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| Husson has had a fine season
so far, but needs one more win to claim an NCAA playoff
berth. Husson athletics photo |
Husson and Mount Ida, along with MIT and Framingham State, are still playing meaningful games but they are in very different situations.
Husson travels to Mount Ida this week for a winner-take-all game. Husson is unbeaten in the ECFC where Ida has one loss. If the Mustangs can beat Husson they will win the ECFC on the tiebreaker and bag the prize of the automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs.
MIT is in the NCAA playoffs regardless of the result of its game with Coast Guard this week as the Engineers have already clinched the NEFC title.
Framingham coach Tom Kelley believes his Rams must win against Worcester State even though they have clinched the MASCAC crown. That is because the MASCAC does not have an automatic berth right now and with a loss outside the league already, Kelley feels another defeat would really stack the deck against the Rams when it comes to awarding the at-large berths.
"There are a lot of good two-loss teams out there," Kelley said. (There are also a lot of good one-loss teams, to boot.)
Husson did its part to set up this week's showdown with Ida by whipping Becker 41-12. John Smith had a big day running the ball for the Eagles with 210 yards and two touchdowns.
Mount Ida did its part, but just barely. The Mustangs got by winless Anna Maria 14-12. Whew!
Jawad Yatim threw two touchdown passes and Jovan Wilkins had two interceptions.
Husson was at rock bottom until Gabby Price came back for a second stint as coach. Price had built the Eagles into a respected program. After he left the wheels came off to the point where Husson became a league doormat.
When it was announced he would come back again for the 2013 season, the credibility returned. Instantly. Price's connections in Maine and outside the state, along with his coaching ability, signaled a climb back up the ladder.
"Everyone in the conference kind of saw it coming. We all saw Husson as a team to watch out for," Mount Ida coach Mike Landers said.
Landers sees no weakness. "They are so balanced across the board," he said. "They have tough players on defense who fly around. They have two really good running backs and they have the ability to throw the ball. It's their balance."
Bill Throckmorton and Rick Orio keyed the Husson defense in the win over Becker. Throckmorton had 10 tackles, including four for a loss, and Orio pulled in two interceptions.
Wilkins was the defensive stalwart for the Mustangs in the narrow win over Anna Maria and they needed everything he did.
One of his interceptions turned Anna Maria away near the goal line. He made it on the 2-yard line, going high in the air and taking it out of the defender's hands. Were it not for that play, Anna Maria might have been celebrating its first win and we would not be able to talk about a showdown with Husson.
"He has been the cornerstone of our defensive backfield for the past four years," Landers said. "He has been one of the best defensive backs in our conference."
The entire defensive unit has been a strength for the Mustangs.
But they have had to grow through the season on offense where youth is prevalent. The Mustangs had seven freshmen who either started or played a lot on offense against Anna Maria.
That is why junior running back Melquan Pinkney has been so valuable. He is the steadying influence around all these younger guys.
"He might not have the stats some of the backs do in the conference, but just from a leadership standpoint he means so much," Landers said.
Meanwhile, defense and special teams continues to play a big role. Again, they blocked a punt and a field goal in the same game. They also converted two fake punts into first downs against the AmCats.
"They are having a lot of fun and they are fun to watch right now," Landers said.
MIT went to 8-0 by rolling to a 55-37 win over Maine Maritime. Justin Wallace led the way by rushing for a career-best 261 yards on 23 carries.
Although MIT has already clinched the league title and the playoff berth that goes with it, coach Chad Martinovich said it will be business as usual as the Engineers prepare for Coast Guard.
"It will absolutely be the same," Martinovich said. "This is senior week and we want to go out the right way for our seniors.
"And we want to better our seeding for the NCAA tournament."
Kelley would tell Martinovich that he is taking exactly the right approach.
"Years ago I learned a valauble lesson," Kelley said. "We were going to our first bowl game and I decided to rest a few players and we got beat. The seniors only get so many games."
Martinovich has built the Engineers year by year, the improvement evident with each passing season. Now, it has all come together. Martinovich says his time as an assistant at RPI prepared him well for the MIT job.
"My five years at RPI with Joe King gave me an understanding of the type of kid. They are very similar kids," he said. "They are math and science kids. They need to know the rhyme and reason. They are so analytical and they need to be efficient because they are so busy with academics and research.
"I learned so much with Joe King and with Bob Ford (University of Albany). They are tremendous coaches and they did it the right way."
Kelley does not feel he has the luxury of a loss at Framingham. He also has a tough opponent this week.
"Worcester State is at the top of the conference in a lot of statistical categories. It will be a challenge for our defense," Kelley said.
Jalen Green was the centerpiece of the Rams' 33-10 clinching win against Bridgewater State. He rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns.
"We've gone through a few running backs," Kelley said. "Jalen is a special kind of player."
He is also much different from Kelley's record-setting back Melikke Van Alstyne, who is finishing up his degree. The staff is working toward landing Van Alstyne with a pro team in Europe.
Van Alstyne was the best for 15 to 20 yards. Green, though, has that second gear he can shift to once he gets out at that point. "That's what sets him apart," Kelley said.
Worcester State has its own weapons that the Rams must game plan for. One is Kemani Jones who piled up 163 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns in last week's 35-22 win over Westfield State as the Lancers pushed their record to 7-2.
Dressed up, no place to go
Not everyone is going on to play in the playoffs. The NESCAC teams do not participate in the playoffs and wrapped up their season last week.
Nobody wrapped up a better one than Amherst. The Lord Jeffs finished 8-0 by getting past rival Williams in "The Biggest Little Game in America."
It was the first game under the lights at Amherst's Pratt Field and Max Lippe used the occasion to throw two touchdown passes. Jaymie Spears picked off another pass, his sixth interception of the season, and Jimmy-Fairfield-Sonn was in on 13 tackles for the Lord Jeffs.
Wesleyan also completed a special season at 7-1 by beating Trinity 20-19. The Cardinals had to stop a two-point conversion with 1:15 remaining.
Middlebury fans had a seven-year run at quarterback with two of the best ever in Donnie McKillop and Mac Foote. Panther fans had to be wondering how any quarterback could follow a seven-year act of 16,831 yards with 139 touchdown passes by those two quarterbacks over 53 games.
Enter Matt Milano. He threw for 442 yards with six touchdown passes in the 48-13 thumping of Tufts. That gave Milano an eye-popping ratio of 24 touchdown passes against just three interceptions for the year.
Bates ended the year at 4-4 and with three straight wins as the Bobcats throttled Hamilton 31-10. Mark Upton was a wrecking crew. He had 11 tackles, recovered a fumble and broke up two passes.
It was the 126th meeting between Colby and Bowdoin and the final game for Bowdoin coach Dave Caputi. Colby won 14-7 as Gabe Harrington threw for 228 yards and a touchdown.
Vermont teams sweep
Castleton and Norwich both won their ECFC games. Along with Middlebury's win that meant the three Vermont teams all won.
Castleton forced six turnovers and Corey Brimmer ran for two touchdowns as the Spartans won at Gallaudet, 21-0.
Norwich won at SUNY-Maritime, 13-6 with quarterback Joshua Woodward scoring.
The Green Mountain State's teams can't sweep this week. Castleton and Norwich clash over the Maple Sap Bucket.
Curry wins again
The Curry Colonels must be wishing the season could be starting instead of ending. The finish at 2-7 but won the last two. This time they outgunned Nichols 33-13.
Endicott's Drew Frenette threw for 421 yards and three scores and it wasn't enough. Western New England beat the Gulls 33-28 with Kevin Cook rushing for 133 yards and Tyler Ward firing three TD passes. WNE's Kyle Jones had 11 tackles (with three sacks) and an interception.
Salve Regina's Steven Wilken was picked off four times in the first half. But he rebounded by throwing three scoring passes as the Seahawks trimmed Coast Guard 20-10.
Dellechiaie sets mark, but ...
Fitchburg State sophomore quarterback Garrett Dellechiaie threw four touchdown passes to set a program record with his 46 career TD passes.
The bad news is the Falcons lost as UMass-Dartmouth won 37-36 when Trent Barneys connected with Jake Scott with just 38 seconds left. UMD's Cody Merritt had eight tackles to go with an interception.
Also in the MASCAC, John Trudel passed for two touchdowns and Kenny Pierce ran for two as Mass. Maritime beat Plymouth State 27-7.
The big games
Husson's trip to Mount Ida is as big as a game gets.
The Mustangs have played exceptional defense nearly every week and this will present it with its biggest challenge.
Husson will be facing a much different offense than the one they saw from Mount Ida last year.
"It has been a process. We have changed our offense this year," Landers said. "We have gone more to the gun with more of a read element. It is a brand new offense."
Husson's big offensive line is a challenge for anyone. Those big guys up front give both Smith and Logan Steward a good chance at a 100-yard game each week.
A couple of weeks ago against Castleton, they both eclipsed the century mark with Smith piling up 179 yards and Steward 120.
Framingham State's situation is just as crucial, thinks Kelley. Losses by some good teams this past week means that there are too many very good two-loss teams for the Rams not to finish at 9-1.
A Castleton win over Norwich would mean the Spartans would finish at 7-3, representing a tremendous turnaround from a 1-9 campaign in 2013.
But both teams want the Maple Sap Bucket that now is in the possession of the Cadets.
