Football Lands Sixth in 2018 NE10 Preseason Coaches’ Poll

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – One day prior to the official start of the 2018 season, the Merrimack College football team learned its position in the 2018 Northeast-10 Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was announced Wednesday morning. Merrimack was affixed the No. 6 spot in the 10-team field, which was where it finished in the standings at the end of a 2017 season that ended on a remarkably high note and should set the tone for big things to come this fall and beyond. Defending league champion Assumption (77 points, six first-place votes) edged out second-place LIU Post (76 points, four first-place votes) by a single point in the rankings, while Bentley (63) settled for third. New Haven (57) – a team that Merrimack defeated on the road to cap off last season – was slotted in fourth ahead of fifth-place Southern Connecticut State (44) to round out the top-five. Merrimack's 40 points were more than seventh-place Stonehill (36) and eighth-place Pace (24), while AIC (20) and Saint Anselm (13) squared off the preseason prognostications. Merrimack finished the 2017 season off with a 4-5 record in NE10 play and nearly upset Division I Bryant (49-41) early in the season. The Warriors won three of their last five games in convincing fashion and could be primed for a breakout season in 2018. Merrimack returns 15 total starters from a team that boasted an offense that ranked No. 2 in the NE10 in both total offense and first downs per game, as well as the top-ranked rushing defense and third-ranked defense (yards/allowed) in the league. The Warriors, under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Dan Curran, open preseason camp tomorrow on campus and will kick off the season on the road at Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) member Bloomsburg on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 2 p.m.