Falcons to sport a new look offense on gridiron

The Northeast-10 Conference will see a different Bentley College football team this season.

Coach Peter Yetten declined to reveal the details in front of a packed room of fellow coaches at yesterday's NE-10 Media Day. But word of the Falcon transformation is sure to travel fast.

``We are changing our offense up a little bit,'' he revealed of the lightly held secret following the Gillette Stadium luncheon. ``We are not going to be strictly one back all the time with four receivers like we have been.

``We are getting a fullback in there. We are putting a tight end in there. You are going to see (quarterback John White) lugging the ball, and rolling out, and bootlegging a little bit. We are going to try to make them defend the whole field this year.''

For the past few seasons, the Falcons have featured a spread offense that made them a perennial NE-10 contender and made record-holders out of former quarterback Marc Eddy and receiver Dallas Mall. But while Yetten contends returning starter White (1,796 yards, 17 TDs in 9 games last season) has the talent to rival anyone in the program's history, he feels this change will help bring out that talent more than forcing him to heave the ball 45 times a game under the gun of a constant defensive line assault.

``If we run the ball a little more effectively that will take the pressure off him,'' Yetten said. ``We have a couple of kids who can run the ball.''

Chief among them is returning tailback Luis Cotto. The former Waltham High standout carried the ball 200 times last season as a sophomore with the Falcons. But, like much of the rest of the offense, his production tailed off in the second half of the year as Bentley lost offensive line monster (and recent Carolina Panthers seventh-round draft pick) Mackenzy Bernadeau to a season-ending knee injury.

The injury gave Yetten a glimpse of life without Bernadeau after relying on the former Waltham High star as a starting tackle and guard for four years and convinced him to make a change.

It appears White is one person who has bought into the potential benefits.

``I think the biggest thing is that the league has evolved every single year since I've been here,'' said the Kingston native and Archbishop Williams alumnus. ``Teams adapt every year, every game through the season all 10 weeks, so I think those days (of throwing every down) are over. You have to be a more balanced team in this league now. Coaches are very competitive as well. They all do their homework.''

White judged that last season the Falcons struggled when teams loaded up on Cotto, whom he praised as having ``gained half a step, at least'' from last fall, and said the balanced attack will benefit everyone in the formation.

``As long as we can run the ball we can do whatever we want,'' he said. ``We just need to be able to get three yards when we want to. If you have a single back, there's only a certain amount of things you can do and it takes a lot of the deception away. I think a fullback and tight end can definitely help us there. Then we can always go back to four wide when we want to do that.''

Bentley will have three non-league teams to test out the new scheme against before hitting the NE-10 - where it was picked second behind Southern Connecticut in yesterday's preseason poll. It will not be an easy warmup, though, as Bentley hosts a tough Millersville squad in the opener Aug. 29 before heading to Division 1-AA Sacred Heart in Week 2 and hosting D-II powerhouse Carson-Newman in Week 3.

``The third game - without a doubt - will be one of the toughest games we've ever played,'' said Yetten, whose squad added Sacred Heart and Carson-Newman in place of C.W. Post and Bryant this fall. ``They have Division I speed and a lot of talent. They have everyone back from a team that was 11-1.

``We have to go out in those games and find out something about ourselves. The league games are the most important, but in the same token this will be a measuring stick for us too.''

Bentley (7-3, 6-3 NE-10 last year) starts off league play at AIC - picked third in yesterday's poll - on Sept. 20 and travels to top-ranked Southern Connecticut on Oct. 10.

``AIC is a dangerous team and Southern Connecticut is loaded,'' Yetten judged. ``But you can't look by a Stonehill, you can't look by Merrimack, you can't look by anybody."

With their No. 2 preseason ranking and storied tradition, you can bet no team in the NE-10 will be looking past the Falcons this season either.

Even if it may take the opposition an extra play or two to recognize Bentley with its new offensive look.