Regular Season Champs

With a 35-17 victory over Pace last Saturday, LIU Post wins the NE-10 regular season title and the right to host the championship game on November 12th. The Pioneers used a solid all-around effort once again to improve to 9-0, 8-0 NE-10.

It is the Pioneers' first NE-10 regular season title since 2006 when they finished in a four-way tie with Merrimack, Southern Connecticut and Bryant. It is their first outright title since 2005 and they will be making their third appearance in the NE-10 title game. They are 2-0 in championship games, beating Bentley in 2001 and American International in 2014.

David White led the offense with 117 yards on the ground and two trips to the end zone. Malik Pierre also had two scores and Matt Campbell filled in nicely for the injured Jeff Kidd. He threw for 136 yards, one score and had 62 yards on the ground.

Post has plenty of depth at quarterback and the injury to Kidd has not slowed down the output of the offense. Last week, Matt Brennan stepped in to do the job and now Campbell did the same as he moved the offense without a hitch.

Post will close out the regular season at Merrimack this Saturday.

Second Half Surge

Joining LIU Post in the championship game will be Assumption courtesy of their 30-6 victory at Stonehill last Saturday. The Greyhounds scored 27 straight points to pull away from the undermanned Skyhawks. They clinched their return spot in the championship game and a chance to defend their title from 2015.

The big story for Assumption is the return to health of Deonte Harris. The sophomore receiver saw the ball early and often in the victory as he had 204 all-purpose yards and looked like the dangerous player that he was last season.

On the opening drive, he grabbed four passes including the first three of the game as he helped Assumption move the ball that eventually resulted in a Cole Tracy field goal. He is a major threat for the Greyhounds and his teammates are happy to have him back.

"He played great today," Assumption quarterback Marc Monks said.

The defense for Assumption has also been playing very well and limited Stonehill to a total of 172 yards on the afternoon. They have excelled all season long.

"We beared down and it was good to see," Assumption head coach Bob Chesney said of his defense.

Assumption will close out the regular season at home against American International.

National Attention

The other solid thing that has occurred is the national attention of the NE-10 right now. For the first time that I can remember, there are two team in the Top 25 of the D2Football.com Poll. LIU Post checked in at #16 last week and Assumption was #25. Both teams should stay in the Top 25 after victories this past weekend.

Both teams are also ranked in the AFCA Poll and both teams are in a solid position in the regional rankings. Post is #1 in Super Region One and Assumption is #7. If the season ended, it will be the first time since 2006 that multiple members of the league are playoff bound.

But with the two teams scheduled to play for the NE-10 championship game, something is going to give.

With a loss in the title game, Assumption is most likely out of the playoff picture as the region still has several teams undefeated headed into the final two weeks of the season. And if Post stays undefeated, they are very likely to finish in the top two or three and host a first-round game.

If Assumption beats Post, both teams will have one loss and are most likely strong contenders for the playoffs but will have to wait out the other results.

As always, win on the field and don't pin your hopes on the committee.

Two in a Row

After dropping their first seven games of the season, St. Anselm has strung together consecutive victories. The latest one over Merrimack by the score of 28-17.

The Hawks jumped out to a 28-0 lead before Merrimack clawed back in the final quarter to make it interesting. Once again, Yianni Gavalas was the catalyst of the offensive output. He threw for 271 yards and two scores. He also helped stretch the field for Joe Hayman who contributed with 102 yards and two scores.

The St. Anselm defense was solid through the first three quarters as they held Merrimack in check until allowing an 85-yard touchdown run by Shamik Perry. But they clamped down late and held on the victory.

St. Anselm will look to make it three in a row at Southern Connecticut this weekend.

RecordsChampionship Weekend

We now know the teams that will be competing for the 2016 NE-10 championship as LIU Post and Assumption have clinched and are slated to face off for the hardware on November 12th. The game will be played at Post with a most likely start time of 12 PM as the stadium has no lights and day light savings time will be gone by game time.

But the race behind them has suddenly become a tightly contested race. Three teams are tied for third place right now. Bentley, New Haven and Southern Connecticut are all 5-3 in the league and vying for one more home game. The good news is that two of them will have a home game but we will not know until after next week's results.

Southern Connecticut beat Bentley last weekend but New Haven beat the Owls in Week 5. With the game between New Haven and Bentley this week, the winner of that game can finish no lower than fourth place. If the season ended today, New Haven would be the third seed, Southern Connecticut fourth and Bentley fifth by the virtue of tiebreakers. New Haven is 1-0 against the trio, Southern is 1-1 and Bentley is 0-1.

So here are the match-ups if the season ended after Week 9:

# 2 Assumption @ # 1 LIU Post

# 4 Southern Connecticut @ # 3 New Haven

# 6 American International @ # 5 Bentley

# 8 St. Anselm @ # 7 Stonehill

# 10 Pace @ # 9 Merrimack

Other tiebreakers right now are that American International beat Stonehill so they are moved up to sixth and St. Anselm beat Merrimack so that are moved up to eighth. Pace is locked into the 10th slot right now and Stonehill can't fall below seventh as they have defeated Merrimack and St. Anselm so they will win those tiebreakers.

As always, stay tuned as these match-ups are subject to change based on the final week of the regular season.