Salve's work beginning to pay off
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UMass-Dartmouth coach Mark Robichaud knows just how hard Robertson is working: "They tried to recruit my son. They are working their tails off."
Robichaud's son wound up playing at Army. "I didn't want him in the conference unless it was for me," Robichaud said.
Salve's Jeff St. Onge and Ben Hall were a prolific pass-catch tandem in the victory. St. Onge threw for 332 yards and four touchdowns. Hall had eight of the catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
Robichaud had his own concerns. How do you get a team in the right frame of mind after they are coming off a five-overtime loss. They had three chances to win that game, all in overtime, against WPI with short field goals and missed them all.
"And we have two good kickers," Robichaud said.
Obviously, the Corsairs were able to put that disappointment behind them because they defeated a very good Bridgewater State team 32-27 on the road.
"We tried to build on the frustration and capitalize on the anger," Robichaud said. "We told the kids all week to build on that frustration and they bought into it."
But even Robichaud had his doubts when Bridgewater scored on the second play of the game and took a 21-10 lead into halftime. At that point, he was wondering whether his players really had bought into the theme of the week.
"In the 12 games since I've been here we haven't started off well. You try things like changing your pregame routine, but we have been slow starters," Robichaud said.
"But the kids are in great shape and they came back in the fourth quarter."
The New England Football Conference has seen some surprising results in the first two weeks. An MIT program that has struggled is 2-0 and certainly Salve Regina served notice it's here to be a player. Curry which has had a stranglehold on the conference for years had its second close call in two weeks, edging Fitchburg State 41-34. And Westfield State is 2-0 after beating Western New England 23-21 for the President's Trophy.
"I think there is a changing of the guard, but Curry is still the team to beat," Robichaud said.
J.T. Harold amassed 222 yards on 28 carries for UMass-Dartmouth. He had touchdown runs of 62 and 15 yards.
"J.T. is just a great running back," Robichaud said. "He is the emotional leader of the team."
Late-game lightning
Westfield State quarterback Dan Cohen and David Benoit hooked up for a winning touchdown pass in the fourth quarter for the second week in a row. This time the play covered 64 yards. Benoit had eight catches totaling 177 yards.
Passsing showcase
Curry quarterback Ryan Van De Giesen completed 25 of 43 passes, two for touchdowns, in the win over Fitchburg State, but Fitchburg's Jim Miller was just as prolific. He went 28-of-59 for 356 yards and three touchdowns.
Fitchburg's Marlon Thornton did plenty of everything once again for the Falcons. He rushed for 164 yards and two scores, and caught four passes, including two for touchdowns.
Nichols on track
Nichols rebounded from its season-opening loss to Westfield by trimming Framingham State 26-6 as Robert Morris ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Justin Nelson threw for the other two scores.
Husson, playing its final season as an independent, also cruised. The Eagles scored on the first series and led the rest of the way in a 34-17 victory over Utica.
Gallaudet, which will be in the new North Atlantic Conference with Husson, lost 23-22 to St. Vincent.
New England Football Conference teams coming up short in games outside the league were Endicott, falling to RPI 36-7; Plymouth State with a 24-7 loss to future NAC team Mount Ida and Worcester State, falling 31-10 to WPI.
Becker goes to 2-0
The surprising Becker Hawks are 2-0. First-year coach Bill McDonald has transferred all the winning he was around at Curry, where he was on the staff for 10 years, to his new address.
This time the Hawks won on the road at Maine Maritime, 34-32. Becker quarterback Gabriel Prophet threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score.
Jack Bateman (13 tackles) was a wrecking crew.
Backyard brawl is coming
Becker and the new Anna Maria program will be in the first-year North Atlantic Conference in 2009. And that should produce one of the great new rivalries.
"We're probably less than 10 miles from Becker," Anna Maria coach Marc Klaiman said. "Their kids and our kids will see each other in Worcester."
Klaiman attended Becker's season-opening victory over Utica.
Another outstanding rivalry in the NAC figures to be the one between Norwich and Castleton State, two Vermont schools.
NAC member Husson would have a spirited rivalry of its own if Maine Maritime ever left the New England Football Conference for the North Atlantic Conference. Maine Maritime has long been a member of the NEFC, but is in the NAC in its other sports.
Playing at last
While nearly everyone else is in the third week of the season, the New England Small College Athletic Conference finally gets to open its campaign. Saturday's NESCAC openers have Middlebury beginning defense of its title by hosting Bowdoin, Wesleyan making the trip to Tufts, Williams entertaining Colby, Hamilton going to Amherst and Bates traveling to Trinity.
Changing recruiting focus
Klaiman knows he will have to recruit much differently than coaches have done at Anna Maria in other sports in the past.
"We were looking at our rosters the other day and 90 percent of our athletes were from the Worcester area. We have got to do more than that.
"We have to hit Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine," Klaiman said.
Spartans on the air
Jack Healey, an 18-time winner of the Vermont Sportscaster of the Year honor, will be doing play-by-play of Castleton State football on the Internet when it makes its debut in 2009.
Castleton State and Northeast Sports Network have announced the agreement that will put the game on the Internet as well as live on the community TV station for Rutland County.
"We are very excited to enter into a partnership with Castleton athletics," said Eric Berry, founder and CEO of Northeast Sports Network.
The big game
There are plenty of intriguing matchups this week. But Bridgewater State's trip to Newport, R.I., to play Salve Regina is one that bears watching.
Bridgewater is 0-2, but the losses have come against powerful Rowan and the heartbreaker to UMass-Dartmouth. The Bears were thought to be a red hot contender in the Bogan Division of the NEFC and probably will still be. But they need a win.
Salve opened plenty of eyes in its opener and everyone will be watching to see how they measure up in this one.
But every bit as intriguing is that game between 2-0 Westfield and 2-0 Curry. The Owls have branded themselves as a legitimate player in the league with wins over good teams like Nichols and WNEC. And Curry is, well, Curry.