NEW HAVEN – The Game is one of the most historic and well-known college football matchups in the nation, but whoever won the 141st edition on Saturday between Harvard and Yale was going to live on forever. For the first time, the winner of The Game was also going to clinch the Ivy League’s first automatic FCS playoff berth, along with the outright title. In front of over 52,000 fans…
Rhode Island Division I State Championship: Central 27, Cumberland 0 – Knights dominate Clippers for title
By Charlie Adams NEFJ Correspondent CRANSTON – Two teams had a chance to compete for a championship on Saturday in what would have otherwise been a lost season. Central faced an uphill climb this year for a variety of reasons, finishing the regular season with just two wins. The Knights showed what they were capable of in one of their best performances, shutting out Cumberland 27-0 for the Division I…
Rhode Island Division IV State Championship: Narragansett 21, Davies 8 – Mariners get revenge in title game rematch
By Charlie Adams NEFJ Correspondent CRANSTON – Not many teams can hold the top seed and still be considered underdogs; Narragansett proved that perception was far from the truth on Saturday. The Mariners found themselves in a familiar spot to last season, in a championship rematch that Davies took a year ago. Coming up short again wasn’t an option. Narragansett took the Division IV title this time around with a…
MIAA D1 state semifinals: Xaverian 36, Springfield Central 22 – Hawks fly back into D1 title game looking for three-peat
By Tom O’Brien NEFJ Correspondent MILFORD – It wasn’t pretty, but Xaverian erased a 14-point deficit to roll Springfield Central 36-22 and return to Gillette Stadium for the D1 Super Bowl for the third straight year on Saturday. “We just wanted to go in and execute,” said Xaverian head coach Al Fornaro. “We had a firm idea of what we wanted to do defensively and they had big plays and…
MIAA D3 state semifinals: North Attleborough 43, Milton 29 – Strachan & Brousseau send North back to Super Bowl
By Mukala Kabongo NEFJ Staff MILFORD – North Attleborough punched a ticket back to Gillette Stadium Saturday afternoon with a 43-29 victory over Milton in the Division 3 state semifinals. Coming into the 2025 season, the defending champs put forth a roster that compared to recent years, was very young at key spots. That included the offensive line with three sophomores starting. Seniors Frankie Strachan and Dylan Brousseau took the…
MIAA D3 state semifinals: King Philip 21, Malden Catholic 13 – Warriors punch ticket to Gillette for 5th consecutive season
By Tim Crowley NEFJ Correspondent BRIDGEWATER – The King Philip Warriors did not let the level change to Division 3 alter their expected course for the program in another strong season. The Warriors took the best punch from No. 12 Malden Catholic on Saturday, clinching another trip to Gillette Stadium with a 21-13 state semifinal victory at Bridgewater-Raynham High School. King Philip heads to the championship game for the fifth…
MIAA D5 state semifinals: Foxborough 31, Archbishop Williams 0 – Warriors cruise back into 3rd straight Super Bowl
By Tyler Amaral NEFJ Staff BRIDGEWATER – On paper, Archbishop Williams and Foxborough looked like one of the most even matchups of the weekend. On the field, that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Second-seeded Foxborough dominated from the opening whistle en route to a 31-0 win over the sixth-seeded Bishops. The win sends Foxborough to its third consecutive Division 5 Super Bowl. The Warriors will play Shawsheen Valley…
URI 38, Hampton 10 – Rams clinch 2nd straight CAA title & FCS playoff berth
By Ryan Barry NEFJ Correspondent KINGSTON – Hard times make strong people, and nowhere in the world of college football do they know that better than the University of Rhode Island. Seasons of struggling for program relevancy, teams that never fulfilled their potential, or moments of coming up just short while hope stared at them right in the face, have been all too familiar for the Ocean State’s flagship program….
UNH 33, Maine 27 – Wildcats keep Brice-Cowell Musket & strengthen case for FCS postseason
Image courtesy of Alex Miller By Allen Lessels NEFJ Correspondent DURHAM – They did what they had to do. Now they wait to see if that’s enough. On the second Saturday in October, the University of New Hampshire football team lost at Rhode Island, 38-27, and its record fell to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Coastal Athletic Association. To have any chance at qualifying for the NCAA FCS playoffs…
CCSU 35, Mercyhurst 28 – Blue Devils repeat as NEC champs, clinch automatic FCS playoff spot
By Rob Gullo NEFJ Correspondent NEW BRITAIN – Hosting the Mercyhurst Lakers at Arute Field for a chance at the FCS AQ and outright NEC title, the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils football team repeated as conference champions with a 35-28 win. The Blue Devils were led by quarterback Brady Olson and running back Elijah Howard on offense, with both accounting for three touchdowns each. Olson completed 22-35 passes…