Champions Turning PointLost Opportunities

New Haven will look back at the game and feel that they left a lot of plays on the field. The offense struggled to move the ball most of the afternoon but finally started to click after Assumption scored to take the lead 17-14.

The drive started on the 29 yard line and the Chargers went right to work. New Haven quarterback Ajee Patterson was able to make the short throws to his receivers and get the New Haven offense across midfield. A combination of Andre Anderson and Lemar Thomas on the ground also started to find some holes in the Assumption defense.

Facing a third and four at the 20 yard line, Patterson rolled out to his right and was looking for the receiver in the corner of the end zone. Casey stepped in front of the pass and intercepted it.

"He was trying to make a play," New Haven head coach Chris Pincince said of his quarterback. "It was my job to make sure that we call a good play. I didn't call a good enough play and tell him to throw the dang thing away."

New Haven was in field goal range and an opportunity to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. It was the second interception of the game for Patterson and that coupled with a lost fumble deep in their own territory was the difference for New Haven in the game.

Defense

Both defenses were stellar the entire afternoon and it seemed like nobody was going to gain enough space to move the ball with ease. Running between the tackles was nearly impossible as the defensive lines were clogging up the middle of the field.

And if you decided to run outside the tackles, the linebackers were awaiting you or cutting off your angle to run. It was a true defensive battle that needed a mistake or two to help decide the game.

"They are a very good defense," Shain said of New Haven. "# 45 {Condit} and # 20 {Zakrzewski} are incredible. We knew that we were not going to break any long runs. We needed to grind the ball."

"Our defense was outstanding," Pincince said. "We had 11 people running to the ball."

Both offenses had little success in the game because of solid defensive games plans. The defenses were outstanding and usually in a game like that, it is a play here or there that is the difference in winning and losing.

Nail Biter

For the first time in four championship games, we finally have a nail biter and a game that was not decided until the final play of the game.

The first three championship games were very one sided and not much to watch unless you were routing for the eventual winning team. But this year's game featured a game that was very evenly matched and was not decided until a sack on the final play of the game.

There also have been four different champions in the four year history of the NE-10 championship game. That is a credit to the continued balance of the league.

Playoffs

With Assumption's win in the championship game, they positioned themselves nicely for the upcoming Division II playoffs. Going into the weekend, they had been ranked fifth in the regional for the three weeks of the rankings.

Assumption finished ranked third in the regional rankings and will host number six Bowie State this weekend in this first ever playoff game. The Bulldogs lost the CIAA championship game 17-14 to Winston-Salem State.

It is also the first home playoff game in the NE-10 since New Haven was ranked number two in 2012 and hosted a second round game against IUP. More to come this week about the match up and turnaround of the Assumption program.

Undercards

The other four games played during championship weekend were pretty competitive as most of the games were close until the end. LIU Post had the biggest winning margin as they defeated Bentley 34-20. The game was tied late in the third quarter until Shane Hubbard scored two touchdowns in the span of five minutes to help the Pioneers win the game.

Southern Connecticut pulled away late to defeat American International 17-7. The Owls scored 10 points in the fourth quarter as they won their fourth game of the season.

Stonehill defeated Merrimack 17-14 on a late field goal. The Skyhawks traveled to North Andover twice this year and escaped with three point victories in both games.

And the game of the day might have been in Manchester as St. Anselm beat Pace 39-30. The Hawks jumped out to a 29-7 lead before Pace stormed back to take a 30-29 lead late in the third quarter. But St. Anselm scored 10 points in the final quarter to win the game.

Pace was credited with 398 yards rushing in the game as they had two backs go over 100 yards in the game, Delaney Wallace and Michael Scotman. In fact, over 600 yards rushing combined between the two teams as St. Anselm had 211 yards on the ground.