Rick Giancola became Division III's winningest active coach at the beginning of last season, when John Gagliardi, Larry Kehres and Eric Hamilton retired. Montclair State athletics photo

There are pluses and minuses to having a young team in college football.

In the early going, the team is likely to absorb its fair share of lumps. But eventually that young team grows up, learns from experience, and starts to turn the losses into victories.

Rick Giancola has been coaching football long enough to know this. The 68-year-old Giancola, now in his 32nd season as the head coach at Montclair State, has guided the Red Hawks to 221 wins, 10 NJAC conference titles and nine NCAA playoff berths in his coaching career.

But the last two years, in which Montclair State has gone a combined 9-11, have represented a rare down stretch.

"The immediate goal [for the 2014 season] was to be better," Giancola said.

Through four games, Montclair State is on track to turn its fortunes around.

The Red Hawks improved to 3-1 with a 19-6 win against William Paterson in their NJAC opener this past Saturday. After a season-opening loss to MAC standout Delaware Valley, Montclair State has rattled off three consecutive victories.

There's been no magic formula for the turnaround. Rather, it's simply been better play by the Red Hawks' still young, but more experienced core.

"The young kids who are playing for us right now saw a little action last year, some a little more than others," Giancola said. "... They got their feet wet, got bounced around."

Sophomore running back Denzel Nieves has carried the load for an offense that features only two senior starters. Nieves, who rushed for 585 yards and a team-high six touchdowns as A.J. Scoppa's backup last season, has 507 yards and eight touchdowns through four games this season.

To further illustrate Nieves' dominance, consider that only 10 players in the country have more rushing touchdowns, and only 20 are averaging more rushing yards per game.

Giancola said Nieves boats above-average speed, but where he truly stands out is in his reaction and instincts, which allow him to routinely hit holes opened by the offensive line quicker than most.

"There's a physical toughness about him," Giancola said, "so that he can take 20-25 carries a game and take the pounding that goes with it and can continue to play at a high level of efficiency."

Junior quarterback Ryan Davies, who started all 10 games for the Red Hawks last season, is another key player that has benefitted from his previous playing experience. To this point in the season, Davies has completed nearly 61 percent of his 102 attempts. But perhaps most importantly, he has yet to throw an interception.

"He's extremely efficient," Giancola said of Davies. "He has a very good understanding of our offense."

Davies' main targets in the passing game -- juniors Aaron Williams and Clinton Coffey, sophomore Malcolm Robinson and freshman Devon Levesque -- are also relatively young, but hardly lacking in experience.

Five seniors, including defensive lineman Joe Koonce and defensive back C.J. Conway, start on a defense that's allowing just 14 points per game this season. The Red Hawks don't boast great size, but they make up for that with superb team speed on defense. Giancola also praised the leadership of Koonce, Conway and senior running back Tariq Turner, the team's three captains.

Montclair State and Morrisville State are the only two NJAC teams to hold winning records entering Week 6, though that can largely be pinned on a daunting nonconference slate. Montclair State lost to Delaware Valley, an annual NCAA contender. But Rowan and Southern Virginia have both faced Wesley, Kean has played Mary Hardin-Baylor, and TCNJ has gone up against defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater. That represents three of the best four or five teams Division III football has to offer.

The NJAC, in other words, is far from decided. Montclair State makes the eight-hour trek down to Southern Virginia this Saturday, but games against Rowan, Cortland State and Morrisville State will certainly loom large later in the season.

Salisbury defeats St. John Fisher again

Salisbury is leaving the Empire 8 after this season. One team that will not miss the Sea Gulls much is St. John Fisher.

Salisbury defeated St. John Fisher 37-34 in overtime this past Saturday, its fourth straight win since joining the conference back in 2011. All the games, save for 2011, have been close. But close doesn't matter much for the Cardinals, as they've been on the losing end each time.

Quarterback John Dunbar rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns, including the tying score on a 3-yard run with 18 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. That touchdown capped a brilliant 14-play, 65-yard drive that covered 5:30.

In overtime, St. John Fisher stalled at the 7-yard line on its first possession and settled for a 24-yard Greg Lohrman field goal. But on Salisbury's second play, former Empire 8 Rookie of the Year J.D. Hook broke free to score on a 16-yard run and clinch the win.

Cardinals quarterback Tyler Fenti was sensational in the loss, completing 20 of his 28 attempts for 308 yards and four touchdowns -- two each to Nathan Nigolian and Mike Collichio.

The loss hardly spoils St. John Fisher's playoff hopes -- the team has reached the NCAA playoffs twice in the last three seasons despite not winning even a share of the Empire 8 title since 2009. But it certainly leaves less room for error, particularly with games against Ithaca and Alfred still on the schedule.

Hobart continues Liberty League dominance

Another Saturday, another Liberty League win for Hobart. At least, that's the way it seems. 

The Statesmen defeated WPI 28-14 this past weekend, which marked their 17th consecutive conference win. 

Patrick Conlan passed for 257 yards and three touchdowns, and Hobart completed passes to nine different receivers against WPI. Conner Hartigan and the Statesmen's normally potent rushing attack was largely held in check, but they still jumped out to a commanding 28-0 lead after three quarters. Hobart's defense again looked formidable, forcing an interception and holding the Engineers to just 20 rushing yards.

Hobart sits at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play midway through its 10-game schedule. Three of its final five games come at home, and they still must play Springfield, RPI and St. Lawrence -- likely the top three contenders chasing Hobart.

Quick hits

Tyler Jenny passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns, Craig Needhammer rushed for 113 yards and two TDs, and the Lycoming defense forced seven sacks and three turnovers in a 31-10 win against Stevenson. ... Tom Dempsey tossed a pair of TDs, Tristan Brown rushed for 103 yards and a score, and Ryan Michaels returned a blocked punt 19 yards for a touchdown in Ithaca's 27-10 win over Utica. ... Withler Marcelin gashed Cortland State for 245 rushing yards and three touchdowns as Rowan defeated its NJAC rival, 38-14. ... Seth Klein passed for 220 yards and four touchdowns (three to Anthony Davis), Terrant Morrison rushed for 173 yards, and the Widener defense held Misericordia off the scoreboard in a lopsided 44-0 victory. ... Tanner Williams caught nine passes for 207 yards and three TDs -- including the go-ahead score with 3:57 left in regulation -- as Hartwick erased a 17-point deficit to defeat Alfred, 34-30. ... Stephen Speidel rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown while Jonathan Marrero tossed two long TD passes in Springfield's 42-35 victory against Union. Connor Eck passed for 245 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. ... Damian Corredor rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns and Stephan Lewis blocked Southern Virginia's extra point attempt in overtime to give Kean a 28-27 win. ... Aaron Wilmer passed for 308 yards and four touchdowns -- all four to Rasheed Bailey, who finished with 252 receiving yards on nine catches -- in Delaware Valley's 56-24 rout of Albright. ... Mike Lefflbine threw for 238 yards and a pair of TDs in St. Lawrence's 31-6 victory over Rochester. ... Rich Pete rushed for 121 yards and a score, Kyle Hoppy and Ryan Carney connected on a 92-yard scoring pass, and Shaq Frederick spearheaded a solid defensive effort with 16 tackles in Buffalo State's 31-14 win against Frostburg State. ... Jeff Avery threw three TDs and Mike Tivinis rushed for 106 of RPI's 368 yards in its 45-14 win over Merchant Marine. ... Ryan Dailey passed for 306 yards and six different players rushed for touchdowns in Wilkes' 52-21 win over FDU-Florham. ... Lemar Johnson rushed for 115 yards, passed for 244 yards and accounted for five total touchdowns in Morrisville State's 41-13 victory against TCNJ. ... Justin Foster intercepted a pair of passes and King's won a low-scoring 10-7 game against Lebanon Valley.

Top 25: Four teams move up

Hobart was one of four East region teams to move up in the D3football.com top 25 poll this week.

The Statesmen climbed from No. 9 to No. 8. Ithaca moved up two sports to No. 13, while Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher dropped to No. 15.

Widener and Lycoming moved up to No. 19 and No. 20, respectively.

Rowan, Delaware Valley and Salisbury all received votes this week.

Looking ahead

Buffalo State (4-1, 2-1) at No. 13 Ithaca (4-0, 3-0), noon, Saturday: This was a close matchup last season, and figures to be once again this Saturday. In fact, Buffalo State is the last Empire 8 team to defeat Ithaca at Butterfield Stadium, back on Oct. 13, 2012.

Springfield (4-1, 2-0) at No. 8 Hobart (5-0, 2-0), noon, Saturday: Hobart has been rolling, but so too has Springfield. After a loss to Western New England in the season opener, Springfield has won its last four games by an average margin of 23.7 points. 

No. 20 Lycoming (5-0, 4-0) at Delaware Valley (4-0, 3-0), noon, Saturday: The winner of this matchup could very well end up winning the MAC this season. These two teams have split the last four meetings, with Lycoming winning the last two.

Other games of note: Utica (4-1, 2-1) at Salisbury (2-2, 1-1), noon, Saturday; St. Lawrence (4-1, 2-0) at RPI (4-1, 2-0), 1 p.m., Saturday

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