the top of the NE-10 and the game did not disappoint. 71 points were scored and the game was not decided until the final seconds.

Three touchdowns in the final 1:16 of the game including two recovered on sides kicks by Assumption and a pick six by Post. The Pioneers escaped with a 40-31 victory.

Then the miracle game on September 26th when Stonehill scored 20 points in the final 1:02 to erase a 17 point deficit and stun Post with a 40-37 victory. The game ended with a Hail Mary that was caught by Corey White in the end zone for Stonehill and might have been one of the best NE-10 games to ever be played.

Fast forward to October 10th when Merrimack payed a visit to Long Island. A 3-0 game at the half turned into a scoring frenzy in the second half and Merrimack had a chance on the final play of the game to send it into overtime. But the Pioneers won 27-24 as the field goal was no good and another heart stopper for the fans of Post.

And then last weekend added to the craziness of the home schedule. Southern Connecticut scored 22 points in the final quarter to close a 25 point deficit to just three. Post was able to run the clock out and not give the suddenly hot Owl offense a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds.

So that is four games decided by a grand total of 18 points and all of the games not decided until the final play of the game. That is pure entertainment for the fans in the stands and stomach turning for the coaches on the sidelines.

About Face

If you have not been playing attention to the Merrimack football team over the past six weeks, you are missing one of the better turnarounds for a team in a long time. Sitting at 0-3 and 0-2 in the NE-10 going into the final weekend of September, it looked like it was going to be a long season for the Warriors.

They have rallied and won five of their last six games and are one of the three teams left with a shot at playing Assumption in the NE-10 championship game on November 14th.

How have the Warriors changed fortunes? Their defense, of course.

They have allowed just 25 points in the last three weeks of their latest winning streak and have allowed a grand total of 45 points in the five victories this year. That is compared to 122 points that they have allowed in their four losses.

As mentioned here in the past, the margin of victory has been very tight for the Warriors. They have been separated by just 17 points in those four losses and a play here or there might have swung this season completely different.

Merrimack closes out the season on the road at Southern Connecticut and needs some help to get into second place in the league. But based on the way that this season has gone within the league, stranger things have happened.

Championship Weekend

We have one team locked into the championship game and will await their dance partner next weekend to determine who will hoist the hardware as the NE-10 champion.

Assumption clinched home for the championship game with their 40-7 victory over Bentley. The Greyhounds will host the game for the first time in school history as their historic season continues.

Who will travel to Assumption as the opponent? We are down to just two teams with a shot at playing in the game.

The easiest scenario lies with New Haven. If they defeat St. Anselm on the road, they will clinch the second seed and face off with Assumption for the championship. It would be the first time since the inaugural championship game in 2012 that the Chargers would play in that game.

The other teams with a shot at playing Assumption are Merrimack and Stonehill. Yes that same Merrimack team that started 0-2 in the league is one of two teams with a scenario that gets them into the championship game. But a lot of other factors need to occur.

First, New Haven would need to lose to St. Anselm as well as Bentley beating Post and Assumption beating Stonehill. That would mean that New Haven and Merrimack finish with identical 6-3 records in the NE-10 and tied for second place. Since Merrimack defeated New Haven on October 3rd, Merrimack would win the tiebreaker and play in the championship game.

And then there is the Stonehill scenario. New Haven would need to lose to St. Anselm while Stonehill beats Assumption, Bentley beats LIU Post and Merrimack beats Southern Connecticut. Three teams would be 6-3 in the league: Stonehill, New Haven and Merrimack.

Since all of the teams are 1-1 against each other, the next determining factor is who defeated the highest seed. That would go to Stonehill as they would have defeated Assumption in that scenario.

And based on the season that we have witnessed, it is completely possible that something like this would happen on the final weekend of the season.
The only game that has been decided for the championship weekend is the 9/10 game as Pace will visit St. Anselm. Both teams lose tiebreakers regardless of the outcomes this weekend and will face each other again.

The rest of the schedule will be set this weekend after the games and there are plenty of scenarios depending on those results. Teams that finish in an odd number (1,3,5,7,9) in the standings host games on November 14th.

Get your NE-10 scenario builder ready before next weekend.