Winning Record

It has been a long time since Pace has had a winning record this late in the season. They have been the bottom feeders of the league for the past 10 years. But last Friday night, they took the first step to get out of the cellar.

The Setters rallied for a 24-23 victory over American International. Yes, Pace is now 2-1, 1-1 in the NE-10 this year. It is the first time since 2008 that they have multiple victories in the same season. And the first time since 2009 that they won a regular season league game. Ironically, they defeated American International 20-9 way back on October 31, 2009.

They have defeated NE-10 teams since 2009 but those games are classified as non-conference games. They defeated Stonehill in 2012 in overtime when the league played an extra game against itself to help with scheduling issues. And of course, the Setters defeated Southern Connecticut in 2014 during championship weekend.

Pace had ice in their veins down the stretch last Friday night. They made the plays necessary to win the game and the last five minutes of the game were crazy. They recovered a punt fumble and Dan Arenella scrambled seven yards to give Pace a 16-10 lead with 5:05 to play.

American International answered with an impressive drive as Kwame Jarvis hooked up with Tommy Smith from 29 yards for their second touchdown of the night. On the ensuing kickoff, Pace also broke off a solid return as they had some daylight right in front of their bench but eventually pushed out of bounds. AIC was flagged for a penalty and the drive started at the 24-yard line.

Five plays later, Jhalen Bien-Aime capped off his huge night with a one yard touchdown run and the Setters lead 24-23. American International found a little daylight on the kickoff but then fumbled the ball and Pace recovered it.

They ran out the clock to secure their second victory of the season. Pace is now 2-0 at home this year and able to break the long losing streak in league play. They also won their first two games at home in 2008 in route to a 3-0 start that season.

It has been a long grind for Andy Rondeau and his staff. They have endured a lot of issues on and off the field for the past several years but the results are finally starting to show on the field. Pace is not ready to compete for the league title but they are also not the pushover that they have been for a very long time.

Credit

The credit for Assumption's rise to the top of the NE-10 has been given to their offense over the past several years. They have put up video games numbers against most of the league. But it was their defense that shined last Friday night.

The Greyhounds held Southern Connecticut to a mere eight points in their 25-8 victory. The defense was all over the field and made the night tough for every member of the Owl offense. Southern Connecticut put up 45 points one week earlier at Stonehill but could not mount much of anything against Assumption.

Kaleb Silva and Bryce Jacob led the Greyhounds with 12 tackles apiece. Ray Sarkodieh was credited with two sacks as the defense recorded seven of them on the night. The defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and just frustrated the SCSU offense the entire night.

Assumption is 3-0 for the second consecutive season and looks to make it four in a row when they host Merrimack this weekend.

Bend but don't break

Bentley allowed 435 yards of total offense to Merrimack last Saturday but made the plays when it mattered the most. They picked off three passes in the end zone including two in the first quarter of the game. That was more than enough for a 17-7 victory over Merrimack.

The defense was opportunistic and seemed to step up when they had their backs against the wall. Merrimack quarterback CJ Scarpa seems to have his way in between the 20 yard lines but when it came to getting into the end zone, he lacked the magic of the first two weeks.

Bentley was not able to repeat their offensive performance from a week ago but had two sustained drives that were capped off by Martin Bannerman short TD runs in the second half. When your defense is making plays like that, this type of offensive output is more than enough for the victory.

Head coach Bill Kavanaugh liked the character of his team going into the season and it is starting to show after three weeks. They are playing hard and making plays to win games.

The Falcons are now 2-0 in the NE-10 and ready for a showdown next week with LIU Post.

Clicking

We talked about LIU Post quarterback Yianni Gavalas a couple of weeks ago but he continues to excel in his return to Long Island. The latest example was a 51-16 victory over Stonehill.

Gavalas threw for 406 yards, four touchdowns and is easily eating up opposing defenses. He has plenty of weapons and he is making it look easy.

He leads the league with 12 touchdown passes and has only thrown one interception. Amazingly, he is completing 76.5% of his passes. That is three completions for every four throws he makes.

He is certainly thriving with the Post offense and shredding opposing defenses. He faces a tough test this week with a trip to Bentley.

Rebound

It was a heartbreaking loss for New Haven last weekend. They had LIU Post on the ropes but were not able to finish them off. But they quickly put the loss behind them as they traveled north to defeat St. Anselm 23-7.

A tightly contested game in the first half saw the Chargers emerge with the win in the second half. Ajee Patterson continues to be the catalyst for the offense as he threw for 304 yards and a couple of scores.

New Haven is still young and working out their growing pains but they are contenders in the league as always. They have proven that they can win on the road and now need to knock off a top tier team in the league.

New Haven will host Pace this weekend.

Three Weeks

After three weeks of games, it looks like the top teams are starting to emerge. We all thought that LIU Post and Assumption were the top teams and they have not disappointed. They are head and shoulders above the rest of the league and are on a collision course for the end of the month.

But teams like Bentley, New Haven and Merrimack are ready to play spoiler. The Falcons are 2-0 in the league and have Post at home this weekend. It is reminiscent of 15 years ago when the two teams dominated the league. One of the coaches today was still trying to make a name for himself on the sideline and the other was lining up on the defensive side of the ball.

But you also have teams on the other side of the spectrum. American International and St. Anselm have yet to find the win column in 2017. Both teams face challenges in the coming weeks and need to play much better than they have shown to get those elusive victories.

Buckle your chin strap as it is going to be a bumpy ride for the rest of the season.