By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWAER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team enters the final stretch of the season with the possibility of earning at least a share of a conference title.

The Bears, riding a four-game winning streak, are currently tied for second place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with Western Connecticut State at 4-1. They both trail Framingham State (5-0) by a game with three games remaining.

Bridgewater State’s schedule in November is challenging, starting with the home finale on Saturday against Plymouth State (6-2, 4-2 MASCAC) at 2:30 p.m. at Swenson Field.

The Bears then travel to Framingham State on Nov. 9 and finish the season on Cape Cod against the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the annual Cranberry Bowl.

BSU could win the MASCAC by sweeping its final three games and having Western Connecticut State lose once. The Bears were defeated by Western Connecticut State earlier this season, giving the Colonials that tiebreaker.

“There’s still a lot to be considered here,″ said coach Joe Verria, whose team bounced back after opening the season with three straight losses. “We’ve got to obviously win out and you could have three teams with one loss in the conference and then it’d go to tiebreakers.

“Saturday is going to be a tough one for us. Plymouth State plays very good defense and the offense is a smash-mouth offense. A lot of teams are spreading everybody out and throwing the ball all over the place, but they prefer to run the ball down your throat.

“I told the kids that every week, it’s getting tougher and tougher and tougher and we’ve been playing up to that level.″

Bridgewater State had a bye last weekend after an impressive 56-20 win over UMass Dartmouth. Quarterback Stefano D’Emilia threw for five touchdowns and ran for three more as the Bears piled up 464 yards. D'Emilia earned MASCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance and was selected as the New England Football Writers Gold Helmet Award winner.

The Bears held the UMass offense to just 20 points and forced six turnovers including five interceptions. Rookie linebacker Ben McMahon was named the MASCAC Rookie of the Week and was chosen to the D3football.com Team of the Week, while linebacker Steven Silvia picked up MASCAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. 

“It’s like we’re finally playing on all sides of the ball together,” said Verria. “That UMass Dartmouth game was a complete game. We had five picks on defense, fumble recoveries, the offense had eight touchdowns, we ran the ball. The offense has been doing great all year and the defense has been catching up.”

Bridgewater State will see a familiar face running the Plymouth State offense. Sophomore quarterback Brett Lavanchy spent last season as a backup for the Bears and has completed 56 percent of his passes for 757 yards and 10 touchdowns with one interception for the Panthers this fall.

“He’s very athletic and a tough kid,” said Verria.

Plymouth State’s defense includes senior linebacker Dave Lyons of Abington, who has made 29 tackles.

The Panthers hold an 18-14-1 advantage in the all-time series which dates back to 1974.

Stonehill at Home: Stonehill College (4-3, 3-2 Northeast-10 Conference) will try to end a two-game losing streak when it hosts Southern Connecticut State at W.B. Mason Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Skyhawks lost on a last-second field goal to Bentley University, 30-27, two weeks ago and fell to Assumption College, 40-37, in overtime last weekend after holding a 37-30 lead in the extra session.

Stonehill has dropped five straight games to Southern Connecticut State (2-6, 2-4) and is 2-21 in the series.

Two of the Owls’ leading receivers are Brandon Swain-Price of Stoughton, a transfer from Assumption College, and Jaylynn Cundiff of Brockton.

Price has 37 catches for 597 yards and seven touchdowns and had 11 receptions for 196 yards and three scores in last week’s loss to Saint Anselm. Cundiff has 25 catches for 319 yards and made his first TD catch last week, going for 57 yards, when he made nine catches for 159 yards.

Dunn Earns Honor: Norwich University junior quarterback Matt Dunn of Rockland was named the co-offensive player of the week in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference.

Dunn threw for 395 yards, connecting on 19 of 24 passes with four touchdowns in a 51-10 win over Maine Maritime.

THE PREDICTIONS:

• Boston College 27, Syracuse 21: The Eagles bounce back with a win over the Orange.
• Georgia 28, Florida 24: The Gators are edged in a thriller.
• Dartmouth 28, Harvard 21: Silver Lake Regional High graduates Buddy Teevens and Tim Murphy go head-to-head on the sideline again in the Ivy League.
• Bridgewater State 31, Plymouth State 21: The Bears make it five wins in a row.
• Stonehill 21, Southern Connecticut State 13: The Skyhawks get past the Owls.