By Jim Fenton, Staff Writer
October 11, 2012
Worcester, MA --- He had a limited role with the Worcester State University football team last season following a two-year absence from the sport.
Matthew Begley of East Bridgewater played on the punt and kickoff units, but had little playing time on defense.
"Last year was more of a year for me to understand the defense,'' said Begley, a linebacker. "I didn't see much of the field. I was learning the alignments, things like that.
"But it was good. I had been out of the game, and it took me a little bit to get back into the game. It was good to learn everything well for the next year.''
Judging by his performance in the opening six games this season, Begley has made the most of that learning experience.
Entering Saturday afternoon's game at Bridgewater State University, Begley is the Lancers' top tackler and among the New England Football Conference leaders with 52. He has eight tackles for a loss of 46 yards with three sacks for 28 yards.
Begley has picked off a pair of passes, forced two fumbles and recovered another, helping Worcester State get off to a 5-1 start.
The highlight of Begley's career came last Saturday when Worcester State defeated Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 28-20. Begley made 18 tackles, had a sack, forced a fumble and intercepted a fourth-quarter pass at the Lancers' 13-yard line.
He was named the Defensive Player of the Week by the NEFC and the Division 3 Beyond Sports Network and was chosen to the D3football.com Team of the Week.
"We kept moving Matt all around to put the finger in the dike because Mass. Maritime was moving the ball,'' said Worcester State coach Brien Cullen. "We put him in spots to help us and he was all over the place.''
Said Begley: "I was doing my assignments and making tackles in the first half, and in the second half, I got moved to more of a coverage positions on a wide receiver. I was getting tackles downfield. The pick was probably the highlight of my day because it turned into a scoring play, which helped us win.''
Begley, a 2009 graduate of East Bridgewater High School, went to Massasoit Community College to work on academics and had a job before transferring to Worcester State in the fall of 2011.
Justin DeAndrade, a former teammate at EB, is a wide receiver with the Lancers and helped Begley make the move to Worcester State.
"It was tough not playing,'' said Begley, who is also a member of the Lancers' indoor and outdoor track & field teams. "When you leave the game, you definitely miss it. It's wonderful playing again. You put the pads on. The first day of hitting, you're exciting because you haven't done it in a while. It was pretty thrilling.''
Begley appeared in all 11 games in 2011, making nine tackles with 1 1-2 for a loss of yardage. He has played mostly outside linebacker this season while moving inside when needed.
"He's just so athletic,'' said Cullen. "So far, we've been very pleased with his progress. We were expecting him to come in and play some place for us this season, whether it be outside or inside. He can cover guys out of the backfield. He's a good run stopper also.''