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| Quarterback Brad Skeffington (above) has benefitted from the return of receiver Cody Stahmer from a battle with cancer. Mass. Maritime Athletics photo courtesy SportsPix |
Cody Stahmer won what was probably the fiercest battle in the Massachusetts Maritime preseason camp.
That's pretty small stuff compared to winning the battle for his life. Stahmer was diagnosed with cancer.
"He left. He didn't tell anyone," Mass. Maritime coach Jeremy Cameron said.
"When he came back a couple of years ago after his treatments, he had lost an appreciable amount of weight," quarterback Brad Skeffington said. And his cardio ... "He couldn't run."
He was running in Friday night's opener. And Skeffington was throwing. Their connection helped lift the Bucs to a 48-13 victory over a SUNY-Maritime team that had opened impressively itself the previous week, beating Maine Maritime 30-0.
Skeffington threw five touchdown passes with no interceptions. He had 254 passing yards and also rushed for 77 yards.
"He was just lights out the best player on the field," Cameron said.
Skeffington began at Salve Regina as a freshman and played a few games at quarterback for them. Since, he has played about every place else for Mass. Maritime. The Bucs had a great four-year run with record-setting Mike Standton and after he left, Skeffington still did not win the job.
Now, he is back at quarterback for his senior season, the position he starred at in high school when he threw for more than 1,300 yards his senior season while passing for 18 touchdowns and rushing for 15.
He worked hard in spring ball and over the summer to get reacquainted with his old position. He had to be in Boston at 8:00 a.m. for his internship so he got to Athletic Evolution, a fitness center, by 5:00 a.m. each morning to work out. He did plenty of film study and when he got back home from Boston he threw as much as possible.
Stahmer was his hot receiver in the opener with four catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns.
Not bad for someone who did not have the starting job until the final day of preseason practice.
"We didn't know who was going to be the starter until after Wednesday's practice," Cameron said. "We said whoever had the best practice that day would be the starter. He had the best practice he ever had."
They say that you play like you practice. Stahmer had a highlight-reel grab.
"It was an unbelievable catch," Cameron said.
The Bucs were not highly regarded in preseason polls, but Skeffington said he felt good about his team in camp.
"We had great chemistry. Everything just felt right from day one," he said.
"They played a great game," Cameron said. "The offense and defense both were outstanding. We had no turnovers and we capitalized on their turnovers."
"The offense and defense fed off each other," Skeffington said.
Hawks pull off stunner
Nobody saw Becker's win over MIT coming. Well, at least not anyone who doesn't tug on those wild love-them-or-hate-them uniforms.
All of the New England Division III football fraternity was talking about Becker over the weekend. And this time the talk was not about the uniforms.
The 37-26 win over an MIT team that was a playoff team last season and ranked in the Top 25 poll in the preseason grabbed everyone's attention.
Coach Mike Lichten delivered the expected coach speak. "It's one win," he said.
Somehow it seemed a little more.
Becker's Jacob Holmes had one of those games Clair Bee and John Tunis used to write about in their sports books for children. He was 3-for-3 on his field goals, was good on all four PAT attempts, rushed for 232 yards and scored 31 points. He ran for two scores and also had a receiving touchdown.
"He's a little older, He went to Nichols first and then a community college. He's more mature than some college students," Lichten said.
Last year he kicked the winning field goal against Anna Maria and played wide receiver.
"He was a tremendous kicker coming out of high school," Lichten said. "He is a weight room junkie."
Davin Collins, Shane Padeni and LaDarrius Carter helped stall the MIT offense with interceptions.
"Davin might be the best football player in our conference," Lichten said. "He returns kicks and he makes our defense go from back to front."
Nichols duo cashes in
Nichols got a 51-29 win over Anna Maria with Michael McCourt and Derrick Warren having a special connection. McCourt completed 20 of his 25 passes for a school-record 444 yards. Five of them went for touchdowns.
Warren had 11 of the catches, four for touchdowns. He had 287 receiving yards.
Brian Camacho had two interceptions for the Bison.
QB shootout
The NESCAC does not even open until Sept. 26 but there is a quarterback battle at Middlebury too intriguing not to mention.
All Matt Milano did last year was average 250 passing yards per game and throw 24 TD passes against only three interceptions. It earned him NESCAC Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Yet, he is in a fight for the starting spot with Jared Lebowitz, a Division I transfer from UNLV.
Quick kicks:
Fitchburg's Garrett Dellechiaie throws touchdown passes. He had 26 last season and the two he threw in the 31-3 win over Curry gives him six this season for the 2-0 Falcons. His top receiver was Jesse Lastra with eight catches for 91 yards and a score.... Plymouth edged Mount Ida 9-6 with freshman Zack Edwards throwing a TD pass to Chris Kelly.... Obi Etuka had a program-record four interceptions for Western New England as the Golden Bears defeated nearby Westfield State 31-0 to keep the Presidents' Cup.... Husson beat up on Alfred State 44-2 and had two backs eclipsing the 100-yard standard. John Smith rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns and Logan Steward added 128 yards and a score. Husson's Kenny Sweet had three interceptions totaling 100 yards along with four pass breakups.... Norwich fell to St. Lawrence 42-28 but the Cadets had 133 yards rushing and a score from Quincy Williams.
The big games
Fitchburg State is 2-0 and will travel to Framingham State on Saturday for a showdown in the MASCAC opener.
Framingham, a preseason favorite in the MASCAC, is coming off a 61-49 loss to Cortland State.
The Falcons are on the rise and this one could say plenty about the league's pecking order.
It could turn into a shootout between Dellechiaie and Matt Silva, who threw five touchdown passes against Cortland.
Mass. Maritime travels to Maine Maritime for the 43rd Admiral's Cup.
Becker and Nichols have not had a lot of victories in recent years and both are coming off wins as they square off at Nichols on Friday night. A two-game winning streak would be a very important building block for either team.
"We're only 35 minutes apart. We're just down the road from each other," Lichten said.
Rivalry on.
