Football Picked Third in Northeast-10 Preseason Poll

NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack football team was picked to finish third in the 2009 Northeast-10 Preseason Poll, voted on by the conference’s nine head coaches.

Under head coach John Perry, the Warriors finished third a year ago with a 6-4 record, 4-3 in conference.

Southern Connecticut narrowly edged defending champion American International for the top spot. The Owls earned 76 overall votes to AIC’s 74, and five first-place votes to the Yellow Jackets’ four.

The Warriors’ toughest stretch of the season features back-to-back road games at American International (October 24) and at Southern Connecticut (October 30). Merrimack also hosts American International in the home opener on September 5 at 6 p.m. for a non-conference game.

Led by captains Bernard Cooper (Calumet City, IL), Shane Brown (Westwood, MA), Chris Laham (Westwood, MA) and Jeremiah Watts (Clovis, CA), Merrimack will have three straight home games to open the season against AIC, Husson and Stonehill.

Three offensive players, Jacob Bradley (Dorchester, MA), David Bellmont (Melrose, MA) and Watts joined linebacker Tony Johnson (Lynn, MA) on the D2Football.com preseason all-conference squad.

The Warriors garnered 62 overall votes, ten fewer than AIC, and 11 more than Bentley who finished fourth in the poll. Stonehill, Pace, Assumption, Saint Anselm, and New Haven round out the poll, with the Chargers making their debut in football in the Northeast-10.

Football season tickets are currently on sale at www.merrimackathletics.com or call 978-837—3472 for more information.