Snapshot of game day at Saint Anselm

College football has been a fall tradition on campuses around the country for the last century. Spending Saturdays watching your team represent your school is an outstanding experience for students and faculty. Here at Saint Anselm College, watching football is an excellent opportunity to relieve stress and is ideal for when students want to take a break from studying. With the new additions of turf and lights of Grappone Stadium, supporting the Hawks is even more fun and exciting this season.

Set at the bottom of the hilltop and surrounded by beautiful trees that display foliage in autumn, Grappone Stadium is a great stadium. The stadium-style seats at mid field provide comfort and plenty of individual space for fans who watch the games. Concession stands located both outside and indoors underneath the stands provide fans with a variety of refreshments throughout the course of the games. Fans of all ages can enjoy an afternoon or evening of great, competitive football and experience a true college experience at Grappone Stadium.

The new turf and lights add a completely new dimension to the Grappone field experience. Turf provides a more durable field for the players then natural grass, as they can get better footing and run faster. Another advantage of turf is that turf prevents games from being cancelled due to poor field positions. Several games on the old playing surface had to be postponed or cancelled due to the field being too muddy. Turf also allows steady playing conditions through out the game, because of the excellent drainage system.

All though the football team's start to the season has been disappointing thus far with a 0-6 record, the team has many positives to build on. The offense has looked impressive, and the team has scored over 21 points in three games, and over 30 points in two games. The defense needs some improvement, but has looked sufficient at times, by pressuring the quarterback and creating turnovers in the red zone. The large amount of freshmen on the team shows promise that the Hawks can develop into a better team over the next several years. Under the leadership of Coach Murphy, there is a great possibility that the Hawks can be contenders in the North East conference with the development of young talent in the near future.

With two more home games remaining on the football schedule, I urge students to come out and support the Hawks at Graponne Stadium. Football can be an amazing part of a college experience, and it is a great way to create memories that will last a lifetime at the games. Professors, parents, alumni, and football fans all have the opportunity to get together and enjoy competitive football with a scenic background at the stadium on Saturdays. The Hawks will play the Greyhounds of Assumption College on Saturday, October 29th at 1:00 PM, and New Haven University on Saturday, November 12th at 12:00 noon. Both games are league games, and could have playoff implications. Last season, Saint Anselm defeated New Haven on the road on their infamous "smurf turf" to prevent them from winning the North East 10 championship and moving on to the playoffs. After beating New Haven, the Hawks proved that they have potential to compete with and beat any team in Division 2 college football. With four total games left in the season, I am confident that the Hawks will play hard and be competitive for the rest of the season.