Golden memories from region's final full week
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There were so many stories, but here are a six pack of memorable ones.
1. The Husson University Eagles, which only started up the game in 2003 under coach Gabby Price, put an exclamation mark on the regular season. They made the trip down to Becker and came home with a 48-13 victory and a 7-0 record against Division III competition. Their only losses came at the hands of Division II Merrimack and American International.
Husson struck quickly as Justin Lindie dashed 46 yards to a touchdown on its fourth play from scrimmage. He and running mate Julius Williams combined for 406 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns.
“If we featured one of them, he could get hundreds and hundreds of yards,” Price said. “But they are unselfish and get along very well. They complement one another.”
2. Husson’s neighbor Maine Maritime Academy finished with a 6-1 record in the Bogan Division and earned a spot in the New England Football Conference championship game this week against Plymouth State.
MMA and Bridgewater State tied for the top spot in the division, but the Mariners advance to the title game by virtue of beating Bridgewater during the season.
Last week Bridgewater coach Chuck Denune, who needed Fitchburg to upend the Mariners, said the only thing that could stop MMA was if it put the ball on the ground.
They didn’t and nothing has stopped the Mariners lately.
Jim Bower led MMA’s bruising triple option with 225 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. He had plenty of help from Todd Murphy who had 105 yards on just three carries.
The Mariners set a school record with eight rushing touchdowns and also established a school standard for total offensive yards in a game with the 66-32 dismantling of Fitchburg State.
3. It’s hard to make the short list of greatest games in the Williams-Amherst series, called “The Biggest Little Game in America.” After all, they have played 123 times.
But the Ephs and Lord Jeffs might have qualified Saturday with Williams winning 24-23. It was a game in which Brian Morrissey became Williams’ all-time leader in career rushing yardage.
Morrissey was just four yards shy of 1,000, no small feat in an eight-game season.
Williams coach Mike Whalen wanted to give him another carry to reach the milestone, called the play and then had a flashback to the infamous play where Joe Pisarcik fumbled in the Eagles-Giants game.
It killed Whalen to do it, but he called Morrissey over and told him he thought they needed to take a knee.
“He said, ‘Coach, all I want to do is win the game,’” Whalen said.
“He is the consummate team player. The kid is a complete football player whether it is picking up the blitz on the pass rush or being the up back on the punt team. He wants to do everything to the best of his ability.
“That is what sets him apart from other kids at his position.
“Instead of his three touchdowns, he wants to talk after the game about the blitz he didn’t pick up or the pass he dropped. He is his own worst critic.”
The difference in the game was as small as a blocked extra point late in the third quarter by freshman Colin Curzi.
4. The Trinity Bantams capped their 11th unbeaten season by beating Connecticut rival Wesleyan 38-14 with quarterback Eric McGrath putting himself in the program’s record book. McGrath surpassed former Green Bay Packers quarterback Joe Shield by reaching 2,206 passing yards. Shield had thrown for 2,186 during his time with the Bantams.
It was Trinity’s 10th straight victory.
5. Shield and Jack Kramer both wore the purple of Brattleboro Union High School in Vermont. A couple of weeks ago that would have been pointless trivia.
But Kramer, the backup junior quarterback at Middlebury, finally got his chance to play when 2007 New England Small College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year Donald McKillop was injured in the sixth game of the season at Trinity.
Kramer has led the Panthers to victory in each of his two starts. His first time out he threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-28 victory over Hamilton. This week he was the catalyst in a 38-24 victory over Tufts. Kramer went 24-of-35 for 299 yards and three more touchdowns.
6. Whether you are trying for a NESCAC title or just attempting to win a game, the CBB Championship Series means everything to Maine schools Colby, Bates and Bowdoin.
Bowdoin claimed the CBB title for the third straight year by beating Colby 20-6 as Bowdoin QB Oliver Kell had 244 yards of total offense.
The Maine Event
The Bangor area is a slice of football heaven right now. Husson and Maine Maritime are close to one another and the University of Maine, still stalking a Division I-AA playoff after beating Massachusetts on Saturday, is just a couple exits up I-95 from Husson.
“It’s a great story up in Maine. We’re all with 35 to 40 miles of one another,” Price said.
There is anticipation and uncertainty on the Husson campus. Price will hold a couple of short practices this week and give the Eagles the weekend off.
He has no idea what to expect when the selections are made Sunday for the NCAA playoffs and ECAC games.
“This is uncharted water for us,” Price said. “We feel good about our season and now it is in someone else’s hands.
“We did what we felt we needed to do and we are cautiously optimistic.”
This is Husson’s last fling as an independent as next year the Eagles join the new North Atlantic Conference along with Gallaudet, Mount Ida, Becker, Anna Maria, Castleton State, Norwich and SUNY-Maritime.
“I think it is going to be a great league that will build great rivalries,” Price said. “I think familiarity brings out the best in programs.
“Each school brings something unique.”
Air Cohen
Westfield State quarterback Dan Cohen closed out a brilliant career in a 41-0 lacing of Worcester State. Cohen went 11-of-17 for 224 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone. He finished with a school-record 155 completions.
Ram Tough
What a finish to the season for quarterback Bruce Rich and the Framingham State Rams. Rich completed 35 of 47 passes for 306 yards and ran in from 13 yards out for the winning score in a 25-23 victory over Coast Guard.
Rich and Jonathan Hayes were a prolific tandem as Hayes had 13 catches for 115 yards.
The victory allows the 5-5 Rams to finish at .500 for the first time since 1986 when they were 6-4.
Scouting
The eighth annual Vermont Senior Bowl, which attracts a good number of Division III college coaches from throughout the Northeast, will be played Saturday at noon at Middlebury. The game showcases 88 of the top high school seniors in Vermont with a North-South format.
NESCAC traditions
Whalen is one who really treasures the NESCAC traditions and rituals. He is a Wesleyan graduate so he has experienced those as a player and coach for a number of years.
The Little Three rivalry with Williams, Wesleyan and Amherst is a big deal to him and he loves that his schedule each year concludes with the Wesleyan and Williams games.
“It’s a great way for our kids to go out,” Whalen said. “Wesleyan was a little down this year so we had maybe 7,000 people there but some years we get about 10,000 for that game. I am not exactly sure what this week’s crowd was at Amherst but I am guessing it was 10,000 to 12,000. It is a great environment in which to play those last two games.”
That is the way the Ephs finish each season because NESCAC football teams are not allowed to go on for postseason play.
Whalen has no interest in NESCAC teams being able to advance to the playoffs, but he would like to see the 10-team conference expand from eight to nine games.
“We need to play everyone else in the league,” he said.
A quarterback league
The parity in the NESCAC this season brought out about close games and upsets. Even Trinity at 8-0 had plenty of close calls.
“I think the difference this year is the quarterbacks. There are six teams in this league that have great quarterbacks,” Whalen said. “That didn’t used to be the case.
“And if you have someone at that position who can make plays, you always have a chance.”
Whalen’s own quarterback Patrick Moffitt went 19-of-36 for 207 yards and two touchdowns against Amherst.
The Big Game
Plymouth State makes the trip to Castine to meet Maine Maritime in the NEFC title game with the automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs on the line.
Plymouth is 7-0 in the Boyd Division following the 34-7 victory over Salve Regina.
The big story for the Panthers was Steve Campbell. He is a fixture at linebacker, but was moved to offense when Jeff Mack was sidelined with the flu. Campbell did a great impersonation of his ill teammate, racking up 177 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries.
The NEFC championship game figures to see the ball in the air very little with MMA and Plymouth both making a living with their prolific rushing attacks.