WALTHAM, Mass. – The crème de la crème of Northeast-10 Conference football will be in action Saturday when ninth-ranked Bentley University and number 24 University of New Haven Chargers square off Saturday in West Haven, Conn. The winner will leave the field as 2021 Northeast-10 Conference champions.

Game time at Della Camera Field is 1 pm and the game can be seen on the NE10 NOW Digital Network.

Bentley, after a 24-14 win over Franklin Pierce this past Saturday, will head to Connecticut with an 8-0 record, including 6-0 in conference play, and a 13-game winning streak that dates back to October 2019.

New Haven, also 6-0 in the NE10 following a rain-soaked 16-10 win over Assumption last Saturday, is 7-1 overall with six consecutive wins. The only blemish on the Chargers' record to date was a week two 27-13 loss to 14^th-ranked Bowie State.

The two rivals last met in September 2019 with Bentley prevailing at home, 31-14. When the two teams finished that season even in the standings, that victory gave Coach Bill Kavanaugh's team the conference championship.

The 17-point spread was unusual in a series that had seen four of the previous five contests decided by four points or less.

A glance at this year's conference statistics shows why the two teams are both unbeaten in the NE10 and gives a good indication this one should be a battle. They are 1-2 in scoring offense, with Bentley holding a slight edge (32.3-31.6), and the same in scoring defense, with New Haven in the top spot at 14.4.

They are 1-2 in both pass efficiency and pass efficiency defense, with Bentley holding the advantage in both categories. The Falcons have the conference's most prolific rushing attack, averaging 220.6 yards per game, and New Haven has been the best in stopping the ground game, holding the opponents to 95.3 yards.

Senior QB Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS), 53 yards away from 7,500 career total offense, has accounted for 21 touchdowns this season with 17 through the air and four rushing. He's thrown for 1,391 yards with an efficiency rating of 150.2. The o-line has given him outstanding protection, with only five sacks allowed, and he's rushed for 397 net yards.

Running backs Nathaniel Larkins (Huntington, N.Y./John Glenn HS) and Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas) have virtually identical numbers this season. Both have carried the ball 90 times and each has five TDs. Larkins has gained 531 yards, ten more than Brazicki, and his yards per carry average (5.9) is just a tenth-of-a-yard better than Brazicki's.

Brazicki surpassed 2,000 career yards with a 108-yard effort against Franklin Pierce and needs only 37 yards to move into fourth on the program's all-time scoring list.

Senior Noah Neville (Boston/Newton North HS), one of nine Falcons who have caught a scoring pass this season, leads the team in receiving with 24 catches for 422 yards and four TDs. Senior Abel Lopes Jr. (Scituate/Scituate HS) is next on the TD list with three through the air.

A major reason for the Falcons' success this season has been the ability to force turnovers. Bentley has 20 takeaways, evenly split between interceptions and fumble recoveries. Eight different players have picked off a pass, nine have recovered a fumble and six have forced at least one.

Grad linebacker and UMass transfer Cole McCubrey (Boylston/Tahanto Reg. HS) has been involved in six of those with two interceptions and four forced fumbles. He also leads the team in tackles with 80.

Senior defensive end Cedie Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS) has filled the stat sheer with 9.5 tackles for losses, eight sacks, six hurries, four break-ups, three forced fumbles and two recoveries.

While McCubrey received Northeast-10 Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time earlier this week, New Haven has the current NE10 Offensive Player of the Week. Running back Zack Mauro gained the honor after running for 133 yards on 25 carries against Assumption.

Mauro, with 402 yards, is second on the team in rushing, two yards back of Shamar Logan. Connor Degenhardt has thrown for 1,641 yards and 14 touchdowns while being picked off only three times. In addition, he has rushed for nine touchdowns. Dev Holmes is his primary target with 33 receptions for 651 yards and six TD.

Players to watch on defense include linebacker Ryan Hodgins (59 tackles), defensive end Khalim Cisse (10 tackles for losses) and linebacker Khyon Fitzpatrick (3 interceptions).

In the 2019 game, Bentley scored the final 24 points after falling behind 14-7 in the opening quarter. Will Sheriffs had a pick-six, Jordan Artope ran for two scores, Drew Mahoney caught 11 balls for 146 yards and Sturm had nearly 300 yards total offense without being sacked.

After facing the Chargers, Bentley will finish the season Nov. 13 at home with a Senior Day game against Assumption.

BENTLEY BRIEFS: In this week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings, Bentley was first and New Haven was seventh … Bentley's 8-0 start is its best since beginning 10-0 in 2003. Kavanaugh, a captain of that team, is in his eighth year as head coach at his alma mater and has a 39-32 record … The Falcons' winning streak is the program's longest since they won 30 straight from 1993-95.