By Chris Estrada
Football head coach Rocky Hager put his team’s game against New Hampshire Saturday in Dickensian terms, calling it “a tale of two halves.” Unfortunately for the Huskies, what appeared to be a triumphant tale turned into a terrible tome.
NU manhandled the No. 11 New Hampshire Wildcats in the first half, but UNH exploded for 27 unanswered points in the final two quarters to put a damper on Homecoming weekend with a 33-21 victory at Parsons Field in Brookline.
The ‘Cats took the lead for good with 13:47 left in the game as quarterback RJ Toman (25-for-36, 277 yards, three TD) found tight end Scott Sicko in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown that gave them a 26-21 lead. Northeastern was unable to respond, and with 6:43 remaining, UNH began a game-killing drive that lasted five minutes and 54 seconds, ending with a two-yard touchdown by tailback Robert Simpson.
“We played pretty doggone well in the first half, yet had the sense that the Wildcats had the ability to come back,” Hager said after the game. “It wasn’t as though we played the kind of football we’d like to play in the second half, but we didn’t play horribly either, so we have to give [UNH] some credit for having to make plays. It seems as though we were just a smidgen off here and there the entire final two quarters.”
After being able to move the ball well in the first half, the Huskies could only muster 79 yards of total offense in the second half, including only 17 yards on the ground.
“We kind of got away from the run in the second half,” said senior tailback Alex Broomfield, who said UNH sported a different defense than it did the week before against William ‘ Mary. “We did a couple of outside zone plays that worked pretty well, but they came to play in the second half.”
Meanwhile, the defense was unable to stop UNH receivers Sicko, Mike Boyle and Terrence Fox from helping pull the Wildcats back in the fight. The group also had to deal with several starters missing with injuries, including junior defensive end Jason Vega and sophomore free safety Nate Thellen, who was a game-time decision.
While he praised the backups pressed into starting duty, Hager said he also felt that the losses of those starters had a major impact, comparing it to having a lost cylinder on a V6 engine.
“That’s not to say that the young men that went in there and played didn’t give us a fine effort, but there’s a reason those guys are starters,” he said. “It makes a difference.”
Still, the patched-up defense was able to stop the Wildcats handily in the first half. After a solid opening return and a five-yard penalty by UNH, the Huskies started the game with good field position at the 41 and went down the field to take a 7-0 lead off a one-yard run from tailback Alex Broomfield.
The defense stifled UNH on its first drive, allowing the Huskies to drive down to the Wildcat 4, where Broomfield faked a carry left, then went right and over the goal line for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead for Northeastern.
Another stalled drive from UNH gave Northeastern the ball back with 7:19 to go in the half. It appeared the Huskies would also fail to score, but a hook-and-ladder play involving senior quarterback Anthony Orio, Chris Plum and Broomfield cut a third-and-long situation down to fourth-and-3 from the 26, which was converted with a seven-yard pass from Orio to Chris Plum.
Three plays later, the UNH secondary broke down and Orio (26-of-38, 219 yards) hit a wide-open Broomfield (19 carries, 72 yards, two TD) for a 17-yard touchdown strike with 28 seconds remaining in the half. It was, however, the last of the Husky scoring for the afternoon.
The Huskies drop to 2-5 overall and 1-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. They face Maine next Saturday in Orono at noon.
