YALE FOOTBALL: Defense shines, 1989 team honored at Blue-White game 

NEW HAVEN — Yale’s football future embraced its past Saturday afternoon as legendary coach Carm Cozza and his 1989 championship team were recognized following the Bulldogs’ annual Blue-White spring game.

Yale head coach Tony Reno, who will begin his second season this fall, is looking to build upon a winning tradition. And there was no better way for his 2013 squad to end its spring-practice session by taking a knee at the Yale Bowl and listening to Cozza speak about his last Ivy League championship team.

“It’s great to have the ’89 team back,” said Reno. “I think when you’re a program like this that has so much tradition and has so much success, to bring back a guy who was a Hall of Fame coach and his last championship team, and for an opportunity to put them in front of our players is something I embrace at every step.”

PHOTOS: Yale football scrimmage  

 

 UCONN FOOTBALL: Depleted Huskies still a defensive team  

EAST HARTFORD — This was a week of change in the world of UConn athletics, with the unveiling of new uniforms featuring a more ominous-looking mascot and groundbreaking on a basketball practice facility.

However, when the UConn football team took the field for its annual spring game, it looked as if some things haven’t changed. The defensive unit clearly still holds the upper hand over the offense.

During the 11-on-11 live portion of the scrimmage, the offense was unable to score a touchdown as the only scoring came on field goals of 46 and 20 yards by Bobby Puyol.

 

 SCSU FOOTBALL: Mallis hopes to be off and running for the Owls 

NEW HAVEN — Jack Mallis admitted he was a bit on edge heading into Southern Connecticut State’s annual spring football game.

Each of the past two seasons, Mallis, a junior running back, had limped off the field unable to finish the contest.

“I told my friends I felt a little weird about the game,” Mallis said. “My first year I played I pulled my hamstring. And last year I tore my PCL and my meniscus.”

But Mallis came out of Saturday’s contest injury free and hopes it’s an omen for a big season.
“It felt great to come out of this game healthy,” he said. “I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

Mallis and the Owls hope to improve on last season’s disappointing campaign when injuries and youth derailed the team’s season. There were games that Southern went as deep as its fourth-string quarterback to finish off contests.

The end result was a 3-8 mark in which the Owls were outscored 334-190.

 

 

 

 

By Bill Cloutier, Assistant Sports Editor

Former Southern Connecticut State defensive lineman Ike Igbinosun signed a free agent deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday after the conclusion of the NFL Draft.

Igbinosun, a 6-foot-5, 285-pounder out of Rahway, N.J., was one of the top defensive players in the Northeast-10 Conference last season. Igbinosun earned all-conference, all-region and all-ECAC honors last season and took part in the NAIA Senior Bowl.

He led SCSU linemen both with 58 tackles and seven sacks last season.

NEW HAVEN — The Southern Connecticut State football team lost 16 starters from last season’s 7-3 squad. The Owls lost All-American running back Rashaad Slowley, quarterback Kevin Lynch and nearly the entire defensive unit.

The talk around the powerful Northeast-10 Conference is that the Owls, a perennial conference contender, are rebuilding.

“Let us be the underdogs,” SCSU sophomore safety Dion O’Joe said. “It’s great that they think like that. It will just be more disappointing for the rest of the teams.”

Read more from Bill Cloutier here.

NEW HAVEN — Week after week last season Jacob Jablonski got a small taste of what college football would be like.

As the backup to All-American quarterback Kevin Lynch at Southern Connecticut State, Jablonski took over for the second series of every game. It was a conscious decision by Owls’ coach Rich Cavanaugh to prepare his young blood for the upcoming season.

Now it’s time to see if how much it has paid off. With Lynch among the 20 seniors gone from the Owls Jablonski will take over as signal-caller taking over a team that went 7-3 last season and is seeking a return to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

“Losing 20 seniors we’re trying to find out who the new leaders are,” Cavanaugh said. “We have some guys stepping up, and (Jablonski’s) certainly one of them.”

Read more from Bill Cloutier here.