FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2015
Greyhounds Claim First-Ever NE-10 Football Title
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Assumption Greyhounds defeated New Haven, 17-14, to win the program's first-ever Northeast-10 Football Championship on Saturday afternoon from Multi-Sport Stadium. Assumption's Jarrod Casey, who was named Most Valuable Player, came up with a huge interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Greyhounds.
Trailing 14-9 in the fourth quarter, Assumption moved down the field behind the legs of running back Alex Shain, and a third-down conversion on a pass from Marc Monks to Ashton Grant set the Greyhounds up inside the Chargers' five-yard line. Facing a 4th-and-1 from the New Haven 2-yard line, Shain looked to run but instead threw a jump pass to Cody Lynn to give Assumption the lead.
With 8:03 left in the fourth quarter, Ajee Patterson led New Haven 51 yards down the field all the way to the Greyhounds' 20-yard line with a chance to tie or take the lead. Then on a crucial third down, Patterson took a shot at the end zone and Casey slid right in front of the intended receiver to reel in the interception.
The Greyhounds finished with 340 yards of total offense and held the Chargers to 195 yards on the game. Assumption managed to hold New Haven to just 100 yards rushing after the Chargers entered the game averaging 223.3 yards per game on the ground.
Assumption took the early lead on its first drive of the game after Cole Tracy connected on a 26-yard field goal 5:25 into the first quarter. The next seven drives all ended in punts, as neither team could get much going on offense early on. Then with the Greyhounds threatening in Charger territory, Tyler Condit came away with an interception and returned it 54 yards to the Assumption 21. Four plays later, Patterson hit DeeJay White for a 2-yard touchdown to give New Haven a 7-3 lead, the final score of the first half.
Assumption pulled within a point after Tracy nailed a 37-yard field goal to open the second half, cutting the lead to 7-6. Then Joe Bruno recovered a New Haven fumble and returned it all the way to the Chargers' 10-yard line, setting up another Tracy field goal from 25 yards out to give Assumption a 9-7 lead. On the very next possession, Bakari Blunt picked off Patterson to get the ball back for the Hounds.
New Haven then forced a turnover of its own on Assumption's next drive, as Condit recovered a fumble at the Assumption 23-yard line. A 17-yard pass from Patterson to Henry Adegunle set the Chargers up nicely in the red zone and Andre Anderson followed that up with a five-yard touchdown run to put New Haven back on top, 14-9, late in the third quarter.
It was the Greyhounds who controlled the fourth quarter, however, as Assumption forced the Chargers to punt on their next two drives, followed by Casey's interception on New Haven's third drive of the quarter. The Chargers had one last chance with 15 seconds on the clock, but Patterson was sacked by Bruno to clinch the win.
Brendan Tobey was 17-of-26 under center for Assumption and ran for 29 yards as well. Shain led the Hounds with 77 yards rushing, while Deonte Harris racked up 153 all-purpose yards. For New Haven, Anderson wound up with 75 yards on the ground and Matt Zakrzewski racked up a game-high 17 tackles.
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
Jarrod Casey, Assumption
Levi Fancher, Assumption
Deonte Harris, Assumption
James Ward, Assumption
Tyler Condit, New Haven
DeeJay White, New Haven
Matt Zakrzewski, New Haven
MVP: Jarrod Casey, Assumption (pictured)
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST-10
The Northeast-10 Conference is an association of 15 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 6,500 student-athletes.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
