Bulldogs Ready to Take Field Under New Leadership

Posted: Aug 30, 2022

FRANKLIN, Mass. - The 2022 Dean College football team will be led by 2007 alumnus Andrae Murphy. Murphy, who spent the previous five seasons with the Columbia University Football Team, earned honorable mention NJCAA All-American and First Team All-Northeast Junior College honors as a defensive back at Dean from 2005-07. He earned an associate degree in Communications in 2007. Murphy takes over a Bulldogs program that went 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) in 2021. The team is two years removed from an ECFC championship in 2019 and will look to make a run at next year’s title with a large group of returning skill position players and a talented crop of newcomers.

In last week’s ECFC preseason poll, the Bulldogs were selected to finish fourth after receiving 30 points and one first-place vote. Dean finished sixth in last year’s standings, with a 1-5 record, but three of the five losses were by one score. The Bulldogs have 10 games on this year’s schedule with four at home and six on the road. Dean begins the season for the second consecutive year with a tilt against Fitchburg State. Last year, the Bulldogs cruised to a 42-6 win at Lippert Field in the first ever meeting between the two teams. This year, Dean will travel to play the Falcons under the lights at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2.

The team will play a second straight Friday night road game on Sept. 9 at Nichols with a 6 p.m. kickoff. This will be the third meeting between the programs with each team having a road win. On Saturday, Sept. 17 at noon, the Bulldogs will play their home opener against Curry. The teams last met in 2018 with the Colonels earning a 44-41 home victory. The team then wraps up non-conference action with a Sept. 24 road game at MIT. The Engineers visited Lippert Field last year in the first ever meeting. As the calendar turns to October, Dean opens ECFC competition with the team’s fourth road game of the season. The Bulldogs travel to Castleton for a 5 p.m. battle with the Spartans. Castleton escaped with a 21-13 win in Franklin last season. After a bye in week six, the team returns to Lippert Field for homecoming. Dean will host Gallaudet at noon on Oct. 15. The Bison edged Dean in Washington, D.C., 42-35, to stop a two-game skid against the Bulldogs. The team then hits the road to play the next two games in New York. Dean plays at Alfred State on Oct. 22 at noon and at SUNY Maritime on Oct. 29 at 2 p.m. Dean plays its final two regular season games at home in November. Anna Maria, the reigning ECFC champion and this year’s preseason favorite to repeat, comes to town on Nov. 5 for a noon kick before a regular season finale against Keystone on Nov. 12 also at noon. The Bulldogs defeated Keystone, 39-36, on the road last season.

The offense, which averaged 24.6 points and 392.1 yards per game, returns several all-conference honorees. Junior tight end Jordan Mason (McDonough, Ga.) earned All-ECFC First Team honors after posting 517 yards on 33 receptions with three scores last season. In conference games only, Mason ranked seventh in receptions (23), ninth in yards (331) and seventh in yards per catch (14.4). Senior Anthony Mauro (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) was named to the ECFC First Team last year and returns to anchor the offensive line. Mauro and his linemates helped the Bulldogs post the second-best total offense in conference games with 2,498 yards. He was an integral part of the rushing attack that registered 1,176 yards on the ground in 2021.

Senior Ki'sean Bullard (Miami, Fla.) garnered a pair of All-ECFC awards last season. He was named to the first team as a return specialist and got an honorable mention nod as a wide receiver. Bullard was the league's top return man with 336 yards on 16 attempts to average 21 yards per return. His best return was an 80-yard touchdown run against Anna Maria on Oct. 23. Bullard was third on the team in rushing with 185 yards and two scores. He added 15 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown to rank fourth on the team.

Senior wideout Quintus Reid (New Haven, Conn.), an All-ECFC Second Team selection, collected the second most all-purpose yards on the team with 980, which ranked him second in the ECFC in that category. He was second on Dean in receiving with 667 yards on 52 catches with six touchdowns.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs bring back their top three tacklers from a season ago. All-ECFC First Team honorees senior linebacker Desmond Dias (Rochester, Mass.) and junior defensive back Dre Kidd (Manassas, Va.) will once again be two of Dean’s top defenders. Kidd, a D3football.com All-Region and All-Noontime D3 New England selection last season, posted a team best five interceptions, was second on the team with 78 tackles and tied for first with seven pass breakups. Nationally, Kidd ranked 24th with .5 interceptions per game. He led all ECFC players with 50 solo tackles and was first in conference games only with 35. His five picks were also tops in the league. Kidd was honored as an ECFC Defensive Player of the Week and selected to the DC Touchdown Club during the season. Dias led the Bulldogs and the conference with an impressive 84 tackles this season with 11 of them resulting in a loss of yards. He ranked third among all ECFC players with 46 solo tackles and fourth with 38 assists. In conference games only, Dias was fifth with 27 solo tackles. Senior linebacker Tyzohn Poole (New Haven, Conn.) also returns after posting the third most total tackles on the squad with 58.