Curry's prayers answered on Sunday
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The 10-1 Panthers were seeded No. 6 and drew a tough opponent in No. 3 and 9-1 Cortland.
Their NEFC brethren Curry College watched the show with much more suspense. The Colonels could not be certain they would be going to the playoffs, owing to a regular season loss to Plymouth State and finishing second in the Boyd Division.
There was joy and relief in Milton, Mass., when they found out they will be going to the playoffs again, matched against a 9-1 Ithaca team that closed the season with the victory over Cortland.
The coaches gathered at the football office and the players watched the show at two of their teammates’ homes.
When they received the news, a prayer had been answered.
“We always say a prayer at the end of the game. After the UMass-Dartmouth game, one of the players asked if we could say a prayer that we get into the playoffs,” Curry coach Skip Bandini said.
“I said, ‘we don’t pray for specific things like that. We can say a prayer asking that things come out okay.’
“I think the kids knew that we needed a wing and a prayer to get in.”
For his part, Bandini said he wasn’t terribly surprised his team got the berth.
“I honestly thought that when Montclair State, RPI and St. John Fisher all lost that it opened the door for us,” Bandini said.
He also felt that Curry’s trump card was winning a first-round playoff game last season against Hartwick.
The challenge against Ithaca is a mammoth one, he said.
“Ithaca is one of the best teams in the country,” Bandini said.
The Bombers also have four full-time coaches on the staff. The Colonels have one and it isn’t Bandini. That will make for some marathon sessions in Bandini’s office.
“Nobody is going to be sleeping much this week,” he said of his staff.
Since losing 28-17 to Plymouth, the 9-1 Colonels finished up by beating Nichols 45-20 and UMass-Dartmouth 40-20.
The Colonels boast a prolific pitch-catch tandem in Ryan Van De Giesen and Brian Taylor. Van De Giesen has thrown for 2,196 yards and 20 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. Taylor has been on the other end of 52 of Van De Giesen’s 152 completions.
One team left out in the cold was Husson University. The Eagles went 7-2 with the two losses coming against Division II opponents. One of the Eagles’ victories was over Mount Ida, the only team to beat Plymouth.
Plymouth’s own 60-minute man
He might not be a 60-minute man quite the way College Football Hall of Famer Gordie Lockbaum was, but there is no mistaking Steve Campbell’s contributions on both sides of the ball for Plymouth.
Against Maine Maritime in Saturday’s title game, he carried the ball five times for 44 yards and two touchdowns. He also forced two fumbles and made nine tackles.
Campbell has carried the ball 38 times this season with eight touchdowns. His yards per carry is a hefty 8.8. He is also the team’s third-leading tackler with 49 stops.
It was the work on the defensive side of the ball by the 5-foot-11, 222-pound linebacker that helped the Panther defensive unit hold Jim Bower, the nation’s third-leading rusher, to just 49 yards.
“He’s our starting linebacker and out there for every play on defense and he’s our second string tailback. He is also on a lot of our special team so he’s not far from (a 60-minute man),” Plymouth coach Paul Castonia said.
Teammate Jeff Mack won the William J. Mattola Most Valuable Player Award by rushing for 139 yards and two touchdowns . That brings Mack’s impressive season’s work to 1,727 yards and 20 touchdowns on 257 carries.
Mack has had four 200-plus games this year and another where he had nearly 200 in the bank by halftime and did not play in the second half. Yet, this might have been his best game, Castonia said.
“After watching the film, I told him this might have been his best one,” the coach said. “He might not have had the numbers he usually he has, but what he did to get those yards made this his best game.
“He could care less about statistics.”
Now, comes the biggest challenge yet.
Cortland is the champion of one of the top conferences in the country. Obviously, this is a huge challenge for us,” Castonia said. “We are going to have our hands full.”
This is Plymouth’s first title of any kind since it shared the championship of the now defunct Freedom Football Conference in 2001. The Panthers had nine titles in 10 years from 1981 through 1990.
New trophy game
Castleton State president David Wolk told the first gathering of the new football booster club at Sabby’s Pasta House that the game with state rival Norwich will be a trophy game. The teams meet Nov. 7, 2009, in Castleton’s inaugural football season.
“If anyone knows anyone who has an old, rusty sap bucket…” Wolk said.
AmCats getting ready
Anna Maria College also launches football in 2009 and its first game will be at Castleton on Sept. 5 in the new Spartan Stadium now under construction.
Anna Maria also has a new facility under construction.
“It is going well. It could be completed by Thanksgiving,” Anna Maria coach Marc Klaiman said.
Castleton and Anna Maria will both be members of the new North Atlantic Conference, although Anna Maria will not be an official member until 2010.
It will be an unusual event Sept. 5 when the AmCats and Spartans play their first ever game against one another. Coach Rich Alercio said there will be some special festivities surrounding the game with the teams likely honored at a banquet.
“Players on both teams will be part of history that day,” he said.