Holy Cross 28, Bridgton 20

The football team traveled to Worcester, MA to take on division I-AA opponent Holy Cross JV. The Wolverines ran out of time as their comeback attempt fell short, 28-20. In a game that Coach Marcella said, “we played well enough on both sides of the ball to win,” the Wolverines were not able to overcome a 21-7 halftime deficit.

Mistakes were the down fall for Bridgton, as they committed four turnovers, including two interceptions in the end zone and a mishandled punt on the Holy Cross 35 yard line. “If we had of converted on one of those drives for a touchdown and another for a field goal we would have won the game,” said Marcella. The Wolverines, trailing by 14 at halftime were the victims of one blown coverage that lead to an easy score, otherwise the game would have been a seven point spread at the half.

The Bridgton Academy offense controlled the game, running 90 offensive plays to Holy Cross’ 55. The offense was lead by quarterback Kenny Brock (Burlington, NJ) who threw for his third consecutive 200 yard game completing 28-42 passes for 249 yards, 1TD, however the three interceptions were the downfall. Scott Benzing (Brookfield, CT) caught nearly half of those passes as he had 127 yards on 12 receptions. Commenting on Benzing’s day Coach Marcella said, “I cannot remember when a Bridgton receiver had that many catches, or a chance for that many.” For just the second time all season, and the first for Brock in three weeks, the quarterback was sacked, “that speaks volumes about our offensive line, for a team that averages 37 pass attempts to be sacked so few times,” Marcella was quick to point out that Jake Lane (Harrison Valley PA), Kevin Colon (Lowell, MA), and Viondy Merisma (Waltham, MA) continue to get better and improve. Alex Colorito (Beaverton, OR) has continued to execute punts well and Daniel Alexander (Smmamish, WA) has done a great job with long and short snaps. Seeing action for the first time since early in week one, due to injury, was Jordan Murphy (Ayer, MA) who Marcella called, “huge for us, he (Jordan) had three big catches for us, converting a fourth down.”

The defense throughout the game improved as BA only gave up one score in the second half of the game. Coach Marcella credits both the defense and the defensive coaches who, “made adjustments and played smarter and better in the second half.” The defense was lead once again by Ryan LaFromboise (Ludlow, MA) and Brandon Murphy (Branford, CT) as well as Jonathon Balcacer (Peabody, MA) who Marcella has called, “the most improved on defense.”

As the Wolverines look ahead to the match up with Springfield College on Sunday October, 4th at 2:00PM, Coach Marcella looks for his team to play smarter, tackle better, as well as be more physical against a physical offensive team.

Photos from Holy Cross Game

#2 Scott Benzing finds some running room in the Holy Cross secondary

#75 Jack Wright collects a sack


#1 Melikke Van Alstyne finds a hole and the end zone

The offensive line creates a hole for #40 Nick Finger


The BA defense swarms to the ball

Coaches Daley, Shairs and Burgess (L to R) look on

#2 Scott Benzing makes a diving catch

#33 Brian Wilcox and #43 Ryan LaFromboise cause a fumble

Bridgton Runs out of Time in Loss to Holy Cross

The Bridgton Academy Football squad had a late surge this past Friday afternoon against a tough Holy Cross team but fell short, losing 28-20. Trailing 21-7 at halftime (the lone score coming from a 5 yard pass from Kenny Brock to Keith Williams late in the second quarter), the Wolverines knew that they had to bring their level of play up a notch if they had any aspirations of coming out of Worcester victorious.

Even though it seemed that Bridgton couldn’t defend the pass well on defense, nor capitalize in the red-zone on offense, the team knew they were capable of competing with the Crusaders. To start the third quarter the Bridgton Academy offense took the field, marching down to Holy Cross’ 1 yard line, taking over six minutes off the clock. On the next play Melikke Van Alstyne took the ball off tackle to make it a 21-14 game. After a botched punt by the Crusaders, the offense took the field two minutes later and again, found the end zone to make the score 21-20 with 5:04 to play in the third quarter.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the squad would come. However, it should be noted that the defense stopped two drives by Holy Cross late in the game, giving the offense a chance to tie in the end. On fourth down, with five seconds to play in the game, the Wolverine offense was 15 yards away from scoring. Even though Brock’s pass fell short, the Wolverines held their heads high. They will get back to their winning ways this Sunday against Springfield College. Kickoff is at 2 o’clock.

-Coach Shairs

(more photos and commentary to come)

49 Years of Bridgton Academy at Curry

49 years of Bridgton Academy history was represented at the recent BA-Curry College football game on September 20th. Current football parents put on a wonderful tailgate following the 28-18 Wolverine victory. The Admission Office was also busy at work, welcoming a handful of prospective 2011 families to the reception. The prospective families had the opportunity to learn more about BA from not only faculty and coaches, but alumni, parents, and friends as well. Former BA football coach Bud Burbank was also in attendance. Bud’s brother, Tom, a 1959 Academy graduate, presented him with a BA football sweatshirt. The Curry game is always a great time, as alumni who now play on the Curry team face-off with the current crop of Bridgton players. Bridgton has changed over the years, going from a four year to school to one that caters solely to the PG (post graduate) student.

The following alumni were seen at the game: (Sorry if we missed you) Jim McGillen ’59, George Mullin ’59, Bob Weston ’59, Tom Burbank ’59, Mike Klapman ’71 (now a current parent as well), Bob O’Sullivan ’84, Skip Bandini ’77 (also Curry College’s Head Football Coach!), Joe Daley ’77, Matt Burgess, Jon Lounsbury ‘01, Nick Markos ’00, Pat Shairs ’02, Wil Colon ’04 (whose brother, Kevin, is a member of the Class of 2010), Jamal Woods ’06, Maurice Rodriguez ’06, Jason Ryan ’07, and David Bonaparte ’08.

Be sure to check the Wolverine athletic schedules for a game near you!


Maurice Rodriguez '06, George Mullin '59, Tom Burbank '59, Bud Burbank, Jason Ryan '07, Jamal Woods '06, David Bonaporte '08

Photos from Curry Game

#1 Melikke Van Alstyne breaks a tackle


#6 Weslee Galloway and #23 Philmore Phillip upend a Curry receiver


#23 Philmore Phillip defends a pass


Brett Parenteau fakes out a Curry defender


#13 Brandon Murphy picks off a Curry pass in the end zone


#7 Kenny Brock unloads a pass, Brock lead BA with 247 yards passing and 3TDs


BA defense swarms to the ball


#80 Alex Colorito hauls in a TD pass

Wolverines Upend Colonels, 28-18

Bridgton Academy Football picked up their second win of the season, in as many tries, Sunday against Curry College JV, by a score of 28-18. The Wolverines, who continue to step up their level of competition, gave up their first points of the season, yet have still never trailed on the season.

Kenny Brock (Burlington, NJ) lead the offensive attack through the air, completing 17 or 33 passes for 247 yards including 3TDs and 1INT. Only three of Brock’s completions were for less than 11 yards, and four completions went for more than 20 yards. Coach Marcella notes that Brock was able to throw so well on the day due to the, “very good protection by the offensive line.” Brock stepped up for the running game, which was slowed after a very successful previous week. On the ground the Wolverines accounted for 120 yards on 38 carries, Brock lead the way with 41 yards rushing. For the second week in a row Alex Colorito (Beaverton, OR) had a big week, catching three passes for 78 yards and one score, Scott Benzing (Brookfield, CT) also continued a successful start to the season by hauling in 5 receptions for 56 yards. Brett Parenteau (Manchester, NH) caught four passes for 52 yards including a touchdown. Keith Williams (Simi Valley, CA) got the scoring started with an 11 yard touchdown reception off of a play action pass. Coach Marcella was pleased with the offensive effort, but acknowledges that in the upcoming weeks the Wolverines will need to run the ball more effectively, and take care of the ball better to be successful. BA was able to answer back two out of the three times Curry scored a touchdown, with touchdowns of their own, which shows as Marcella said, “poise and execution.”

Defensively the Wolverines were lead by Ryan LaFromboise (Ludlow, MA) and Stephen Goniprow (Barrington, RI) who collected 13 and 12 tackles respectively. LaFromboise also caused a fumble, and blocked a point after attempt. Brent McLeod (Winchester, MA) for the second week in a row had at least two sacks, while Brian Wilcox (Jericho, VT) also collected two sacks. The secondary for Bridgton to collected 3 interceptions and seven pass break-ups, lead by Brandon Murphy (Branford, CT) who had one interception, two pass break-ups and eight tackles. Philmore Phillip (Dorchester, MA) had a solid day on defense, collecting an interception, and Weslee Galloway (Brockton, MA) recorded 9 tackles from the secondary.

Coach Marcella sees improvement each week, but going into a short week in which the Wolverines will be facing Holy Cross, whose varsity is open, and ranked 21st in the most recent I-AA polls, sees the game as, “a measuring stick for us, to see how far we have come, and how much further we must go. It will measure our intensity, and how well we deal with adversity.”

Bridgton travels Friday September 25th to Worcester, MA to take on Holy Cross JV at 3:00PM.

Husson Recap, with Coach's comments

The Bridgton Academy Wolverines traveled to Husson University on Sunday September, 13th to take on the Eagles JV football team, and walked away with a convincing 32-0 victory. Noting that it was the first game Coach Marcella stated, “it was an opportunity for us to know what kind of depth we have, as well as, what we need to address.” The Wolverines, who scored on their first possession of the game, never looked back after that.

The defense lead the way for Bridgton which posted its first shut out in three years. They caused two turnovers, collected five sacks, including three from Brent MacLeod (Winchester, MA), and caused nine Husson plays to go for negative yardage along with four pass break ups. Marcella said, “we were undersized on defense, but were able to get to the ball the way we wanted to, and that is what wins games.” The defensive line was lead by Ryan LaFromboise (Ludlow, MA) with 13 tackles, Stephen Goniprow (Barrington, RI) 10 tackles, Jack Wright (Forest Hill, FL) collected eight tackles, Chris Higgins (Cumberland, ME) seven tackles, and Andrew Kelley (Pittston, ME) six tackles. Christian Weeman (North Attleboro, MA) recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The Wolverines will continue to try and put all the pieces together, as they gear up for next week.

The offense set a goal of running 80 plays; it came very close to that goal by running 74 plays. The Wolverines trio of running backs Melikke Van Alstyne (Salme, MA), Nick Finger (Millbrook, NY) and Phil Bigelow (East Orange, NJ) gained 291 yards on the ground, averaging 9 yards per carry. Kenny Brock (Burlington, NJ) lead the passing attack, completing 17 of 29 passes for 230 yards, 2 TDs, 1INT. Brock also rushed for 42 yards and one score. Eight different Bridgton receivers caught passes, lead by Scott Benzing (Brookfield, CT) with 6 catches for 125 yards, including one reception that went for 67 yards and a touchdown. Alex Colorito (Beaveron, OR) caught five passes for 72 yards. The offensive line, including Daniel Alexander (Sammamish, WA), Jacob Lane (Harrison Valley, PA) and Kevin Colon (Lowell, MA) played very well, which allowed for the big plays to develop.

Coach Marcella recognizes that the most improvement for his team happens between the first and second week, and says his team is, “not where we need to be yet, but everyone contributed against Husson, and that will need to continue for us to be successful.”

The Wolverine’s are on the road Sunday, September 20th when they take on Curry College in Milton, MA.

#2 Scott Benzing breaks free for a 67 yard TD

#75 Jack Wright collects one of the five sacks the Bridgton defense collected on the day

#40 Nick Finger finds a hole created by #54 Viondy Merisma