Bucknell and Scranton moved to 2-0 in the MARC D2 North after wins over the weekend.
Neither of these teams is all that separated from the rest of the conference as Villanova and Bloomsburg are both at 1-0 and right behind them.
Scranton moved to 2-0 by beating East Stroudsburg 81-12.
It's been a good start, said Head Coach Quinn Conaboy, and they have found success scoring in a number of different ways. In their opening win over Lehigh, a rather bizarre 79-46 scoreline that has more in common with Aussie Rules or basketball, the defense wasn't so strong.
"We let Lehigh drop more points on us then we would have liked," said Conaboy. "So we've been working on an aggressive front foot defense and trying to close down space and make more dominate tackles so we can try and steal. The fellas love to run and score so we're trying to create as many offensive opportunities as possible. We’ve got an experienced 23. and then some, with scoring power throughout the roster."
Numbers are good at Scranton and that helps the depth and the competition for places, which raises the level.
"We’ve been lucky to have 50-plus guys at practices so we’ve been able up the work rates, have physical practices, and really create competition at multiple positions," said Conaboy.
Scranton is led by captain and scrumhalf Aidan Guarnuccio, a two-time all-conference halfback who had also played with the NY Foundry, the New York Ironworkers (MLR) academy program. He is a big part of the team's continuity and getting quick ball out to the attacking players.
Benefiting from this has been wings Senan Price and Colm Shalvey, who have scored a total of eight tries in the first two games.
"Both are have a tremendous amount of pace and are experienced Gaelic Footballers, so the kicking game has translated well," said Conaboy.
Flanker Anthony Vitiello has been punishing both defensively and with ball in hand.
