NEFC's big game is here
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Plymouth did its part to set up the dream game by rolling to a 36-9 victory against Nichols with Jeff Mack leading the way by rushing for 113 yards and two touchdowns. It is the fifth straight game Mack has rushed for over 100 yards and three times this season has eclipsed the 200-yard rushing standard.
"Jeff Mack is probably the best back in the league," Curry coach Skip Bandini said. "I don't think we can shut him down. We'll just have to do our best to hold him down one play at a time."
"He is a physical runner. He is not real flashy. He is always going forward," Plymouth coach Paul Castonia said of the senior.
"He has gotten a lot better every year on the field, in the weight room and, actually, in the classroom, too."
The offensive line, as it always is, has been a pig piece of Mack's success.
"The kid on the line who has made a big, big difference is Zac Duval," Castonia said. "He has brought his weight down by working hard over the winter and the spring."
Plymouth opened by beating St. Anselm and then was dealt a stunning defeat by Mount Ida. Since, the Panthers have reeled off five straight victories.
"Mount Ida was ready to go and fired up. We fumbled seven times and lost four of them. That was a real wake-up call for us," Castonia said. "It showed us you've got to be ready to go every week."
That won't be a problem this week. No wake-up call needed. Curry has won 37 straight NEFC games.
No. 37 was a 46-27 victory over Endicott in which quarterback Ryan Van De Giesen threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns. Brian Taylor caught 118 yards worth of those passes.
Bandini said his team has taken hard shot after hard shot in putting together the lengthy winning streak.
"I have watched the teams that play in other games and they never play at the same level they play when they play against us," he said.
But this week promises to be one of the greatest challenges of all. Mack and quarterback John DeMarco provide a formidable 1-2 punch. DeMarco also ran for two touchdowns against Nichols.
The M&M boys were teammates at Milford (N.H.) Area High School. DeMarco took a more circuitous route to Plymouth, going to prep school at Bridgton Academy and then to Bryant University before landing at PSU.
There's no question the Panthers are about the run, but Castonia likes to think the threat of the pass is there.
"John is a good runner and when he picks up yardage scrambling, to me, that's like a successful pass play," Castonia said.
But the headliner has been Mack and his 3,276 career rushing yards now moves him into second place on Plymouth's all-time list.
No. 1 is Joe Dudek who found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1985 with Auburn's Bo Jackson and Iowa's Chuck Long. The magazine's story by Rick Reilly hyped Dudek for the Heisman and he finished ninth in the balloting.
Those were heady times at Plymouth State and it seems they are back.
But the Panthers, along with everyone else, are still playing in Curry's long NEFC shadow.
"We are playing a great team and we'll just have to see what we can do," Castonia said. "They have been the team to beat for five years and until somebody does it, they will be.
"We told our kids that this is a chance to prove ourselves against a great team."
Castonia and Bandini are fast friends. The mutual respect between coaches which is often only so much coach speak is genuine in this case. They spoke, in fact, three times by phone on Saturday.
This Saturday the friendship is on hold. The big game in the NEFC is here.
NESCAC streaks
One noteworthy series streak in the New England Small College Football Conference was extended and another ended.
Middlebury defeated Bates for the 20th time in a row with a 38-14 victory that saw Ryan Bohling lead the way with a career high 121 yards rushing.
Tufts beat Williams for the first time since 1986. The Ephs had been 19-0-2 against Tufts in the previous 21 games.
Scramble in the Bogan
The other division of the NEFC has its own excitement. Bridgewater State, Maine Maritime and Fitchburg State are locked at the top with 3-1 records.
Bridgewater State delighted its homecoming crowd, whipping Coast Guard 38-7 by amassing 305 yards on the ground with Bruce Burley leading the way.
Maine Maritime kept pace by winning the Admirals Cup game against Massachusetts Maritime 26-7 with fullback Jim Bower rushing for 212 yards.
This is the fifth straight year the Mariners have retained the Admirals Cup.
The Fitchburg Falcons kept their share of the top spot by trimming Worcester State 42-28 as Marlon Thornton ran for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a balanced attack for the Falcons as Jim Miller threw for three touchdowns.
Freshman Andrew Cavanaugh was the man on the defensive side of the ball for Fitchburg. He had six tackles and two interceptions.
Will Earley had a memorable day for Worcester State. His 39 carries set a program record and his 201 rushing yards rank fifth all-time in Lancer history. He ran for three touchdowns.
Perfection in Hartford
Trinity hiked its record to 5-0 with a 40-16 road win over Bowdoin. Trinity quarterback Eric McGrath passed for 208 yards before taking a seat in the third quarter and Ben Sherry twice ran on fourth down out of punt formation, totaling 72 yards.
MIT on the run
MIT's running game totaled 435 yards, 207 by DeRon Brown, as the Engineers flattened Western New England 49-15. MIT's seven rushing touchdowns tied a school record. Last week Brown became the first back in program history to go over 1,000 yards in a season. The 514 yards of total offense was also the high this year for the 4-3 Engineers.
Putting the foot in football
Westfield State's Chris Stengel booted a school-record 74-yard punt in the Owls' 27-0 victory over Framingham State. The victory got Westfield over the .500 mark and keeps them a game out of first place at 2-2 in that Bogan Division scramble.
The Husson story
Bangor, Maine is a long way from anywhere.
Okay, not anywhere. Castine is not far down the road. And you guys at Maine Maritime should find a way to play the Husson Eagles someday.
But not even the remoteness can conceal the story that coach Gabby Price and his Eagles are carving in Bangor.
They defeated SUNY Maritime 49-14 to elevate their record to 5-2. That's 5-0 against Division III competition with the losses coming at the hands of Division II Merrimack and American International College.
Husson enters the new North Atlantic Conference next season with Norwich University, Castleton State, Anna Maria, Gallaudet, Becker, Mount Ida and SUNY Maritime.
They have spent this season stamping themselves as the favorite in the league's inaugural season.
Julius Williams scored four touchdowns against SUNY Maritime.
SUNY Maritime is off this week and then wraps up its season with NAC preview games against Becker and Mount Ida.
Husson also has a NAC preview encounter this week by hosting Gallaudet.
Little Three rivalry
Wesleyan, Williams and Amherst have the Little Three rivalry thing going in the NESCAC. Amherst won its first leg in the Little Three series by edging Wesleyan 17-10 and raised its record to 4-1.
Amherst hosts Williams on Nov. 8 in its second leg of the Little Three game, more commonly called " The Biggest Little Game in America."
Wesleyan is at Williams on Nov. 1.
Aaron Rauh led the Amherst ground game with 94 yards on 23 carries.
Colby also won in the NESCAC by scoring the first 16 points and holding off Hamilton for a 16-13 victory.
The Big Game
We've already visited this one in some detail. Curry's trip into the foothills of the White Mountains should draw an enormous crowd and plenty of attention. Curry dealt Plymouth its only loss last season.
But there's a big one in NESCAC country, too, where 5-0 Trinity hosts defending champion and 3-2 Middlebury. And Amherst, with just that one loss, tries to stay on Trinity's heels by hosting Tufts.
Westfield, 2-2 in the Bogan, will look to throw that NEFC division into an even more chaotic situation, by ambushing 3-1 Bridgewater State in Bridgewater.