Where running still matters
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There have been some impressive 200-plus yard rushing performances in the New England Football Conference this season.
Maine Maritime fullback Jim Bower has joined the 200 club twice. He amassed 225 yards on a day he ran for three touchdowns in a 41-38 victory over Bridgewater State. He went for a career-high 232 yards with another three touchdowns in a 34-32 loss to Becker.
This week Bruce Burley rushed for 202 yards for Bridgewater State in the Bears’ 38-14 victory over Fitchburg State.
Like Bower, Jeff Mack has rushed for 200-yard games twice this season. The Plymouth State back rambled for 218 yards against UMass-Dartmouth and 204 against St. Anselm. This week he just missed with 197 in a 40-20 victory over Western New England.
You can count UMass-Dartmouth’s J.T. Harold among the backs eclipsing the 200-yard standard in two different weeks this season and then there’s MIT’s DeRon Brown whose 251-yard rushing game in a 42-14 victory over Mass. Maritime on Sept. 13 was the second best rushing game in school history.
Yes, there is still a place for the bulldozers as well as the slashers and dashers.
That’s one reason Bower headed to Maine Maritime.
“I looked at quite a few programs. A lot of teams are going to the spread offense. I knew coach (Chris) McKenney had had a lot of success with the triple option,” Bower said.
“We run the ball 50 or 60 times a game and as a running back I’m not into having four receivers out there.”
Bower was limited to 72 yards this week, but did run for a touchdown in the 33-28 victory over Westfield State. It was his 12th touchdown of the season.
More importantly, the Mariners are 3-2 after an 0-2 start and stand at 2-0 in the Bogan Division of the NEFC.
No doubt Westfield was conscious of Bower. He was coming off a week in which he picked up the Boston Globe’s prestigious Gold Helmet award and was also ECAC Player of the Week.
But Bower knows the key to the triple option is quarterback Tyler Angell making the proper read and taking the play the defense gives him.
“No doubt they were taking him (Bower) away, but he still had a good game,” McKenney said.
McKenney said Angell has grown into the offense in this, his first full season.
“ We were disappointed with the 0-2 start. We lost two tough games, but the kids have been great and worked hard every day,” McKenney said.
“They knew we still had six divisional games left and every year our goal is a winning season nad to win the division.
“We still have a lot of good teams ahead of us, but we are excited to have won three in a row.”
“The offense is clicking now. Angell is making the reads and everyone is doing their job,” Bower said.
Bower said the Mariners were not fazed by the 0-2 start.
“The first two losses were not in the division and that helped us,” he said. “We knew that if we just became more focused that we would be okay.”
In addition to the offense, being close to home was a factor in his choice to come to Maine Maritime. Castine is about a three-hour drive from his home in South Paris, Maine.
“I wanted to be close to family. I made a day visit here and really liked the campus,” Bower said.
Academics was another piece of the selection process for the power engineering major.
He said the triple option is different than the offense he ran out of in high school where there was a heavy dose of counters and tosses.
“I do more straight running here. There’s not as much time for dancing and juking,” Bower said.
Now a junior, Bower said the adjustment to coming in as a freshman was fairly easy, even with the differences in the offense.
“Everyone here is very opening to freshmen,” he said.
The Mariners victory over Westfield came when Travis Shaw hauled in a touchdown pass with just 1:34 remaining.
The Mariners take to the road this week in search of their fourth straight victory against Worcester State.
The world looks a lot brighter than when they were 0-2.
“We have come together as a team. We’ve learned a lot from the first day of preseason,” Bower said.
North Atlantic preview
There’s plenty of excitement also around another Maritime. SUNY Maritime is coming off a 46-13 loss to Catholic, but the Privateers have their next three games at home and their final four games against next year’s North Atlantic Conference rivals. They finish with Gallaudet, Husson, Becker and Mount Ida.
The NAC debuts next season.
“I think it is going to be a great conference,” SUNY-Maritime coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes says.
Two week ago, the Privateers had Norwich, another charter member in the NAC, in town for homecoming and beat the Cadets.
“That was a huge win for our program as Norwich has really beaten us solidly in the past,” Holmes said.
SUNY Maritime has locked in three non-conference games for the future. The Privateers will still play Maritime rivals Mass. Maritime and the United States Merchant Marine Academy as well as Salve Regina, a team SUNY-Maritime has played since beginning its program in 2005.
In a meeting of future NAC opponents this week, Gallaudet got its first win by beating Becker 26-18 as freshman running back Scott Lehmann led the Bison by running for 156 yards and scoring four touchdowns.
Husson defeated Mount Ida 16-14 in another preview of next season’s NAC.
Now there is one
Trinity is the only unbeaten team remaining in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Tufts and Amherst both suffered their first losses to give the 3-0 Bantams that distinction.
Trinity had to stage a furious comeback. The Bantams scored all 20 points in the final quarter. Connor Wells caught seven passes for 156 yards in the final 17 minutes and quarterback Eric McGrath fired three TD passes in that final quarter.
McGrath had 215 of his 268 passing yards after 1:57 mark in the third quarter.
Career bests not enough
Nichols quarterback Justin Nelson threw for a career-high 246 yards and his receiver Anthony Pillari had a career-best 119 yards worth of catches, but it was not enough against Endicott.
Endicott’s Drew Cusato ran for 93 yards and two late touchdowns to help the Gulls to a 27-20 victory.
Mules are kicking
Colby dropped its opener, but is 2-1 after beating Wesleyan 13-7. Victor Gagne kicked two field goals for the Mules, from 32 and 19 yards.
The big games
Tufts will try to throw the NESCAC into a wild scramble by dealing Trinity its first loss. Tufts is 2-1.
Colby visits Amherst in another key NESCAC game between two 2-1 teams.
And in the NEFC, red hot Plymouth State will be trying for its fourth straight victory with a trip to Endicott.
Of course, nobody in the NEFC is hotter than unbeaten defending champion Curry. Curry will be hosting MIT.
Curry’s win this week came at the expense of Salve Regina, 21-7, as quarterback Ryan Van De Giesen threw for 189 yards and ran for a score.
A Kell of a win
Bowdoin quarterback Andrew Kell threw for 224 yards and a touchdown, and ran for another TD to lead the Polar Bears to a 28-26 victory over Tufts.
Panthers bounce back
The Middlebury Panthers had a five-game winning streak halted the previous week, but they rebounded with a 31-14 win over Amherst to improve to 2-1. Quarterback Donald McKillop was 22-of-32 for 219 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for another score as the Panthers ran away from the Lord Jeffs after they were locked in a 14-14 tie.
Middlebury safety Michael Quinn had four tackles but it was his 32-yard interception return that helped turn the game that landed him Player of the Game honors from the WFAD broadcast team.
Corsairs on a tear
The UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs had fun lighting up the scoreboard.
The Corsairs’ J.T. Harold did not miss reaching the 200-yard rushing mark for the third time this season by much. He had 187 yards and 14 touchdowns to show for his 16 carries. Quarterback Alex Garro also rushed for two touchdowns.