Nationally Televised Game Highlights 2012 Stonehill Football Schedule


All-Region senior Jareed Gaines will lead the Stonehill defense when CBS College Sports visits W.B. Mason Stadium. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr)

CBS College Sports to broadcast matchup with reigning NE-10 champion New Haven at W.B. Mason Stadium on October 18

EASTON, Mass. (June 21, 2012) – A nationally televised matchup with defending Northeast-10 Conference Champions University of New Haven, an NCAA Tournament Quarterfinalist in 2011, highlights the 2012 Stonehill College football schedule.

CBS College Sports, who recently broadcast the Stonehill men's basketball team's national semifinal clash with eventual National Champions Western Washington University at the Elite Eight in Highland Heights, Ky., will be at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium to broadcast the Skyhawks October 18 NE-10 contest with New Haven at 8 p.m. The regular season home finale will mark the Stonehill football team's first national television appearance and the first nationally televised contest on the Easton campus. New Haven finished 10-1 overall last season, including a perfect 8-0 clip in the NE-10.

"We're excited about the opportunity to showcase Stonehill football on national television," said Robert Talley, who is entering his sixth season as head coach at Stonehill. "New Haven presents its share of challenges as the defending champions in the Northeast-10, but I know the team will be up for the night and ready to play. It's going to be a great way to cap our regular season home schedule and sendoff for our seniors."

The game is part of a joint program between NCAA Division II and CBS College Sports which has been broadcasting a Division II football and basketball "Game of the Week" for seven years. The Stonehill men's basketball team has also been featured through the package when its NE-10 matchup at Bentley University was broadcast in 2007. Stonehill's 2005 NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship victory over West Chester University was also broadcast live by CBS College Sports (then known as CSTV).

"This will be the seventh season of Division II regular-season coverage on CBS Sports Network," said Division II vice president Mike Racy. "After this year, national telecasts will have originated from 35 different Division II football stadiums, and about 25 percent of our football-playing members will have had regular-season national television exposure. It's been great for the division, and the schools say it's also been valuable for them."

The nationally televised matchup with New Haven will be the sixth night game on Stonehill's nine game regular season schedule. The Skyhawks have five home games and four road contests on the docket, with the potential for a sixth home game on the final weekend of the season. For the first time in conference history, the final weekend will showcase an NE-10 Championship weekend on November 10. The top seeded team will host the second seed in a true championship game format. The remaining teams will also play games in the final weekend of the regular season. The third, fourth and fifth seeded teams will host the sixth, seventh and eighth seeded teams, respectively.

Stonehill will open its 2012 season with back-to-back home games. Bloomsburg University, from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), visits W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday, August 31, at 6 p.m., for the first of a two-year home and home series between the two programs. The Huskies were 9-2 in 2011, including a 5-2 mark in the PSAC East.

Stonehill opens its NE-10 schedule the following weekend with Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday, September 8, at 1 p.m. The Owls finished second to New Haven in the NE-10 standings in 2011, going 7-3 overall and 6-2 in Conference play.

Stonehill hits the road for a Conference matchup at Saint Anselm College (1-9, 1-7 NE-10 in 2011) in the "Battle for the Ol' Bronze Hawk" on Friday, September 14, at 7 p.m. It will mark the first night football game at Grappone Stadium.

Stonehill returns home to host Assumption College (4-6, 3-5 NE-10) on Saturday, September 22, at 6 p.m., before hitting the road again for back-to-back games at rival Bentley University (6-4, 5-3 NE-10) on Friday, September 28, at 7 p.m., and then at American International College (6-4, 5-3 NE-10) on Friday, October 5, at 7 p.m.

Stonehill then hosts Merrimack College (6-4, 5-3 NE-10) on Alumni Weekend on Saturday, October 13, at noon, before the national television lights welcome New Haven the following Thursday to cap the regular season home schedule.

Following a bye the weekend of October 25, Stonehill closes out the regular season at Pace University (1-9, 0-8 NE-10) on Saturday, November 3, at noon, before the first ever NE-10 Championship weekend on November 10.

"It's certainly a challenging schedule with the combination of night games, short weeks and then a late bye week," said Talley. "But it's a challenge we welcome and look forward to. I know the team will be energized for the start of training camp and start getting ready for the season in August."

Stonehill posted back-to-back wins to close out the 2011 season, finishing with a 4-7 record overall, including a 3-5 clip in Northeast-10 play to place sixth in the Conference standings.

Click here for link to 2012 Schedule with download features

2012 Stonehill Football Schedule 

Date        Opponent                                                 Time
August
Fri 31      Bloomsburg University                           6 p.m.

September
Sat 8       Southern Connecticut State Univ. *         1 p.m.
Fri 14       at Saint Anselm College *                         7 p.m.
Sat 22      Assumption College *                             6 p.m.
Fri 28       at Bentley University *                              7 p.m.

October
Fri 5         at American International College *           7 p.m.
Sat 13      Merrimack College *                                 Noon
Thu 18     University of New Haven *                       8 p.m.

November
Sat 3       at Pace University *                                   Noon
Sat 10      Northeast-10 Championship Weekend          TBA

Home games in bold
* - Northeast-10 Conference game
 

2012 NCAA Division II Football Game of the Week TV Schedule
Sept. 6         Bowie State at Benedict
Sept. 13       Texas A&M-Commerce vs. Midwestern State
Sept. 20       Truman State at Central Missouri
Sept. 27       Wingate at Carson-Newman
Oct. 11         Wayne State (Mich.) at Saginaw Valley State
Oct. 18         New Haven at Stonehill