GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: November 11, 2023
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LOCATION: Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium
West Haven, Conn. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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Shortly before the opening kickoff Saturday afternoon, 19 members of the University of New Haven football team will make the emotional walk onto DellaCamera Stadium for their final game on the Blue turf.
It might not be a farewell for the Chargers who are leaving at the end of the season since New Haven still has a chance to secure a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs with a win over rival Bentley.
The winner of the game will be the undisputed Northeast-10 Conference champion. New Haven is sitting 10th in the Super Region One rankings with seven teams from the region getting into the playoffs. There is a provision that the champion from a football-playing conference can be bumped up from eighth or ninth into the top seven if no other team from that conference is in the field. With No. 8 Fairmont State and No. 9 Frostburg State playing each other, at least one team ahead of the Chargers will lose on Saturday. That could move New Haven into position to make a third straight NCAA playoff appearance, something no other New Haven football team has accomplished.
"We have to find a way to put our emotions to the side because it is a very big game for us," New Haven senior safety Musa Hemby (Trenton, N.J./Hunterdon Central) said. "The goal is to get as far as we can get. Everybody will be excited to see our families, some of us have busloads of people coming to see us because, for some of us, it could be our last football game ever."
The goal is obviously for that not to be the case.
New Haven has lost only three home games in the last three years and just one of them came in conference play. A win in the 1 p.m. game on Sunday will give the Chargers two undisputed NE10 titles in the last three seasons.
"It is going to be a fun experience," New Haven senior defensive back Devon Williams (Fall River, Mass./Catholic Memorial) said. "We have been in the same position before in 2021 when we had to beat Bentley to win a ring and get into the playoffs."
A 31-14 win, also at home, accomplished that back in 2021 with New Haven also topping Bentley in the opening game of the 2021 NCAA Division II playoffs. Some of the players who will be honored before the game had a role in that win that was part of a perfect run through the NE10 season in 2021.
Jake Conlan (West Haven, Conn./Trinity-Pawling) ran for 31 yards while Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy) had five catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.
"We want to send the guys off on the right note and finish the season strong," Williams said. "We don't want to get too hyped in the moment."
It might be hard to find two players who better typify the blue-collar attitude of this New Haven team than Hemby and Williams. Both had to wait to earn starting spots and now are two leaders and producers on one of the best defenses at the Division II level.
"I just remained patient, waiting my turn, and learning from the guys who were here in previous years and taking everything in," Hemby said.
It looked like Williams' first season as a starter would come to a premature end when he was injured early in the season. At the time, it seemed like he would not return this season. However, he did come back. In last week's win over Pace, Williams was in on a sack and has 1.5 tackles for loss.
"I didn't know what to expect time-wise when I would return and this is a big season for me," said Williams, who had 19 tackles in the first two games of the season. "I started off really strong this season so mentally it was frustrating.
"I came back at the right time, playing some good football and playing some of my best football right now so I just want to finish strong."
There are few secrets between New Haven and Bentley. This will be the fifth meeting between the conference rivals in the last three seasons with New Haven winning all five matchups. However, when the teams played a non-conference game at Bentley earlier this season, the Falcons had two field-goal attempts late in the game to take the lead and couldn't convert.
Different players have emerged on both teams since the down-to-the-wire matchup.
Bentley leads the NE10 in total defense and passing defense while New Haven is setting the pace in rushing defense and interceptions so don't be surprised to see this become another low-scoring affair.
"It helps with the familiarity of the schemes a little bit," New Haven coach Chris Pincince said. "Some of our personnel have changed over the last two months, we were figuring out who we were along the way.
It does help with lots of the schemes of what were going to do last time and what we can do now."
Starting offensive lineman Xavier Bryson (Mechanicsville, Va./Hanover / Fork Union Military Acad.), linebacker Damon Burton Jr. (Rochester, N.Y./Aquinas Institute), tight end Kevin Foelsch (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey), running backs Hunter Cobb (Sandy Hook, Conn./Newtown) and Jake Conlan (West Haven, Conn./Trinity-Pawling), kicker Vincent DeSimone, defensive lineman Jaysen Triunfer (Paterson, N.J./John F. Kennedy) as well as receiver Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy) and Elijah Jeffreys (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) join Hemby and Williams among the players who will be honored before the game.
During Pace's senior day festivities last week, cornerback Anthony Holmes proposed to his girlfriend. Hemby laughed when asked if any of his New Haven teammates have something similar planned on Saturday.
Those coming to the game might want to arrive a little earlier than normal so that they are on hand for the Senior Day ceremony.
If New Haven wins, the Chargers will find out if they are in the Division II playoffs. A committee will vote on regional rankings and later that day, the playoff field will be announced.
Those taking part in Senior Day events will be hoping that there is more football to prepare for.
"We are playing for something more," Williams said. "We want to send the guys off on the right note and finish the season strong."
Whenever his final football game is, Williams has an idea of what is next. He has an internship lined up with the NBA's Boston Celtics, a team that he grew up rooting for. He would love to see that turn into a full-time gig.
Pincince knows that whether it is with the Celtics or other endeavors, the future is bright for Williams.
"He's a great kid," Pincince said. "He lives his life the way we hope that all student-athletes live their lives. He has overcome some stuff and has done nothing but positives since he has been here. Just to have him out there as the voice and have some of our guys look at him, they know he works, they know he puts the time and they know that this is important to him so when somebody like that opens his mouth or has some success, it is good for our team."
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