By Charlie Adams NEFJ Staff BOSTON – Stoneham and Reading renewed their 125-year-old rivalry on Tuesday night, finishing the first of two nights full of Thanksgiving football at Fenway Park. The Spartans suffocated the Rockets and dominated early en route to a 42-14 win. Both teams looked to end the season on a high note after disappointing upset losses in playoffs and the rivalry got back underway with a hectic…
Thanksgiving football: Nantucket 22, Martha’s Vineyard 14 (OT) – Whalers win 44th meeting for Island Cup at Fenway
By Charlie Adams NEFJ Staff BOSTON – “This is amazing, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Nantucket head coach Reese Everett said. “These kids are never going to forget this moment.” The 44th Island Cup between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket kicked off a two-night Thanksgiving feast of football at Fenway Park and the first-ever off-island meeting between the teams was a thriller, with the Whalers evening the all-time series at 22 apiece thanks to…
Is the ‘rookie wall’ a real thing? Mayo, Pats players share their thoughts
If there was ever going to be a ‘rookie wall’ for younger players on the Patriots, it’s this season. Sitting at 3-9 and clearly limping to the finish line, most of the rookies on the Patriots will have had their seasons winding down by this point or within the next couple of weeks as college players just 10 or 11 months ago. Even those that could be on teams making…
CCSU’s quick turnaround not surprising to Lechtenberg
Image courtesy of NCAA FCS In 2019, you could make an argument that CCSU was the best college football team in New England. Actually, there probably wasn’t even much debate. The Blue Devils were 11-2 and the Northeast Conference champions. The next two seasons (excluding the pandemic), CCSU went 4-7 in 2021 and 2-9 in 2022. Enter Adam Lechtenberg. After going 3-8 a year ago in his first season, Lechtenberg…
UNH’s remarkable run of consistency continues
For the 16th time in the last 20 seasons, UNH is heading to the FCS postseason. The Wildcats brought the Brice-Cowell Musket back to Durham with a convincing win over Maine on Saturday and were the first at-large team called on Sunday during the selection show. The 16th-seeded Wildcats even got a home game this Saturday against UT Martin. During Monday’s CAA call, head coach Rick Santos – who has…
Top 16 College Poll: Week 14
The regular season wrapped up for several programs this week. Rhode Island, New Hampshire and CCSU qualified for the FCS playoffs with the Rams winning the CAA and the Blue Devils winning the NEC. In the Ivy League, Yale beat Harvard and Dartmouth beat Brown which means Harvard, Dartmouth and Columbia all shared a piece of the Ivy League title. Finally, B.C became bowl eligible with an impressive win……
Great weekend for New England college football as three teams get FCS playoff bids
It is going to be a busy late fall, early winter in New England as three teams earned FCS playoff bids on Sunday. Rhode Island and Central Connecticut State won their respective conferences and earned automatic bids while New Hampshire earned an at-large bid. The Wildcats will host UT Martin on Saturday. Coming into the season, none of these programs were expected to contend for conference titles or playoff appearances,……
NFL reinstates Jabrill Peppers
In a bit of a surprise on Monday around 4:00 p.m., the NFL announced the reinstatement of Jabrill Peppers from the Commissioner Exempt List. This means that Peppers – who as of this past Friday had a jury trial date set for January 22nd – can participate in team activities, including practices and games. It remains to be seen whether the Patriots will welcome him back when the team practices…
With playoff drought officially over, URI turns its attention to CCSU
Image courtesy of URI Athletics The 39-year wait is finally over. Rhode Island alumni, fans, supporters and the entire state will see playoff football this Saturday at Meade Stadium for the first time in a long time when the Rams host Central Connecticut State in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Before looking ahead to the Blue Devils, Rhody head coach Jim Fleming spoke about just how special this…
Recapping Shane Montgomery’s UMass-UConn game week press conference
By Ryan Barry NEFJ Staff UMass interim head coach Shane Montgomery took to the podium on Monday for the final game week press conference of the season to discuss Saturday’s loss at Georgia, as well as the final game of the season against UConn. Montgomery opening thoughts “Looking back at the Georgia game, from what I said after the press conference to the team, I was really proud of the…