Surprise, Surprise

Your favorite NE-10 blogger picked Bentley to finish eighth in the preseason. I thought that the offense was going to lack punch but the defense would be OK. Boy was I wrong.

The Falcons won their second straight game with a 41-22 victory over rival Merrimack last Friday night. Their lone loss this year was a hard fought one against PSAC East favorite West Chester opening weekend.

Bentley is capitalizing when they are given the opportunity. Take late in the second quarter against Merrimack. They faced a fourth and one at the 46-yard line with about six minutes left before the half. CJ Scarpa rolled to the right with his offense going that way. But Matt Montalto sneaks out to the left and Scarpa hits him for the first down.

The Falcons finish the drive with a similar play but to the opposite side as Drew Mahoney slips to the right for the two-yard touchdown reception. Bentley led 17-7 at that point and grab the momentum.

On the ensuing Merrimack drive, the Bentley defense forces a punt and Grant LaButte blocked the attempt. Aaron Chretien picks up the ball and the offense has the ball on the three-yard line. Montalto scores the touchdown and Bentley is up 24-7. But they are not done.

On first down for Merrimack, Nick Davis' pass is tipped and Brandon Brown intercepts it. He finds some daylight and has a pick six for the Falcons and all of a sudden, they lead 31-7. A once close game is now one sided and Bentley is in complete control.

The nail in the coffin for Bentley was on the opening drive for Merrimack in the third quarter. Junior Chery picks off Davis and takes it 40 yards to the end zone for the 38-7 Bentley lead. 28 points in six minutes.

If you look at the box score, you will see pretty evenly matched stats for the game but the difference was on the scoreboard. Bentley made plays and took advantage of each Merrimack mistake. That is the type of Bentley team that has been missing for the past couple of years.

They will face a tough test when they make a trip to LIU Post this Saturday.

Pace DL

Pace has struggled for too long but they are starting to see some positive returns. Despite their 3-0 loss at American International, their defensive line played an outstanding game. They were matched up against an always solid Yellow Jacket offensive line but they completely outplayed them.

Olatayo Ishola, Jah'Sheem Martin, Brandon Harrison, Kadeem Langhorne and Marc Arboleda were credited with four sacks and 22 tackles including six for a loss. Those five spent a lot of time in the opposing backfield and kept American International out of the end zone.

Those front line guys helped the defense control the flow of the game and hold American International out of the end zone.

Record Book

The American International victory over Pace featured zero touchdowns in the game. A field goal by the Yellow Jackets in the first quarter were the only points of the game. It might be the first time in NE-10 history that a game featured zero touchdowns.

In scrolling through scores going back to 2005, I did not see another game that featured zero touchdowns. I saw numerous 7-0 games that had just one touchdown but no games without a trip into the end zone. Ironically all of those games involved Pace including twice in 2006. They defeated Stonehill 7-0 then lost to AIC the next month by the same score.

In 2007, AIC defeated Pace 7-0 so the Setters are no strangers to low scoring games in the league.

If anyone finds a zero touchdown game in NE-10 history, please let me know.

Defense

Not to be undone, the American International defense is playing very strong right now. They have played three games and allowed a total of 32 points including a shutout of Pace last Saturday. They are 1-2, 1-1 NE-10 and a team that is allowing just 10.6 points per game should have more than one victory.

The Yellow Jacket offense has only found the end zone twice this year in three games. They have kicked more field goals (3) than touchdowns (2) right now.

Defense, Part II

St. Anselm will be very happy when New Haven linebacker Tyler Condit graduates. He has had three huge games in a row against them and the Hawks will be happy to face some new defenders.

Last year at St. Anselm, Condit was credited with 25 tackles in a 44-21 victory. Last Saturday, he was credited with 17 tackles in the Chargers' 52-21 victory.

In 2014, Condit was credited with 16 tackles but St. Anselm won the game on a Hail Mary to defeat New Haven 37-34. During the 2013 game, Condit was credited with three tackles in a 70-26 victory in Manchester.

All told for his career, Condit has 61 tackles in his career against St. Anselm including going into double digits the past three years. That is an amazing 16% of his career 374 tackles have come against St. Anselm.

Halftime

Speaking of New Haven, what a difference a week makes. Last week at LIU Post, Ajee Patterson found Henry Adegunle at the end of the second quarter for a 45-yard touchdown pass. The Chargers were not able to capitalize on the momentum as Post pulled away with a 43-20 victory.

Fast forward to last Saturday as St. Anselm scored late in the second quarter as Yianni Gavalas found Ryan Monette wide open for the 70-yard touchdown. But this time, New Haven stormed out of the locker room and defeated St. Anselm 52-21.

New Haven has struggled in the second half in both games before the victory over St. Anselm. They lead Slippery Rock 28-14 before falling late by three points, 31-28.

Same old, same old

Assumption continued to play at another level last Friday night as they defeated Southern Connecticut 35-13. They are 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the NE-10.

Early offensive player of the year candidate Ashton Grant continued his run with three touchdowns from Marc Monks and the Greyhounds are clicking on all cylinders offensively. They have scored 139 points in the first three victories. 35 points against the Owls was their lowest output of the season but some teams struggle to get to that point.

Assumption is on the road next weekend against Merrimack.

Same old, same old Part II

LIU Post is also 3-0, 2-0 NE-10 after a convincing 51-20 victory at Stonehill last Saturday night. The Pioneers racked up the points again and used the second half to separate themselves from their opponent.

Trailing 17-16 late in the second quarter, Jeff Kidd found Kyle Ward for the touchdown to regain the lead and never look back. They outscored Stonehill 28-3 in the second half and won their first three games of the season for the second straight season.

Post will welcome fellow undefeated in the league member Bentley to Long Island this weekend for a first place battle. It is remembrance of the games past when Post and Bentley were the toast of the league.

First Victory

We have two first year coaches in the league this year and unfortunately, both are 0-3, 0-2 NE-10 right now. Eli Gardner of Stonehill and Joe Adam of St. Anselm have both suffered tough losses in the opening weeks of the season.

But fear not, one of them will be guaranteed a victory next week. Their teams will match up in Manchester, NH for the Ol' Bronze Hawk statue and it will be memorable for one of them as they will grab their first collegiate head coaching victory.