Deja Vu

It was the exact same scenario for the Bentley/Assumption game nearly one year apart. Last year at Assumption, special teams and Bentley mistakes led to a 40-7 victory for the Greyhounds.

Fast forward to last Friday night and it was the same scenario. Special teams and Bentley mistakes led to a 42-7 Assumption victory. It started on the opening kickoff.

Assumption kick returner Charles Reid found a seam in the Bentley kick return team and took it 98 yards to the one yard line. Dylan Oxsen took it the final yard for the score and Assumption was off and running. It was the first of three trips to the end zone for Oxsen on the night.

A blocked punt by Andrew Benson led to another touchdown for Oxsen and the Greyhounds. Benson capped off the night with a pick six and a big rebound for Assumption.

But it was the Assumption defense that was the star of the night. They limited Bentley to a total of 122 yards. They picked off two passes, recovered a fumble and was just a general thorn in the side of the Falcon offense.

Assumption is now 5-1, 4-1 NE-10 and firmly in second place with New Haven. The two will meet in a couple of weeks for the inside track for a chance at the NE-10 title.

Resurgence

Many of the New Haven fans wrote off the Chargers after they were crushed by LIU Post in Week 2. But they are firmly back in the NE-10 championship talk after destroying Merrimack 45-14 last Saturday.

That is the fourth straight victory for New Haven and they have rebounded nicely from a tough opening to the season. The offense is finding their rhythm as Ajee Patterson is getting the ball into the hands of several different playmakers. Andre Anderson is starting to heat up and the defense is doing their job.

Patterson has thrown for more than 250 yards in each of the four victories and is helping to stretch the field for Anderson who scored three times in the victory over new Haven. Patterson has not thrown an interception since Week 1 for the Chargers.

The defense is also starting to play better as a unit. After giving up 43 points to Post, they have limited the big play and allowed their offense to stay on the field to score points.

New Haven is always a dangerous team and a tough match up for anyone in the NE-10. They are on the road this Saturday against Stonehill in a nationally televised match up.

Resurgence, Part Two

I was not very high on American International coming into the season. The defense is always strong but the offense lacked a leader. It appears that they have found that leader in quarterback Joseph Czelusniak. The redshirt freshman has played well enough to get the Yellow Jackets to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the NE-10.

The latest victory over Stonehill saw another solid defensive effort and the second straight shutout on their home turf. But it has been Czelusniak that played a part in their third victory of the season.

He was 11 for 25 against Stonehill and has been able to develop some chemistry with his receivers. He has not been as accurate as he hoped but he has made big throws at big times to help spark his offense. The Yellow Jackets rotated through several quarterbacks before Czelusniak finally emerged as the starter.

AIC faces another tough challenge as they welcome Bentley next weekend as both teams have identical 3-3 overall and 3-2 NE-10 records.

Backup Magic

When Rob Nittolo hurt his finger several weeks ago against American International, it looked like the Southern Connecticut offense might suffer. But enter Ray Catapano and things have been humming since.

The junior signal caller rallied the Owls for a late victory over AIC and has been the leader of the offense ever since. Despite the loss at New Haven, he moved the ball with ease but not able to find the end zone enough. And then rallied the team again in a crucial 35-16 victory at Pace.

He was 13 for 21, 164 yards and a touchdown pass. He also ran another touchdown in for a score and has played mistake free for the past three weeks.
He is a dual threat quarterback who saw time in 2014 without much success. But this year has been different and he has matured nicely.

Southern Connecticut faces the nationally ranked LIU Post Pioneers this weekend.

No Let Up

Coming off the big victory at Assumption, I figured that LIU Post might struggle a little. Boy, I was wrong.

They came out of the locker room ready to go and easily defeated St. Anselm 63-20. The Pioneers are now 6-0, 5-0 in the NE-10 and clearly the best team in the league.

Jeff Kidd was the offensive star again as he accounted for four touchdowns (3 pass, 1 run) in the win. He is the leading candidate for MVP of the league as he has been nothing short of superb this year. He has passed for 14 touchdowns and ran for another three. The offense is putting up nearly 444 yards and 36 points per game. They have depth at each position and several players capable of making big plays each time they touch the ball.

The defense is also playing at a high level. The front four is nearly unstoppable and the secondary is all over the field making stops.

The Pioneers have excelled on both sides of the ball and have taken on all comers with ease this year. They are determined to make their mark in the league and just stream rolling the competition week in and week out.

The next team in the way is Southern Connecticut as they make the trip north to New Haven.

Separation

With just four weeks to go, it appears that the league is starting to separate into three tiers of teams. First, the championship contenders.

LIU Post, Assumption and New Haven are in solid position to play in the NE-10 championship game. Post is 2-0 against the other contenders and has a clear path to hosting the game in November. Assumption and New Haven will play each other on October 22nd to see who will have the inside track at making it back to the championship game.

Then we have the middle of pack and we have a lot of teams stuck in the middle. Bentley, American International, Southern Connecticut and Stonehill are in the middle right now. AIC is the leader as they are 2-0 against these foes but there is still plenty of games between them this month.

And then we have the bottom of the pack. Merrimack, St. Anselm and Pace are at the bottom. Merrimack is the surprise of the bunch as they have not been able to put together much in the first six weeks. Pace and St. Anselm are both winless and headed to a showdown on October 22nd.

When I picked my preseason top 10, I felt that the league was very competitive right in the middle of the pack and that has been the case. The top three teams are much better than the rest of the league but only two of them will vie for the championship trophy.

There is still four weeks of the regular season left and anything can happen. This is one of the most balanced leagues and anyone can beat anyone else on a weekly basis. No looking ahead as the next opponent is the most dangerous opponent.