At 5-1, Fitchburg State is one win short of matching last season's total. Fitchburg State athletics photo

If you had told people in the heat of August that Fitchburg State and Castleton State would be a combined 9-2 at this point, you would have gotten more strange looks than Endicott's Drew Frenette has touchdown passes this season. And he has 18 of those.

Only a narrow loss to powerful Framingham State keeps Fitchburg from a perfect record. The Falcons are 5-1 and Castleton 4-1.

Fitchburg got win No. 5 by beating Worcester State 40-24 as Garrett Dellechiaie threw four touchdown passes. He has 15 on the year and has thrown for 1,895 yards.

Castleton kept on its Cinderella track by whipping Anna Maria 65-9. That is the most points ever scored in a game by the Spartans.

Coach Pat Haverty said that close loss to Framingham was an important step in the process.

"The kids played really hard in that game and really well," Haverty said. "The players took that loss hard. When you lose a game like that two things can happen. You can keep losing or work hard to get better. They took the loss hard but they also took it as a teaching tool."

The Fitchburg area is a football area. The Leominster-Fitchburg high school rivalry is one of the longest played and most passionate anywhere.

Dellechiaie is Leominster product and Jason DiGeronimo, one of his offensive linemen, played for Fitchburg High.

"A Fitchburg kid protecting a Leominster kid. It's funny how those things work out," Haverty said.

Haverty grew up in Fitchburg and the place is who is his. He appreciates the love of football in the area and loves that his Falcons are able to be doing something that excites the community and campus.

"The crowds have been big even in the down years," Haverty said. "It's a community that likes football."

DiGeronimo and the rest of his unit have done a good job of keeping Dellechiaie upright. The heart of the line is senior captain Brendan Coan, the left tackle. Patrick Bowles and Max Schiavone have also been outstanding.

Dellechiaie has a good group of receivers led by Phillip Sainte-Juste and Devin Summiel. Sainte-Juste has caught six of Dellachiaie TD passes and Summiel four.

"Devin is a sophomore, He came in with Garrett. They are growing up together. Phillip (a senior) has good height and can make the hard catches," Haverty said.

Linebacker Talib Barksdale is the leader on the other side of the ball. His 51 tackles and two interceptions leads the team in both categories.

Dellechiaie had a number of schools looking at him but since he was in the area, Haverty saw a number of his high school games. Leoominster, played its championship game his senior season at Fitchburg State and Haverty attended.

"I really thought academically and socially Fitchburg was a good fit for him," Haverty said. 

Castleton weathered about as tough a season as a team could in 2013. The Spartans had a stirring comeback victory at Plymouth in the opening game and then the team was decimated by disciplinary action that put star players out for the season. They lost all nine remaining games.

Tony Volpone, offensive coordinator at Endicott, was hired as the head coach.

Saturday's fourth win was in the bank early as the Spartans had a 51-2 lead at halftime.

Volpone stays away from talking about what happened last year, but he preaches about being good citizens and representing the program in the right way.

He gathered them in the end zone after the victory and told them they had some momentum.

"Don't do anything that will detract from that. That would be a shame," he told them. "Hold each other accountable."

"We are really just feeding off each other," linebacker Jay Morgan said. "We have put in a lot of work in the offseason and we are holding each other to a higher standard than in the past."

Morgan said the team does not talk about the shop lifting incident that derailed what looked like what would be a promising season last year.

"It's always in the back of our mind," said the junior. "We are trying to forget last year."

Forget, maybe. But it fuels Morgan when he thinks about the 0-7 record against ECFC opponents.

"I kind of feel like we owe them," Morgan said.

Morgan and the other starters knew they would not be playing much in the second half against Anna Maria.

"We knew the younger guys were going to get a shot. The freshmen were foaming at the mouth," he said.

Volpone alternated quarterbacks against Anna Maria as Tyler Higley and George Busharis split time through the first three quarters and then the third and fourth quarterbacks on the depth chart got to play in the final quarter.

Volpone said he has never deployed a two-quarterback system. But Higley and Busharis have been close in practice and Volpone figured Busharis has shown in practice that he deserves to get on the field.

Both bring different strengths. Higley is the better runner and Busharis has arm strength that makes him a big-play threat.

But as much as anything, the defense has been part of this turnaround. Volpone brought in the fiery Blaise Zambrano as the defensive coordinator and the players like what the new defense allows them to do.

"The scheme is definitely making a difference. It allows for more playing and less thinking," linebacker Ryan Stanek said.

That defense forced seven turnovers against Anna Maria. It also pitched a shutout the previous game against Becker and the unit has scored four touchdowns itself in the last two games.

Brown can do a lot for you

Coast Guard's Colis Brown hauled in 11 of Derek Victory's passes as Coast Guard defeated Curry 17-0. Brown now is No. 1 on Coast Guard's all-time receiving list with 170 receptions. Victory threw for 295 yards and a touchdown and Victor Rizzardi led the defense with 13 tackles.

Kevin Cook has a big game for Western New England week-in and week-out. He is a big part of the Golden Bears' 5-0 season. This time he rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-31 win over Salve Regina.

That four-touchdown day for Frenette included 330 passing yards as the Gulls topped Nichols 26-16 to go to 3-0 in the NEFC. Brett Egizi has caught seven of Frenette's 18 GTD strikes.

Framingham's connection

Framingham State's Matt Silva threw three touchdown passes and they all went to Tevin Jones. Jalen Green added 148 yards on the ground as the Rams went to 5-1 and stayed perfect in the MASCAC by whipping Westfield State 28-7.

Tory Mack rushed for two touchdowns to lead Western Connecticut to its 30-19 win over Mass. Maritime.

Cory Burnham tossed four touchdown passes for UMass-Dartmouth and three were corralled by Abiola Aborishade.

Georgio breaks out

Norwich fans have been waiting for Al Georgio to break out. He had not been completely quiet as he did have an ECFC Offensive Player of the Week honor, but in the 28-19 win over Mount Ida he was the dynamic player Cadet fans have grown to love. He rushed for a career high 247 yards and scored two touchdowns. Dane Pallotto had two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.

Nico Santiago recovered a fumble that set up quarterback Quentin Williams' 43-yard dash in the fourth quarter that led to Gallaudet's 16-12 win over Becker.

Husson crushed SUNY-Maritime 40-0. It was a day for the defense. The Eagles held the Privateers to 1.8 yards per play, a Husson program record. Leading that effort were Luke Washburn with six tackles and two fumble recoveries and Stephan Dance with five tackles and three pass breakups. John Smith had 153 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

Three perfect in NESCAC

Amherst, Trinity and Wesleyan each went to 4-0 in the NESCAC.

Amherst did its part by rallying behind Max Lippe after trailing at the half. Lippe entered the game early in the third quarter and threw for 142 yards in the 35-10 win over Colby. Ned Deane had 13 tackles and an interception for the Lord Jeffs.

The Trinity Bantams won their 53rd consecutive home game, a streak that goes back 13 years. Chudi Iregbulem led the way by rushing for 184 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-14 conquest of Tufts.

Jesse Warren threw for 262 yards and backup quarterback Devon Carrillo ran for 92 yards as Wesleyan trimmed Bates 24-10.

Middlebury won at Williams in overtime when Matt Milano threw a 14-yard TD pass in overtime to Brendan Rankowitz.

Also in the NESCAC, Bowdoin outgunned Hamilton 30-24 as Tyler Grant ran for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Max Caputi passed for 207 yards and a score.

The big games

Soon there will be no more than two unbeaten teams in the NESCAC. Wesleyan hosts Amherst and that should mean a big crowd in Middletown, Conn.

The biggest game in the MASCAC has Fitchburg hosting Western Connecticut. It's a showdown at high noon with each team having already lost to Framingham and needing a win to stay in the race.

"They have weapons all over the place and Mack is an unbelievable running back," Haverty said of the Colonials.. "We will try to contain him. You aren't going to stop him, but we will try to contain him.

"He is also a player of outstanding character. That showed last year when he was willing to move to defense and now he is back at running back." 

Gallaudet is the defending ECFC champion and 2-0 in the conference. The Bison travel to Bangor for a meeting with 2-0 Husson. The Eagles appear to have too much for a Gallaudet team that has struggled offensively. But until they are dethroned, they wear the crown.