Mike McCarthy

Previewing The 2017 Bridgewater State Football Schedule

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Bridgewater State College
Bridgewater State head coach Joe Verria and the Bears will begin their 2017 campaign on Saturday, September 2nd at Buffalo State. (PHOTO CREDIT: Bridgewater State University Office of Sports Information)

By Matt Noonan (@MattNoonan11) 

The defending Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) champions will host five games this season at Bridgewater State University, while making the trek to five institutions, including Buffalo State in week one.

Bridgewater State, which has unveiled its 2017 slate on its athletic department’s website, will play its initial home game on Saturday, September 9th when the Bears entertain Endicott College with kickoff scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

The Gulls and Bears last met in 2012 with Bridgewater State claiming a 20-14 win in Bridgewater. Mike McCarthy highlighted the contest with a pair of rushing scores – he concluded the game with 144 rushing yards on 20 carries.

Bridgewater State won nine games in 2012 and competed in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament against Widener.

Following a pair of non-conference clashes, the Bears will hop into league play with a ‘Friday Night’ clash with Framingham State University. Last season, Malik Garrett highlighted his team’s dramatic (and exciting) win over the Rams as he rushed for a pair of scores, including the game-winning touchdown in overtime, which helped the Bears lock-up the conference crown.

Bridgewater State will close out the opening month with a visit to Fitchburg State (Saturday, September 23rd) and a home date against Westfield State (Saturday, September 30th).

The Bears will visit a pair of squads in October, beginning with Plymouth State on Saturday, October 7th followed by a trip to UMass Dartmouth (Oct. 13th). Bridgewater State beat both squads last season, but needed two overtimes to top the Panthers in Bridgewater.

Bridgewater State will host Western Connecticut on Saturday, October 21st as part of the school’s ‘Homecoming Weekend’ before capping its regular season with back-to-back November tilts against Worcester State (Nov. 4th) and Massachusetts Maritime Academy (Nov. 11th).

For more on the Bears’ football team/program — HOP HERE

PROGRAM NOTE: We’ll have more on the Bears as we get closer to the start of the 2017 football season. 

Mass. College Football: Week 12 Honor Roll

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By NoontimeSports.com 

The 12th week of the college football season came to a close on Saturday and below is this week’s Noontime Sports Honor Roll.

Andre Williams (Boston College) – The senior halfback, who broke the single-game rushing record that he set last week, concluded Saturday’s contest against North Carolina State with 339 yards on the ground and two scores. His 339 yards set the ACC single-game rushing record, passing John Leach of Wake Forrest, who passed for 329 yards against Maryland in 1993.

Kevin Pierre-Louis (Boston College) – The senior linebacker registered eight total stops, six solo tackles, including two sacks for a loss of 20 yards.

Conner Hempel (Harvard) – The junior signal caller amassed 292 yards of total offense and tossed two touchdowns as the Crimson defeated Penn in Cambridge.

Danny Guadagnoli (Bentley) – The senior quarterback broke the Bentley single game and season records for both passing yards and total offense, and accounted for six touchdowns, in a 56-41 shootout victory over Saint Anselm as he completed 30-of-43 passes for 510 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for a go-ahead touchdown and 42 yards for a total of 552 on the day.

Jeff Hill (Bentley) – The junior wide receiver set career-bests with 10 catches for 199 yards, with a pair of touchdowns, 77 and 18 yards. The 199 gave him a conference-high 1,225 for the season.

Kendall Dardy-Jones (Assumption) – The sophomore defensive back led the Hounds defense with nine total stops, seven solo tackles, and a pass breakup against New Haven.

Joe Clancy (Merrimack) – The senior quarterback ended the season with four touchdowns as the Warriors defeated the Owls in North Andover. Clancy finished 33-of-52 for 260 yards.

Kristian Jackson (Merrimack) – The sophomore linebacker recorded a game-high 13 total stops, including two-and-a-half tackles for a loss of 14 yards and one-and-a-half sacks for a loss of 11 yards.

Nate Robitaille (Stonehill) – The junior wide receiver led all receivers with six catches for 84 yards and one touchdown in the Northeast-10 Conference championship against American International College.

Brian Harrington (Stonehill) – The junior linebacker recorded a game-best 17 total tackles, 11 solo stops, including one-and-a-half tackles for a loss of seven yards.

Kevin Arduino (AIC) – The junior quarterback registered 304 yards of total offense, including 101 yards on the ground and three scores, which helped the Yellow Jackets defeat the Skyhawks in the NE-10 Championship.

Jordan Thompson (AIC) – The senior defensive lineman recorded two total tackles, including one-and-a-half tackles for a loss of 12 yards and a fumble recovery.

Carlous Julien (Mount Ida) – The senior linebacker recorded a game-high 14 total stops, including two tackles for a loss of eight yards, one sack for a loss of six yards and a forced fumble. The Mustangs finished their season with a 6-0 victory over Husson.

Robert Small (Anna Maria) – The senior tailback rushed for 190 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s finale against Becker College.

Kevin Card (Anna Maria) – The junior linebacker finished the season with a game-best 12 total stops, 11 solo tackles, including two-and-a-half tackles for a loss of 12 yards and one sack for a loss of nine yards.

Robert Baker (Becker) – The senior quarterback amassed 248 yards of total offense, which included 220 yards through the air as the Hawks defeated the AMCATs in their final contest. Baker tossed three touchdowns, two to DeJahn Dawkins.

DeJahn Dawkins (Becker) – The sophomore wide receiver finished with a game-best 106 yards and two touchdown receptions.

Melvin Booker (Becker) – The senior linebacker led the Hawks defense with 10 total stops including one-and-a-half tackles for a loss of eight yards.

Ehab Hamdan (WPI) – The senior wide receiver finished with 10 catches for 131 yards and one touchdown in his team’s setback to Springfield College.

Melikke Van Alstyne (Framingham State) – The senior halfback rushed for 146 yards and three touchdowns, as well as hauled in one reception for 22 yards in the Rams’ 36-0 victory over Worcester State.

Travis Hayes (Framingham State) – The sophomore wide receiver caught seven passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

Jeff Touron (Framingham State) – The senior defensive end recorded five total tackles, four solo stops, including three sacks for a loss of 14 yards.

Mike McCarthy (Bridgewater State) – The senior quarterback capped his career with the Bears by completing 20-of-30 passes for one touchdown and rushing for 119 yards and two scores as Bridgewater State defeated Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the 35th Annual Cranberry Bowl.

Matt Green (Bridgewater State) – The junior wide receiver led all receivers with 12 catches for 181 yards and one touchdown.

Garrett Dellechiaie (Fitchburg State) – The first-year quarterback finished his season completing 10-of-19 attempts for 188 yards and five touchdowns as the Falcons soared past the Panthers.

Drew Frenette (Endicott) – The junior quarterback tossed three touchdowns and completed 14-of-30 passes for 250 yards as the Gulls defeated Salve Regina in the New England Football Conference championship.

Justin Wallace (MIT) – The junior running back rushed for 217 yards and two scores as the Engineers defeated Coast Guard in their final game.

Kevin Fruwirth (Curry) – The senior quarterback ended his career with the Colonels by passing for six touchdowns and rushing for 42 yards on five carries. Fruwirth finished with a total of 370 yards of total offense in his team’s win against Maine Maritime.

Kevin Cook (Western New England) – The junior half back rushed for three scores and 189 yards as the Golden Bears concluded their season with a win against Nichols.

Mass. College Football: MMA’s Cameron Discusses The Cranberry Bowl

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By NoontimeSports.com 

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Massachusetts Maritime Academy will look to conclude its regular season slate with a victory against Bridgewater State in tomorrow’s 35th Annual Cranberry Bowl presented by Ocean Spray.

Buccaneers head coach Jeremy Cameron would certainly like to send his seniors, who have tallied 20 wins over the past four seasons, out with a win. And after yesterday’s luncheon concluded, we caught up with Cameron to chat about the game, as well as his team’s season.

On tomorrow’s game: “It would be a big step forward (to end our season with a win). 6-4 would be one of the best years we’ve had here in a long time, but then to beat Bridgewater for the second time in four years or the second time in 17 years would be a big step forward for us going into the offseason. It’s one of our goals and it’s what all of our energy is going toward right now.”

On the senior class: “They have and we have 17 of them, and there are some key players like Mike Stanton, Keith Caruso, Stefan Gustafson, Michael Sylvia, John Bochman, Sheldon Roper, John Moriarty (and) Brandon Rodrigues (are just a few), so I’d like to send those guys off and we just appreciate what that senior class has done to our program for the last four years.

“We start practice off every day by ringing a bell, which means it is time to go to work, so this week our seniors have been ringing the bell prior to practice, so we know what it means to them, while the other guys are pulling in the same direction to get that last win for them.”

On the team’s impressive statistical performances: “Offensively, we do try to push the tempo, so you’re obviously going to put up yards and things of that nature. Defensively, we just haven’t played consistent all year for a variety of reason and we make no excuses. We’ve got young players and we’ve had some guys get banged up, but we think we’ve got a solid plan in place, the kids believe in it, we think we’re going to have our best defensive effort this week and we’re confident that our offense will be consistent like they have all year.”

On the team’s growth this season: “We feel like the future is bright. We want to win and it gives us momentum in the offseason, but going into next year we feel pretty good. We feel we have two quarterbacks that are going to be good next year. Most of the receivers are back except for Keith Caruso, who is a valuable piece, but we do feel like we’ve got some young guys and if they step up a little bit more they could (equal) his contributions. We’ll miss Stefan Gustafson, although we’ve got a couple running backs that can be very good college football players and some of them have already proven that like Austin Pierce and David Yerxa. On the offensive line, we will have to replace John Moriarty, who will be a tough replacement because he’s a very, very good offensive lineman, but we’ve got some younger guys that have been in the system, so we feel good about them. (Finally and) realistically, the entire defense is back with the exception of Michael Sylvia, so what you see tomorrow is what you’ll see next year with a ton of game experience under their belt and we feel like we can put together a pretty solid defense next season.”

On defending BSU quarterback Mike McCarthy: “We’ve seen all of their games and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him, but frankly I am just blown away by him. He’s an absolute stud. The way he runs the ball, week after week is amazing. You know you still can’t stop him and then when you allocate too many people to try and stop him he just pulls up and he can make all the throws, so the kid is one of the best football players that I have seen. He’s a competitor, tough and just the total package. We’re looking forward to seeing him play on Saturday, but we just hope to contain him.

“This guy is a legitimate quarterback. This kid can drop back and he can throw a 15-yard dig route, he can throw a 40-yard post (or) the vertical game, but this guy is the real guy.”

Mass. College Football: BSU’s McCarthy Discusses His Final Game

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By Matt Noonan 

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Bridgewater State quarterback Mike McCarthy will suit up for the final time tomorrow as the Bears travel to Massachusetts Maritime Academy to take on the Buccaneers in the 35th Annual Cranberry Bowl presented by Ocean Spray.

McCarthy and his Bears won’t be competing after tomorrow’s final whistle due, but expect to play their best football of the season.

“It’s going to be real emotional game,” said McCarthy. “I’m just going to focus on leaving everything on the field and enjoying it. I am playing with some of my best friends for the last time, so it’s really going to mean a lot to me.”

Bridgewater enters the game with a 5-4 overall record, along with a 25-8-1 mark against the Buccaneers in this particular contest.

We quickly caught up with McCarthy following yesterday’s luncheon to chat about his final collegiate game. Below are highlights from our conversation.

On digesting the Framingham State setback: “Coming into this game with a trophy being involved and being able to compete for the last game with a lot of my teammates, it’s not a problem at all (to get motivated). We always get up for ‘The Scoop,’ and if we win this game then that’s a successful season, so we’re just really focusing on (tomorrow’s) game.”

On what’s been different this season than past seasons: “I think just knowing that it was probably my last year playing (to be honest). I worked as hard as I could (every day) and did not waste anytime during the offseason. Just knowing that (this was my final season) definitely helped. (These) are some of my best friends, so it really meant a lot to me to work as hard as I could.”

On concluding the college career with a victory and trophy: “It’s definitely an honor to play in this game. It’s such a big rivalry and it’s the 35th year (of this game), so I am looking forward to playing one more time, giving my all and do everything that I can to help our team win this game.”

Mass. College Football: BSU’s Denune Is Ready For The Cranberry Bowl

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Bridgewater State head coach Chuck Denune is ready to lead the Bears into their final game of the season against Mass. Maritime. (Photo Credit: Bridgewater State Athletics)
Bridgewater State head coach Chuck Denune is ready to lead the Bears into their final game of the season against Mass. Maritime. (Photo Credit: Bridgewater State Athletics)

By NoontimeSports.com 

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. – Bridgewater State will conclude its 2013 slate on Saturday when they travel to Massachusetts Maritime Academy to take on the Buccaneers in the 35th Annual Cranberry Bowl presented by Ocean Spray.

The Bears, who enter the contest with a 5-4 overall record, will look to earn their six win of the season, along with their 26th Cranberry Bowl crown. Bridgewater State has won this contest 25 times, according to the game’s program, which includes the two most recent meetings. Massachusetts Maritime has won this contest eight times, including five victories in Buzzards Bay.

After this afternoon’s luncheon concluded, Noontime Sports caught up with Bears head coach Chuck Denune to discuss the contest, as well as his team’s goals.

On preparing for the team’s final game: “Anytime that you’re playing a football game and you’re playing with football players – we’re competitive by nature, so if there’s something to play for it’s pride. It’s a hard thing to play for (pride), but (my) guys have been practicing hard all week and the fact of the matter is that this is going to be the last time a lot of these guys play this game and you want to send them out with that good feeling. You want to take a picture afterwards and smile while they’re doing it.”

On turning the page from Framingham State: “Come Monday, you put everything behind you and you get ready for the next game. That’s probably one of the toughest things about football is that you usually have to wait a week to play another game, but we’ve got work to do, we’re not ready yet, but we’ve got one more practice (tomorrow). There’s no time to dwell because you’ve got to pick up the pieces, you’ve got to correct the mistakes and you’ve got to try and get better.”

On the play of quarterback Mike McCarthy: “A lot of people (have asked about his play over the past few weeks), but he’s been (performing at a high level) all along. The biggest difference between the last two years is that he’s had a lot more talent around him, but since the time he came in and has started for us, he has just been (tremendous). He’s a football player, he’s a good man and I am going to miss him (next season). He’s going to finish one, two or three (in) passing all-time and he’s also the third leading rusher (in our conference), which includes all the running backs and his total offense is off the charts for our program. He doesn’t miss games, he doesn’t miss practices and he’s so unselfish. He’s an outstanding young man.”

On the play of the seniors: “They’ve been a terrific group to be around. Football is football, and it’s one of those things where we’re all supposed to be tough guys and stuff like that, but I don’t think you could have a sole and not get attached to these guys. These guys that have been playing for us – you get attached to them and obviously we’re going to miss them on the field, but we’re going to miss these guys being around every day because they become apart of your life. The hard work and commitment they’ve given us (is great and) you can’t thank them enough.”

On ending the season with a victory, along with the ‘Scoop’ trophy: “It needs to happen. It’s the last game, so besides it being the last game, it is also a statement game, too. Are we ready to go? Are we ready to get back on the horse and move forward? Everybody wants to win and you always want to end it with a win. It is a very important game.”