College Football: Bridgewater State Opens NCAAs on Saturday at Alfred

By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The 2015 Bridgewater State University football season ended with a lopsided loss in the ECAC Legacy Bowl.

After going 7-2 in the regular season, the Bears were simply no match for Carnegie Mellon University and were handed a 48-13 defeat in New Britain, Conn.

In the aftermath of that rout, players who would be returning for the 2016 season were determined to turn that rough finish into a positive.

“It left a bitter taste in our mouth losing by that amount,’’ said junior running back Alex McLaughlin. “We knew what we had.’’

As if that loss wasn’t enough inspiration, the Bears were picked to finish fourth in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“We were determined right after that ECAC bowl game to come back with fire in our eyes,’’ said quarterback Danny Higgins. “Then, when I saw we got picked fourth, that kind of ticked me off. Everyone was ticked off. We knew we were better than that.’’

Bridgewater State proved that by going 8-0 to win the MASCAC for its first conference championship since 2000 and first undefeated conference record since 1999.

That has put the Bears back in the postseason, this time as one of 32 teams who are in the NCAA Division 3 tournament.

Bridgewater State (8-2) plays at 15th-ranked Alfred University (10-0) in the opening round today at noon. (The game in western New York state is being live-streamed at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/alfred/)

It marks the fourth trip to the NCAAs for both the Bears and the Saxons, who put together their best regular season since going 10-0 in 1981. Bridgewater State is 0-3 in the NCAAs (losing in 1999, 2000 and 2012 by a combined score of 112-52) while Alfred is 2-3, advancing to the third round in its last trip in 2010.

The Bears, who are on an eight-game winning streak, face a monumental task in Alfred, which won the Empire 8 championship and averages 37.6 points and 245 rushing yards per game.

“They’re a very good football team, but we’re not going to be scared of them,’’ said Higgins, the program’s all-time leader in passing yards. “We’ve got to go into the game prepared like we always are and play our game. If we play the way we’ve been playing, I feel like we have a good shot of winning the game.’’

Alfred quarterback Tyler Johnson set a school record with 19 rushing touchdowns and has gained 789 yards on the ground, one of three players to gain more than 700 yards.

He has also thrown for 1,906 yards and 20 TDs with only four interceptions while the Saxons’ defense gives up just 91 rushing yards and 286 yards of total offense per game.

“They are big and they are fast,’’ said BSU coach Joe Verria. “They’re a very, very physical football team. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge. They are by far the best team we’ve played this year.

“They’ve got athletes everywhere and they’ve got size. They’re physical. They’ve got strength, good backs, a running quarterback.’’

Bridgewater State lost at Widener, 41-14, in its last appearance in the NCAAs in 2012 when it received an at-large berth.

Now, the Bears are in the national tourney for the fourth time in program history, looking to break through with a win.

“We could really tell after last season there were a lot of good things to come,’’ said senior captain Elvis Romero. “We get to leave our mark on the program as a senior class. We definitely worked for it.’’

The team made the 450-mile bus trip Friday morning, the first time Bridgewater State has visited Alfred since losing to the Saxons, 30-27, in an ECAC postseason game in 1989.

Now, the setting is the NCAA tournament with a chance to keep the season going next weekend.

“Any time you get a chance to go to the NCAAs, it’s huge,’’ said Verria. “These kids are very, very excited, very focused. They won the MASCAC and now they get to go to the NCAAs and see what they can do on a national level.

“There’s definitely a lot of hoopla around it, being one of the top 32 teams in the country. It’s a great experience. They’re going somewhere they never played. It’s a big challenge for them.’’