500

That was the magic number if you were going to win a game Saturday afternoon in the NE-10. All four teams that won games crossed the 500-yard mark on the offensive side of the ball.

It started with Stonehill on the road at St. Anselm. They put up 531 yards of offense in their 45-34 victory. Fast forward to New York as New Haven accumulated 572 yards in their 48-21 victory over Pace.

Assumption continued their offensive dominance as they gained 531 yards in a 55-23 victory at Merrimack. And finally, LIU Post had 584 yards of offense in their last second 27-24 victory over Bentley.

It was a tough day for all defensive coordinators as three of the four teams that lost gained at least 400 yards. So as the offensive coordinators are doing good things, their counterparts on the defense side will be watching extra tape this week to see how to slow down some of these teams.

1st Win

Congratulations to Stonehill head coach Eli Gardner as he earned his first career victory in the 45-34 victory over St. Anselm. He had lost his previous three games including two that Stonehill was on the cusp of winning.

It was also a career day for quarterback Matt Foltz. He threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns as well as rushing for another 118. He broke off a 71-yard run that ironically did not result in any points for the Skyhawks. They were not able to score in four tries from the six-yard line.

His favorite target continues to be freshman Andrew Jamiel. 10 catches for 153 yards and two scores. He is having a breakout season and the go-to receiver for Stonehill.

Stonehill will look to stretch their winning streak to two when they host Merrimack this weekend.

Last Second

LIU Post and Bentley have played a lot of classic games over the years. They were the top two teams in the league for many years and this year, they were both undefeated in the league as they played last weekend.

The Pioneers made a late drive and kick a field goal to win 27-24 to remain undefeated overall (4-0) and in the NE-10 (3-0). Jeff Kidd was again the star of the game as he threw for 377 yards and three scores. He also ran for another 80 yards but was picked off twice. He was 8 for 9 on the final drive to set up the winning kick.

LIU Post place kicker Joey Tolgyesi redeemed himself with the game winning field goal. He missed a 35-yard field goal with 3:16 left in the game. Those points would have put Post up 10 at that time. But Bentley rallied on the next drive to tie the game at 24 with 2:16 left. Enter Kidd and the offense to get the ball into the red zone and set up Tolgyesi for the kick to win the game for the Pioneers.

It was a solid win for the Pioneers as they will now face fellow undefeated Assumption next week.

TOs

If you told me that a team would turn the ball over five times in the second half and still emerge with the victory, it would be a tough story to believe. But that was the scenario last Friday night as Southern Connecticut kept giving the ball back to American International but still won the game 21-20.

Rob Nittolo was picked off three times and the Owls fumbled twice but that all led to the game winning drive. Backup quarterback Ray Catapano came off the bench after Nittolo was injured. He led a late drive 65 yards for the victory.

It was capped off with a catch and run of 19 yards by Devante Jenkins. Mike NcNally nailed the extra point for the decisive points after struggling in the first three games with those same kicks.

The win for Southern Connecticut moves them to 2-2 and 2-1 in the NE-10. They are over .500 in the league for the first time in the Tom Godek era. And it sets up a match up with cross town rival New Haven.

The Chargers are also 2-2 and 2-1 in the NE-10 after they handled Pace 48-21. The Elm City Cup is on the line and for the first time in a while, the Owls have a fighting chance to win the trophy.

Stat of the Week

This might be the craziest stat in Division II history. American International is 1-0 when they don't score a touchdown and 0-3 when they do score a touchdown.

Yes, that is correct. They defeated Pace 3-0 two weekends ago and of course, didn't score a touchdown. But in their losses to Shippensburg, Merrimack and Southern Connecticut, they found the end zone but lost all three games.

American International is at St. Anselm this weekend and might want to rethink their offensive strategy.

Steamroll

No Alex Shain. No Ashton Grant. No problem for the Assumption Greyhounds. They continued to streamroll the NE-10 and the latest victim was Merrimack. The Greyhounds scored 55 in their victory and are showing off their incredible depth.

Shain was a game time decision but Dylan Oxsen and Doug Santos filled his shoes in the backfield. They combined for 203 yards, three touchdowns and 6.3 yards per touch.

Grant also didn't suit up but Deonte Harris and Brandon Swain-Price stepped up to fill his void. Seven catches for 161 yards and three scores for the duo. Both made tough catches in traffic and also used break-away speed.

"Coach preaches next man up," Assumption quarterback Marc Monks said. "We had other people step up and fill pretty big roles."

The Assumption offense increased their league leading points per game to 48.5 as they are putting up video game statistics in the first four games. They are moving the ball up and down the field with ease and the offense line is just crushing the opposing defensive line.

All of this leads up to a huge match-up this weekend as undefeated rivals meet. LIU Post travels north to face Assumption and the winner of the game will be 5-0 and the title of best team in the NE-10 for the first half of the season.

RecordsBig Plays

With all of the offense that happened on Saturday, it is natural that players would have had big days and long touchdown runs.

St. Anselm running back Joe Hayman had 269 yards on the ground including touchdown runs of 67 and 87.

Merrimack running backs Derrick Villard and Shamik Perry also scored long runs in their loss to Assumption. Villard broke off a 51 yarder as Perry was credited with a 48 yarder for a touchdown.

Also for the Warriors, Sebastian Lucas had a 68 yard reception for a score.

Stonehill wide out Andrew Jamiel had a touchdown catch of 69 yards that led to his big day.

New Haven receiver Rishawn Harris had a touchdown reception of 61 yards.

Pace receiver Alex Toplyn hauled in a 74 yard pass for a touchdown.

Assumption receiver Deonte Harris scored from 58 yards out.

Bentley receivers Chris Calvanese and Drew Mahoney had touchdown catches of 69 and 50 yards, respectively,

LIU Post receiver Shane Hubbard had a touchdown of 52 yards.

So the big play was the name of the game in the NE-10 this past weekend.