Impressive Victory

Merrimack was thought to be a bottom feeder of the league again this year. But after a 31-21 road victory over American International, the Warriors appear to be a little better than forecasted.

They nearly beat Division I FCS member Bryant during opening weekend and continued their solid play last weekend. Quarterback CJ Scarpa is slinging the ball all over the field with ease and has eight touchdown passes in the first two weeks. He had a total of eight touchdown passes all last year when he suited up for Bentley.

"He made a bunch of great decisions down the stretch," Merrimack head coach Dan Curran said of his quarterback. "He made some tough decisions early on but to the kid's credit, he handled it like a champ. He responded and learned from his mistakes. He is going to be a coach someday."

Wide receiver Sebastian Lucas made it look easy for Scarpa as he got behind the AIC secondary twice for long touchdowns (64 and 97 yards) and tied a school record with 269 receiving yards in a game.

"We were getting a lot of the looks we wanted," Curran said. "We wanted to throw away from # 20 and got the safety to bite on our in routes. It opened up the vertical and Sebastian did a great job."

Curran has been happy with the effort of his young team in the first two weeks.

"I am proud of the kids," Curran said. "They stepped up with injuries and rallied."

They have been banged up in those two games but have had others step up to keep the team within striking distance in the opening weeks. They will finally get a home game this weekend with Bentley in town.

Impressive Victory, Part II

Bentley rebounded nicely from a Week 1 loss to easily handle St. Anselm 50-14 last Friday night. Quarterback Mack Lowrie had his best game in a Bentley uniform as he had four touchdown passes and ran for another one.

"Last week was easy to put behind us," Bentley head coach Bill Kavanaugh said of the loss to West Chester. "We didn't help ourselves against a good football team. We knew the kids we have in this locker room and they are a great group of kids."

Lowrie threw eight touchdown passes last year so he is well on his way to top that number. The most impressive part of the night for Lowrie was his arm. He was throwing darts all over the field and easily could have had more big plays but just missed receivers down the field.

"He is the leader of our team," Kavanaugh said of Lowrie. "He has put in a lot of work into doing things the right way. He is a talented kid who really wants to be successful."

The key to Lowrie spreading the ball around the field was a solid offensive line in front of him. The St. Anselm defensive line was not able to generate much of a pass rush as Lowrie had the time to find the open receiver.

"Those guys are playing hard," Kavanaugh said of the offensive line. "They have grown with us and they have gotten better every semester here. They have done a great job."

Upcoming this weekend will be a match-up of Lowrie and Scarpa who shared time last year at Bentley. Both have stepped up their play this year and this game has the capability of being a shootout if both players do anything close to what we have seen in the first two weeks of the season.

Impressive Victory, Part III

Southern Connecticut head coach Tom Godek was not very happy after their opening week loss to Gannon. But seven days later, it was a completely different feeling. His Owls went on the road and defeated Stonehill 45-26.

They trailed early 7-0 before quarterback Ray Catapano and his offensive teammates hit their stride. Big plays were the name of the game for the Owls.

A 83 yard touchdown pass from Catapano to Zhyaire Fernandes. Catapano had a 30-yard touchdown run and Eli Parks had two second half touchdown runs of 45 and 60 yards apiece. Both runs by Parks saw him run many yards untouched including his first touchdown run which nobody ever was close to him.

It was an impressive rebound on the road for a team that could not get out of their own way opening weekend. The Owls had high hopes entering the season and last Saturday night showed why. Balanced offensive attack, solid special teams and a defense that is capable of containing the opposing team.

This Close

It was quite the game between New Haven and LIU Post last Saturday afternoon. The game came down to the final seconds of the game before it was finally decided. But the previous 59 plus minutes were something to remember.

The Pioneers found a way to sneak out a 35-34 victory to stay undefeated on the season. They rallied for numerous deficits and withstood a late missed field goal to grab the win.

Yianni Gavalas again was the man for Post as he threw for 405 yards and four scores. He spread the ball around to 10 different receivers and need every yard in the air as the New Haven defense allowed just 49 yards on the ground.

Post is on everyone's radar screen this year. Teams will step up their play against them and don't care if they are missing players due to injury or suspension. The Pioneers will need to bring their best game each weekend and do enough to win just like last weekend. They will host Stonehill this Saturday.

Turnaround

Two weeks into the season and we have seen several turnarounds thus far.

Bentley struggled on the road and then rebounded at home last Friday night. Same is true of Southern Connecticut as they excelled on the road after a disastrous opening weekend. Merrimack looks better than last year and will be much better than the preseason ranking.

It is good to see competition week in and week out in the league. Teams are very evenly matched and that makes for good football.

Yes, we are just two weeks into the season but as usual, the football season flies by. This league is better than it ever has been and it showed in out of conference games and now in league play.