College Football: Bridgewater State, Stonehill on the Road Saturday

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BROCKTON, Mass. -- In the span of a couple of hours at football fields roughly 10 miles apart, there were fantastic finishes on display last Saturday.

Bridgewater State University rallied from a 14-point deficit to edge past Plymouth State University, 29-23, at Swenson Field to remain atop the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

About two hours after that dramatic ending, Stonehill College scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to stun New Haven, 21-17, in a game live-streamed on ESPN3.

More than 4,700 fans were on hand at the games and helped provide electric atmospheres for the Bears and Skyhawks.

Now, the task for BSU coach Joe Verria and Stonehill coach Eli Gardner is to make sure their respective teams put those emotional victories aside and avoid any letdowns this weekend.

The Bears (5-2, 5-0 in the MASCAC) seek their sixth straight win when they travel to Westfield State (2-4, 1-3) for a noon game on Saturday.

The Skyhawks (3-4, 3-3 in the Northeast-10 Conference) will be in Waltham to face rival Bentley University (4-3, 4-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"You could see in practice the first day this week they were still exhausted emotionally,'' said Verria. "But they came back (Wednesday) with a big practice and got focused in the right direction.

"You've always got that fear coming off a big win like that of how do they respond to that next challenge. But they've risen up every time they have needed to do so.''

The Bears regrouped against Plymouth State after falling into a 14-0 hole in the first half. They did so despite injuries to several players, including quarterback Dan Higgins.

He was in and out of the Plymouth State game with a shoulder ailment, but will play against Westfield State.

BSU will use sophomore Nick Falconeiri, a Bridgewater-Raynham graduate, and freshman Nick Spinale on the offensive line.

After facing the Owls, the Bears have next week off before traveling to defending MASCAC champion Framingham State on Nov. 5 for a key game.

"Hopefully we can get through the weekend healthy and get to the bye week, which couldn't come at a better time,'' said Verria, whose team lost top defensive lineman Emmanuel Omere (81/2 sacks) for the season due to injury two weeks ago.

Stonehill, which was trailing, 17-7, went on scoring drives of 89 and 86 yards in the final quarter against New Haven, getting a 10-yard TD reception by freshman Andrew Jamiel with 1:26 remaining to complete the comeback.

Jamiel had a school-record 18 catches that went for 169 yards while Matt Foltz completed a school-record 37 passes for 405 yards.

With ESPN3 on hand, it made for a special night at W.B. Mason Stadium.

"It was great for the school, great for the athletics department,'' said Gardner. "(ESPN) definitely added to it, but when you're playing a team like New Haven at home on a Saturday night, regardless of who is watching, it's going to be a great atmosphere.''

The Skyhawks wasted little time moving on from that victory with Bentley up next on the schedule.

"We tried to make that a point of emphasis as a staff,'' said Gardner. "We watched the film on Sunday of the game Saturday night and as soon as we were done watching it, boom, we were on to Bentley.

"We made sure we put all our time and energy and focus on the game this week. (A rivalry game) definitely brings out the best in both of us.''

The Predictions:

• Syracuse 24, Boston College 17: The Eagles' woes in the ACC continue at home.
• Alabama 34, Texas A&M 20: Another win for the Crimson Tide.
• Harvard 27, Princeton 21: The Crimson bounce back.
• Bridgewater State 34, Westfield State 24: The Bears make it six in a row.
• Stonehill 21, Bentley 17: The Skyhawks earn a road win.

LAST WEEK: 3-2 | SEASON TOTAL: 24-11