Bridgewater State, Stonehill Set For Openers

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University and Stonehill College football teams will open their seasons with non-conference games.

BSU gets things going on Friday night at 7 when it renews acquaintances with Curry College at Swenson Field in the first meeting between the teams since 1991.

Stonehill will be in Pennsylvania on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game against Bloomsburg University, ranked 11th in the national Division 2 preseason poll.

While BSU and Curry went against each other in preseason scrimmages in 2013 and 2014, the teams have not played in more than two decades.

The Bears hold a 12-11 edge over the Colonels in a series that began in 1966. BSU defeated Curry, 40-0, the last time they played on Oct. 26, 1991.

“The nice thing about it is we have scrimmaged them the last two years, so it’s not like they’re completely foreign to us,’’ said Bears coach Chuck Denune, whose team was 4-6 last season.

Curry put together a three-game winning streak to close out last season after losing its first seven games.

“They won their last three games last year and we’re definitely expecting them to be a good football team this year,’’ said Denune. “They’ve got some skilled guys with quite a bit of experience coming back.’’

The Bears are looking to rebound after having a rare sub-.500 season a year ago.

“Overall, it feels like we’re headed in the right direction,’’ said Denune. “There were glimmers of light in our scrimmage (against MIT). I think the potential is there, but that’s a scary word, potential. We’ll see what these guys do with it.’’

Stonehill is playing Bloomsburg in the opener for the fourth straight season, losing, 24-7, a year ago after holding a 7-3 halftime lead.

The Huskies are 21-4 the past two seasons and reached the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division 2 tournament last year. They have an experienced quarterback in Tim Kelly, who is 30-6 with 5,955 passing yards and 50 touchdown passes in his career.

“They’re tough,’’ said Skyhawks coach Robert Talley. “They’re a good football program that wins a lot of games and they go to the playoffs a lot. It’s really good competition for us.

“I felt every year, we’ve gotten closer to them. Last year, we were winning at halftime and felt we had some opportunities. It’s definitely a good test and it’s great to play a playoff-caliber team right out of the gate.’’

Stonehill, which was 5-6 last season, should find out a lot about itself in the opener against one of the nation’s best teams.

“I think it’s always good to challenge yourself,’’ said Talley. “Ideally, we want to be a playoff team so the way you get there is you play playoff-type teams and see where you stack up and where you have to build on.’’

The Skyhawks play their first two games on the road this season, traveling to Merrimack College on Sept. 11.