By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff It’s officially Week 2 of the MIAA football season. There were intriguing matchups for Week 1 in Massachusetts last weekend. More interesting games are ahead this Friday night. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont also kicked off last weekend. Connecticut joins the fun this weekend, in addition to the NEPSAC. Below we’ll take a glance at the top games on the docket for this……
Five and rising. The defending CAA champs and now 2-0 URI Rams have moved up to No. 5 in the AFCA Coaches Poll this week after beating Stony Brook on the road. Jim Fleming’s team has another huge early season test this weekend when the Rams visit perennial FCS playoff contender Holy Cross in the Cruaders’ home opener. This will be Rhody’s first non-conference game after opening the year with…
It’s not often you can say you did something for the first time in history. The 2025 Bryant Bulldogs and head coach Chris Merritt can now say that forever after earning the program’s first win against an FBS school, beating UMass last Saturday. Perhaps more importantly, it was validation for the belief that the tide was turning for Bryant with a big investment from the school behind the program and…
FOXBOROUGH – Back in my day (late 90s early 2000s) the Patriots were always in Miami in September and the Dolphins were here in December. Brady’s bomb to Troy Brown for the OT win and Tedy Bruschi throwing snow in the air are moments that never get etched in fans’ minds forever if the schedule was the way it’s been the last decade or so, with locations usually flipped. This…
By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent Outlook: The Greenwich Cardinals have won two of the last three Class LL state titles, defeating West Haven 14-0 last year. Linebackers Jack Kelly, Santi Parra, and Justin Carroll return, who combined for 347 tackles last year on a team that allowed just 9.3 points per game last season. On offense, they return leading running back Hector Lopez, who rushed for 1,218 yards and 13…
By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent Outlook: Class L runs through New Canaan. They’ve won the last three state titles. The Rams also enter GameTime CT’s Top 10 Poll as the No. 1 ranked team in the state heading into the season. They’ve won seven state titles in the last 11 years. They return six starters on each side of the ball including Villanova commit Andrew Esposito. Darien is the other Class…
By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent Outlook: Last year, Masuk upset Windsor, who was the No. 1 ranked team in the state for a majority of the season, for the Class MM state title. Jackson Zylick hit a game-winning 27-yard field goal with four seconds left, giving the Panthers a 24-21 win over the Warriors. Both teams are expected to be two of the top teams in the class, with each…
By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent Outlook: Last year’s Class M state title was decided by one point, as St. Joe’s edged Brookfield, 21-20 to win its 16th state title in program history. The Hogs almost blew a 21-point lead, but stopped Brookfield’s two-point attempt, securing a one-point, last second win. These are the two teams to beat again this year, with Brookfield returning more of its team from last season…
Courtesy of Tim Crowley By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff Football is officially back in Massachusetts. Week 1 featured some chalk results and some surprises. Our top three of Xaverian, Catholic Memorial and St. John’s Prep all held serve. After the top three, plenty of teams moved either up or down in this week’s Top 25. Canton and Methuen are new additions this week. The Bulldogs pounded Franklin 34-0, while Methuen…
Image courtesy of AP Photo (Charles Krupa) FOXBOROUGH – Well, that certainly didn’t go how any of us hoped. This was supposed to be different. The offense was supposed to be better. The defense was supposed to be better. Mike Vrabel’s team was supposed to play a cleaner, more entertaining brand of football. Instead in the rainy season opener on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, the offense mustered just 10 points…