Kevin Stone

UMass officially introduces Thorr Bjorn in new role

November 7, 2025

By Charlie Adams NEFJ Correspondent AMHERST – Thorr Bjorn was reintroduced on Thursday to the University of Massachusetts in a press conference alongside coach Joe Harasymiak and Athletics Director Ryan Bamford. After nearly 18 years as athletics director with the University of Rhode Island, Bjorn is returning to his alma mater and the place where he spent 15 years with the UMass athletics department as senior deputy athletic director and chief……

New England college preview – Week 11

November 6, 2025

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Only three weeks left in the regular season (four for BC, UMass and UConn). Here’s how the Week 11 slate shakes out with all 17 D1 teams playing. The Minutemen kicked things off this past Tuesday night with some Maction: Friday Harvard @ Columbia (7:00) The 12th-ranked, unbeaten Crimson travel to face last place Columbia for some Friday night lights action on ESPN2. Harvard (7-0, 4-0) has the inside track…

MIAA Playoff Preview

November 5, 2025

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Image courtesy of the MIAA By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff Nine weeks of regular season football games are in the books. It’s time to turn the page to the postseason. The MIAA football playoffs begin Friday night. State champions will be crowned at Gillette Stadium December 4-6. Some divisions are more predictable than others, but we’re in store for another exciting postseason in Massachusetts. Division 1 The field: 1. St. John’s…

Surging Maine has legitimate shot to make a run at CAA title

November 5, 2025

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Don’t look now, but after an 0-4 start, Maine has ripped off five straight wins and has a real shot to threaten for the CAA title this season. With three games to go, the Black Bears (4-1 in the CAA) have stunningly shot up the standings with the winning streak. More importantly, they’ve taken a program that had become a laughing stock in recent years and restored the pride that…

UMass hires URI AD Thorr Bjorn to oversee football program

November 5, 2025

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Image courtesy of UMass Athletics One night after another embarrassing showing for the UMass football program, the Minutemen made a significant addition. On Wednesday afternoon, the school officially announced that former Minuteman player and longtime URI Athletic Director Thorr Bjorn would become the new Senior Deputy Athletic Director. In a statement, the school says Bjorn will serve as the Chief Administrative Officer and oversee the football program. “I am honored…

Everything Joe Harasymiak said after UMass’ 44-10 loss to Akron

November 5, 2025

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Image courtesy of UMass Athletics Another night, another disappointing performance for the Minutemen. UMass had its first true ‘MACtion’ game in the middle of the week on Tuesday night when the Minutemen visited Akron. Unfortunately, the new era in the MAC has led to many of the same results fans have grown far too accustomed to. UMass lost in pretty embarrassing fashion, 44-10, dropping to 0-9 on the year and…

MIAA Top 25 – Final regular season poll

November 4, 2025

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By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff It’s officially playoff season in Massachusetts. The final week of the regular season was a memorable one; there were ranked vs. ranked battles, upsets and plenty of changes to the playoff seeding. Abington, Bedford, and Burlington each debut in this week’s Top 25. Andover, Marblehead and Bridgewater-Raynham are out after suffering losses last week. Catholic Memorial and Bishop Feehan have first round bye weeks due to…

UMass Four Down Preview: UMass Minutemen (0-8, 0-4) at Akron Zips (3-6, 2-3)

November 4, 2025

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Image courtesy of ESPN By Ryan Barry NEFJ Staff Kickoff: The UMass Minutemen (0-8) head back to Ohio to take on the Akron Zips (3-6) in their first dosage of midweek MACtion since 2014. With four games left in the season, head coach Joe Harasymiak only has four games left to try and get his first win of the season. 1st Down: The Minutemen got a much needed weekend off after their…

College Dudes of the Week – Week 10

November 3, 2025

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Image courtesy of Maine Athletics We’ve established who the superstars around New England are. You’ll see more familiar names this week, while a few others make one of their first appearances in our Dudes of the Week… Joe Fagnano has made a case for NFL teams to consider drafting him late in April. The Huskies clinched a third bowl bid in four years with a blowout win over UAB and…

Division 1 New England College Poll – Week 10

November 3, 2025

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One month to go. Once again, the postseason picture became clearer for a few teams after Week 10 while others are now simply playing out the string. Here’s how the D1 landscape currently shakes out around New England: 1. Harvard (7-0) – Another week, another fairly dominant performance for the Crimson. Harvard is 13th in the latest AFCA Coaches Poll and three wins away from the Ivy League title, as…