Beantown could use a little Curry
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Hey, Greater Boston, save some space in your heart for the Curry College football team. The Colonels might wind up being the best story of all.
They are 7-0 following Saturday night's 38-6 victory over Endicott and are averaging just over 46 points a game. Quarterback Ryan Van De Giesen has already thrown 20 touchdown passes against just four interceptions. He has completed 111 of his 195 passes with Felix Borukhov and Brian Taylor combining for 76 of the receptions.
They are coming off an 11-0 regular season in 2006, head coach Skip Bandini's first at the helm.
The Colonels are as Massachusetts as cranberries and Bunker Hill. Van De Giesen, Borukhov and Taylor are Bay State products and so are the large majority of their teammates. And Bandini is a walking Massachusetts tour guide. He has coached at five different high schools and college, all in the state. He was honored by the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association as their recipient of the annual Distinguished Service Award. He was a four-year starter and two-time All-New England offensive lineman for Massachusetts Maritime. Eight years ago, Mass. Maritime retired his uniform number and last year he was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.
Having coached at Massachusetts high schools St. Clement, Don Bosco Tech, Dom Savio, Stoneham and Reading, it's safe to says his recruiting connections in the state are solid and that the Colonels will continue to have a homegrown roster.
"We are going to try to hit the road more in the future and get kids from New York, New Jersey and the other New England states," Bandini said.
Two of Bandini's seasons on the Curry staff when former New England Patriots linebacker Steve Nelson was the head coach were as defensive coordinator. The Colonels ranked 12 and 16th in those two seasons in defense out of 228 D-III football programs. The Colonels are chasing their fifth consecutive New England Football Conference championship.
Yes, even a sports landscape with Sox, Patriots and Eagles, has to have room for this story. And the next chapter is one of the best. The Colonels host the Plymouth State Panthers on Saturday in a showdown of undefeated NEFC Boyd Division rivals.
"Paul Castonia is one of my very best friends and someone I have a lot of respect for," Bandini said. "He is one of the best coaches around. They run that option very well. We'll try to slow it down. I don't think you can stop it."
There's some pressure attached to winning a string of conference championships. "We're a playoff game for everybody else," Bandini said. "We just try to stay consistent and stay focused."
Last year's edition of Colonel football was a young team and Bandini said it probably overachieved by going 11-0 before having its season ended by Springfield in the first round of the playoffs.
"Are we surprised to be where we are now?" Bandini asks. "I don't think so. These kids are used to winning the conference championship."
Unlike most D-III programs, Curry does not have a full-time head coach. Bandini is Director of Facilities for the Waltham Public School System. "We work long days and then go to work again and work another long day," he said. "But I have a good staff."
No question, the system is working. Just how many people are taking notice of this team in the shadow of Boston?
"With the Patriots, Red Sox and Boston College, I'm sure not too many people are worried about Curry College. But we've been getting some pretty good crowds," Bandini said.
One thing is certain: Plymouth State and the other NEFC brethren have plenty to worry about. Year in and year out.
The Youngman jinx
The Middlebury College Panthers still have not beaten Williams at Youngman Field. Youngman, one of the nicest venues anywhere, opened in 1990. The Panthers have not beaten Williams at home since 1987 when they still played at Porter Field. Williams got 137 yards rushing from Brian Morrissey in sending Middlebury to its first defeat of the season. Trinity also lost (16-10 to Tufts) leaving 4-0 Tufts as the only unbeaten team in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
Nose for the ball
Despite Middlebury's loss, the Panthers' Erik Woodring was named the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week. He had 19 tackles in the 30-22 and seven were solo stops. Woodring also recovered a fumble and blocked an extra point in the game. He leads the conference with 59 tackles through the four games.
Land and by air
Wesleyan quarterback Zach Librizzi showed his versatility in earning the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He put up 294 yards of total offense in the 41-21 win over Bates by rushing for 121 and throwing for 173. He also ran for two touchdowns and threw for two.
Sack attack
Trinity's D.J. Lanz and Jeff Carpenter rank 1-2 in the NESCAC in sacks, respectively. Lanz has four solo sacks and has assisted on another. Carpenter has four solo sacks despite playing in just three of the four games for the Bantams.
NAC preview
Husson manhandled future North Atlantic Conference opponent New York Maritime 63-7. It is interesting that the Eagles have played three teams so far this season that will be charter members with them in the North Atlantic Conference when it opens in 2009 and have beaten them handily. The other two games were 39-13 over Mount Ida and 44-0 over Norwich. The Eagles play one more future NAC opponent this season when they meet Becker on Nov. 3.
The Big Game
No question the big game this week is the showdown in the NEFC between Curry and Plymouth State in Milton, Mass. Plymouth is 6-0 for the first time since 1995 and coming off a 30-0 win over a good Nichols team, the Panthers first shutout since 2001. The Colonels will have to contain the Milford, N.H. duo of quarterback John DeMarco and Jeff Mack. Mack had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season last week and DeMarco ran for two scores. A big game in the NESCAC is the Little Three rivalry game between Wesleyan and Amherst in Amherst. Both teams are 3-1. Amherst leads the conference in scoring defense, yielding just 9.5 points per game.