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| Jakarrie Washington played some cornerback for Wisconsin in 2013 and has a chance to have an impact at wide receiver for UMass Dartmouth. UMass Dartmouth athletics photo |
It never hurts to get an infusion of energy and talent from other places, and this was a formula that served Salve Regina and UMass Dartmouth well in their season-opening victories.
Brandon Basil, a Division II transfer from Southern Connecticut, threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns against no interceptions in leading Salve Regina to a 41-28 victory over Worcester State.
Jakarrie Washington had gotten on the field as a corner for the University of Wisconsin. He left Madison (was dismissed for violation of team rules) and was at Garden City Community College. When the UMD staff found the Massachusetts high school product might be available, they were in his living room the next day.
UMass-Dartmouth coach Mark Robichaud knows you don’t ever know what you will get with a Division I player. There can be a feeling of entitlement with the new Division III team. There has been nothing like that with Washington.
“He has worked his tail off,” Robichaud said. “He’s a great kid.”
They knew he would not play corner for the Corsairs. He was moved to wide receiver and he had 12 catches and two touchdowns in the Corsairs’ 41-6 win over Mount Ida.
Washington has speed that turns heads. Robichaud recalled the team’s athletic trainer immediately asking, ‘Who’s that?’ the first time he saw him sprint 10 yards.
He still needs someone to get him the ball and Cory Burnham completed 26 of 43 passes for 255 yards and four touchdowns.
“This is the first time in several years that we knew who our quarterback was going into camp,” Robichaud said. “He has a very, very strong arm and he makes good decisions.”
Speaking of making good decisions, Salve’s Basil is the son of a high school head football coach and he brought plenty of savvy with him from Southern Conn.
“He is a hard-working, intelligent kid who does everything extremely well,” Gilmartin said. “He is a strong kid with a strong arm.
“To be honest, he had some peaks and valleys there (at Southern Conn.) and we just clicked.
Senior captain Alex Hulme caught eight of Basil’s 18 completions for 168 yards.
Gilmartin said Hulme and Basil missed on some plays as the result of not having worked together much and that they should become an even more potent combination.
Arms race
There were some outstanding performances from quarterbacks. Not only did Burnham throw for four touchdowns, he ran for two more.
Framingham State’s Matt Silva threw for five touchdowns while not throwing an interception during his 261-yard passing day in a 42-6 win over Endicott.
Castleton’s George Busharis went 26 of 42 for 280 yards and a couple of touchdowns.
Few of them had a better all-round game than Western New England’s Tyler Ward. Coach Keith Emery made a point of saying what a terrific camp Ward had and he did as well when the bullets were live, throwing for 145 yards and a touchdown and running for 123 yards and another score.
MIT fell 31-28 to WPI but Danny Callahan threw for 245 yards and three scores. And then there’s Westfield State’s Erik Washburn who piled up 244 passing yards while throwing for three TDs and not throwing an interception.
Fitchburg State’s Garrett Dellechiaie picked up where he left off last year. He threw for 232 yards and four touchdowns in the Falcons’ 42-25 win over Becker.
And here’s one that might not jump out at you unless you are familiar with SUNY-Maritime’s offense. Zack Chilcott threw for 137 yards and a score in a 30-0 win over Maine Maritime. The Privateers threw 24 passes in the game, 22 by Chilcott.
The Privateers are known for their ground game and putting the ball in the air 24 times is a lot for them.
“It was just us trying to do what we can,” said SUNY-Maritime coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes, adding that the Mariners did a good job of clogging the middle. “We were just doing trying to get the ball on the perimeter. Zack’s got a good arm.”
Of course, the running game was still there. Brett McKinney rushed for 111 yards and two scores.
Defense
There were notable defensive performances. A sampling: Nichols’ Brett McEvoy was in on 14 tackles, three of them for a loss and Josh Lawrence had 13 stops for Becker.
Derek Tarpey, a mainstay last year, had nine tackles for UMass-Dartmouth.
“Tarpey is just a real football player,”Robichaud said.
There was Danny Ives with a whopping 15 tackles for Salve Regina and Dean Soucie whose day for Western New England included a fumble recovery to go with eight tackles.
Linebacker Kameron Knight was a big part of SUNY-Maritime’s shutout with his 3.5 sacks.
“He’s a tremendous football player,” Kendrick-Holmes said. ‘He is a tough hard working kid. He is from North Carolina. We get a lot of kids from the coastal states because of the maritime industry.
“Kam is really athletic and really fast. I’m glad he got to make those plays.”
Mike Sinto was in on eight tackles for Anna Maria, three for a loss.
Quick kicks
One void that Anna Maria wanted to fill this season was a kicker. They fell 34-6 to Coast Guard but Francis Cole made good on both of his field goal attempts, the longest from 39 yards. ... Coast Guard’s Mike Clancy rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. ... Jake Gauthier and Tevin Jones had two TD receptions each for Framingham. ... ECFC Player of the Year Kevin Alberque has graduated and is playing pro football abroad. But there is still another Alberque at Castleton. Younger brother Mark Alberque had five tackles and an interception in the win over Plymouth. ... Sam Pascale had a big day rushing for Salve Regina, amassing 176 yards and a score. He was a workhorse with 32 carries. ... Husson can’t get enough of Alfred. The Eagles lost 39-25 to Alfred in Bangor and now go to Alfred State, a school directly across the street from Alfred.
The Big Games
After dispatching Maine Maritime 30-0, SUNY-Maritime goes to Mass. Maritime for a game that will have special significance as it is being played on 9/11.
It is also the eighth annual Chowder Bowl.
The date of 9/11 is personal for Kendrick-Holmes who was deployed to Afghanistan while coaching at SUNY-Maritime. The Privateers were unbeaten during the regular season that year and the situation received considerable coverage in the national media.
Mass. Maritime will also play Maine Maritime on Sept. 19.
“We have a nice three-way thing going with the Maritimes,” Kendrick-Holmes said.
The Maritime schools have much respect for one another and a strong identification with each other.
“Our kids have to go through the same things and have the same lifestyle,” Kendrick-Holmes said. “Most of our seniors just came off 90 days on the boat when camp started. I was talking with (Maine Maritime) coach Chris McKenney before the game and they had the same kind of thing.”
Another big game this week finds Framingham State hosting Cortland. It’s all part of Tom Kelley’s plan to have the Rams test themselves against perennially strong teams outside the area like Cortland.
UMass-Dartmouth goes to Springfield, a game that will give the Corsairs a chance to validate last week’s win. Springfield is also Robichaud’s alma mater.
Nichols at Anna Maria is an interesting matchup. Two programs that have struggled in recent seasons and are making a commitment to climb the ladder and become competitive will be going at each other. It will be a huge win for the team that gets it.