Bridgewater State Bears football

The Bridgewater State Bears football team represents Bridgewater State University in college football at the NCAA Division III level. The Bears are members of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), fielding its team in the MASCAC since 2013. The Bears play their home games at Swenson Field in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

The Bridgewater State football team has been one of the most successful athletic teams at the school since the program was started in 1960. Bridgewater State is a member of the MASCAC, which will sponsor football for the first time in its history beginning in 2013. Bridgewater State was formerly a founding member of the New England Football Conference from 1965 to 2012. The new MASCAC football conference will consist of nine schools. These member schools are Bridgewater State University, Fitchburg State University, Framingham State University, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Westfield State University, Worcester State University, Plymouth State University, UMass-Dartmouth, and Western Connecticut State University. Bridgewater State will begin MASCAC play in 2013.

Their head coach is Joe Verria, who took over the position for the 2016 season.

History Known as Bridgewater Normal, the team played throughout the 1890s and 1920s before being disbanded in 1925. In 1959, athletic director and basketball coach Ed Sweeney announced that football would return as a varsity sport after students voluntarily taxed themselves seven dollars per year to fund the restart of the team.

The team began play in 1960 with a four-game schedule.

Head coach Chuck Denune recently completed his 11th season at the helm in 2015. In 2012, the Bears ended the regular season with a 9–1 record and qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament with an at-large bid for the third time in the program's history. Bridgewater State also qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 1999 and 2000. The Bears lost in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Division III Tournament to Widener University of West Chester, Pennsylvania by a score of 44–14. The Bears football team finished the 2012 season with a 9–2 overall record and finished in 2nd place in the New England Football Conference standings. Bridgewater also hosted the 2011 (ECAC) Eastern College Athletic Conference Northeast Bowl and competed against Alfred University. Unfortunately, the Bears lost 41–10, and finished the 2011 season with a 7–4 record.

The most successful head football coach in Bridgewater State's history is Peter Mazzaferro. Coach Mazzaferro was the head football coach at Bridgewater from 1968 to 2004 (36 years) and is one of the most successful Division III football coaches in history. During his coaching tenure, he led the Bears to 2 NCAA D-III National Tournament appearances, 8 NEFC League Championships, 3 MASCAC Championships, and 2 ECAC Postseason appearances. With an overall coaching record of 209–157–11, Mazzaferro is the 57th winningest coach in NCAA College Football history, and he is regarded as a coaching legend in the New England region and is further regarded as one of the greatest Division III college football coaches of all time.

Conference affiliations NAIA independent (1960–1964) New England Football Conference (1965–2012) Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (2013–present)

Championships Conference championships Bridgewater State claims 7 conference titles, the most recent of which came in 2023.

1989 New England Football Conference 9–1 6–0 Peter Mazzaferro 1992 9–1–1 8–0 1997† 7–3 7–1 1999 10–1 6–0 2000 8–3 5–1 2016 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference 8–3 8–0 Joe Verria 2023† 7–3 7–1 † Co-champions

Division championships Bridgewater State claims 7 division titles, the most recent of which came in 2008. 1989 NEFC South Peter Mazzaferro 9–1 6–0 Maine Maritime W 14–10 1990 8–2 6–0 Plymouth State L 7–26 1991 8–2 6–0 UMass Lowell L 7–10 1998† NEFC Red 7–3 5–1 N/A lost tiebreaker to Maine Maritime 1999 10–1 6–0 No championship game held 2000† NEFC Bogan 8–3 5–1 Salve Regina W 27–24 2008† Chuck Denune 7–3 6–1 N/A lost tiebreaker to Maine Maritime † Co-champions

Postseason games

NCAA Division III playoff games Bridgewater State has appeared in the Division III playoffs four times, with an overall record of 0–4. 1999 First Round Ursinus L, 38–43 2000 First Round Hobart L, 0–25 2012 First Round Widener L, 14–44 2016 First Round Alfred L, 27–33

Bowl games Bridgewater State has participated in nine bowl games, and has a record of 4–5. 1989 Peter Mazzaferro ECAC Bowl Alfred L 27–30 1992 ECAC Bowl RPI L 25–28 2005 Chuck Denune ECAC Bowl Fitchburg State W 34–17 2006 ECAC Bowl Coast Guard W 41–22 2007 ECAC Bowl Plymouth State L 21–24 2011 ECAC Bowl Alfred L 10–41 2015 ECAC Bowl Carnegie Mellon L 13–48 2018 Joe Verria New England Bowl Salve Regina W 34–19 2022 New England Bowl Catholic W 34–24

List of head coaches Key

Coaches + List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards No. Name Season(s) GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC CC NC Awards 1 1960–1967 – – – – – – – – – – – 2 1968–1986, 1988–2004 148 82 0 0 4 0 6 5 0 – 3 Jim Crowley 1987 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 4 2005–2015 55 24 0 2 4 0 1 0 0 – 5 2016–present 48 24 0 2 2 0 – 1 0 –

Year-by-year results National championsConference championsDivision championsBowl game berthPlayoff berth SeasonYearHeadCoachAssociationDivisionConferenceRecordPostseasonFinal rankingOverallConferenceWinLossTieFinishWinLossTieBridgewater State Bears 1960 1960Ed SwensonNAIA—NAIA Independent 1 3 0 — — — —— — 1961 1961 3 2 0 — — — —— — 1962 1962 1 3 0 — — — —— — 1963 1963 2 5 0 — — — —— — 1964 1964 0 7 0 — — — —— — 1965 1965NCAACollege DivisionNEFC 0 6 0 — — — —— — 1966 1966 3 4 0 — — — —— — 1967 1967 4 3 0 — — — —— — 1968 1968Peter Mazzaferro 5 3 0 — — — —— — 1969 1969 3 4 1 — — — —— — 1970 1970 0 8 0 — — — —— — 1971 1971 3 6 0 — — — —— — 1972 1972 4 5 0 5th 2 2 0— — 1973 1973Division III 5 5 0 T–3rd 2 2 0— — 1974 1974 6 4 0 T–5th 4 3 0— — 1975 1975 7 3 0 T–4th 5 3 0— — 1976 1976 6 3 0 T–2nd 5 3 0— — 1977 1977 6 3 0 T–2nd 5 3 0— 1978 1978 3 6 0 7th 3 5 0—— 1979 1979 3 5 1 8th 3 5 1—— 1980 1980 5 3 1 T–4th 5 3 1—— 1981 1981 3 6 0 T–7th 3 6 0—— 1982 1982 5 3 1 4th 5 3 1—— 1983 1983 4 5 0 T–5th 4 5 0—— 1984 1984 2 7 0 T–7th 2 7 0— — 1985 1985 5 4 0 3rd 5 4 0— — 1986 1986 6 1 2 4th 6 1 2— — 1987 1987Jim Crowley 4 5 0 T–2nd (South) 3 2 0— — 1988 1988Peter Mazzaferro 5 4 0 T–4th (South) 3 3 0— — 1989 1989 9 1 0 1st (South) 6 0 0L ECAC North Bowl — 1990 1990 8 2 0 1st (South) 6 0 0Division champions — 1991 1991 8 2 0 1st (South) 6 0 0Division champions— 1992 1992 9 1 1 1st 8 0 0L ECAC Northeast Bowl— 1993 1993 5 5 0 T–3rd 5 3 0— — 1994 1994 6 4 0 T–3rd 6 2 0— — 1995 1995 6 4 0 T–2nd 6 2 0— — 1996 1996 5 5 0 T–5th 4 4 0— — 1997 1997 7 3 0 T–1st 7 1 0Conference champions— 1998 1998 7 3 0 1st (Red) 7 1 0Conference champions — 1999 1999 10 1 0 1st (Red) 6 0 0L NCAA Division III First Round— 2000 2000 8 3 0 T–1st (Bogan) 5 1 0L NCAA Division III First Round— 2001 2001 5 4 0 3rd (Bogan) 3 3 0— — 2002 2002 4 5 0 4th (Bogan) 3 3 0— — 2003 2003 6 3 0 3rd (Bogan) 4 2 0— — 2004 2004 6 3 0 T–2nd (Bogan) 4 2 0— — 2005 2005Chuck Denune 9 1 0 2nd (Bogan) 5 1 0W ECAC Northeast Bowl— 2006 2006 8 2 0 2nd (Bogan) 6 1 0W ECAC North Atlantic Bowl— 2007 2007 6 4 0 2nd (Bogan) 5 2 0L ECAC North Atlantic Bowl — 2008 2008 7 3 0 T–1st (Bogan) 6 1 0Division champions— 2009 2009 7 3 0 T–2nd (Bogan) 5 2 0— — 2010 2010 5 5 0 T–5th (Bogan) 3 4 0— — 2011 2011 7 3 0 T–2nd (Bogan) 5 2 0L ECAC Northeast Bowl — 2012 2012 9 2 0 2nd (Bogan) 6 1 0L NCAA Division III First Round— 2013 2013MASCAC 6 4 0 T–3rd 5 3 0— — 2014 2014 4 6 0 T–6th 3 5 0— — 2015 2015 7 4 0 T–2nd 6 2 0L ECAC Legacy Bowl — 2016 2016Joe Verria 8 3 0 1st 8 0 0L NCAA Division III First Round— 2017 2017 2 8 0 T–7th 2 6 0— — 2018 2018 8 3 0 T–2nd 6 2 0W New England Bowl— 2019 2019 6 4 0 T–2nd 6 2 0— —Season canceled due to COVID-19 2021 2021Joe VerriaNCAADivision IIIMASCAC 6 4 0 T–2nd 6 2 0—— 2022 2022 7 4 0 T–2nd 6 2 0W New England Bowl— 2023 2023 7 3 0 T-1st 7 1 0—— 2024 2024 5 5 0 T–3rd 5 4 0— 2025 2025 5 5 0 T-5th 5 4 0——

Notable former players

Christopher Dijak – Professional wrestler Joe Domingos – Former head coach for Massachusetts Maritime Paul Melicharek – Former defensive lineman Andrae Murphy – Current head coach for Dean, former defensive back and linebacker Joe Verria – Current head coach for Bridgewater State, former defensive tackle James Cahoon – Current quarterback for the Jacksonville Sharks, former quarterback

See also Bridgewater State Bears

Notes

References

External links