Pivotal weekend for NEFC title contenders

October 14, 2010

The biting wind off Buzzards Bay is carrying whiffs of Bogan Division title implications into Clean Harbors Stadium these days as Massachusetts Maritime prepares to host Fitchburg State Saturday.

The Buccaneers (3-3, 2-1) trail Bogan Division leader Framingham State (5-1, 3-0) in a tight NEFC race. The Rams host Maine Maritime (4-1, 2-1) Saturday. The Bucs, who lost to Framingham earlier this month, are rooting for a Maine Maritime victory this weekend. Massachusetts Maritime treks to Castine, Maine, on Oct. 23 for the 38th Admiral’s Cup, a game that could be for the division title.

“We’re just really worried about Fitchburg. That’s all we can worry about,” Bucs coach Jeremy Cameron said yesterday. “Win or lose, any game we’ve played has been close. Every game we played has come down to a couple of snaps. I do think we’re getting better every week.”

With junior tailback Nathan Sherr hobbled by a balky ankle, freshman quarterback Mike Stanton (654 yards passing, five touchdowns) has stepped up and led MMA to wins in 3-of-4 games. Junior Matt White (386 yards, four TDs) has bolstered the ground attack. Defensively, juniors Walter Butler (14 tackles, one sack and a blocked field goal attempt last week) and Mike Bois (team-high 41 tackles) and freshman Stefan Gustafson (three interceptions) have led the way.

“Fitchburg is 1-5 but they’ve played really good teams,” Cameron said. “They played Endicott and Curry, who are two of the better teams in the Boyd Division and they played Coast Guard. So they haven’t seen any cupcakes. Then they went out and beat Maine (Maritime) and put up 46 points against them. So we have our hands full this week.”