By Conor Nevins
After an emotional win against Atlantic-10 rival Maine, which ended a three-game losing streak, the Northeastern football team had an extra week to celebrate and begin preparing for interstate foe and No. 4 Massachusetts at McGuirk Alumni Stadium in Amherst, Mass.
The Huskies have not fared well playing in Amherst, dropping the last 11 games there, a streak dating back to 1958. NU entered the contest rested and prepared to continue with the success they enjoyed against Maine.
History, however, seemed determined to repeat itself, and the Huskies dropped an early lead, eventually falling to the Minutemen 28-24.
Northeastern started the game with an impressive opening drive, taking the UMass defense to their own 22-yard line, setting up a 39-yard field goal from Miro Kesic. Kesic missed the kick, ending a streak of eight consecutive field goals within 40 yards.
The defense rectified the mistake, however, when junior linebacker Liam Ezekiel intercepted a pass from UMass quarterback Jeff Krohn and took it 40 yards to the three-yard line, putting the NU offense in a first-and-goal situation. Junior quarterback Shawn Brady wasted no time capitalizing on the good field position, hooking up with sophomore running back Bobby French for the three-yard touchdown to give the Huskies an early advantage with 6:47 remaining in the first quarter.
On the next drive, sophomore running back Anthony Riley tore through the Minutemen defense for 59 yards and another NU touchdown.
The Minutemen offense responded on the following possession with Krohn taking the offense from their own 14-yard line downfield 72 yards with an impressive drive. UMass capped off the drive when Krohn found running back Rich Demers out of the backfield for a 15-yard touchdown, bringing the Minutemen to within a touchdown early in the second half.
Later in the half, after Scott Quimby thwarted UMass on fourth down, the Huskies took over once again with good field position.
And once again, the NU offense responded with Gale and Riley carrying the offense on the ground, taking it all the way to the UMass one-yard line before Gale pounded in the score for his team-leading eighth touchdown, giving the Huskies a 21-7 lead.
Krohn ended the first half with touchdown strikes. On the first score, Krohn found Jimmie Howard downfield for the 49-yard touchdown. Just a minute and a half later, Krohn found a streaking Jason Peebler for 46 yards and yet another touchdown.
The second half saw NU miss crucial opportunities to put points on the board, while UMass made plays down the stretch to secure the victory. On NU’s opening drive, kick return specialist Quintin Mitchell took the opening kickoff 38 yards to the Northeastern 44-yard line. Productive runs by both Gale and Brady set up a 43-yard field goal for Kesic. The Huskies were once again unable to get the three points as the kick was blocked by Vladimir Brower and recovered by Mike Haynes at UMass’ own 29-yard line, keeping the score locked at 21 and handing the ball over to Krohn and the Minutemen offense.
Then, to end the third quarter, running back Steve Baylark scored on a seven-yard run to give UMass the go-ahead touchdown.
They were the last points the Minutemen would need.
Coming off the bye week, Brown felt his team was prepared mentally and physically to meet the challenge faced by the Minutemen.
After facing two consecutive top-25 teams in Maine and Massachusetts, the Huskies road doesn’t get any easier as they host the No. 2 Delaware at Parsons Field Saturday at 2 p.m.
