Framingham State Football In NCAA Division III Football Championships

The 2012 New England Football Conference Champion Framingham State University Rams are making an appearance in the NCAA Division III Football Championship for the first time in school history and will be traveling to SUNY Cortland on Saturday, Nov. 17. 

The 2012 Rams have won a school record 10 games in a row including a thrilling 28-16 victory over Salve Regina University Saturday in the final NEFC Championship Game, as the league is splitting apart after the 2012 season and will no longer have a championship game.

The Rams (10-1) opened the season with a loss and have gone unbeaten since including a school record three shutout victories. 

Framingham State is led offensively by one of the nation’s leading rushers and the back-to-back NEFC Bogan Division Offensive player of the Year in junior Melikke Van Alstyne of Salem.  Van Alstyne has rushed for 1,563 yards this season on 280 carries with 16 touchdowns. 

The Rams defense, ranked first in the NEFC, is led by senior James Muirhead, who was the Bogan Division Defensive Player of the Year as well as the MVP of the NEFC Title game.  Muirhead leads the Rams and NEFC with 10.5 sacks and five forced fumbles.

The Rams will face a Cortland team that went 8-1 this season and 7-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. Cortland earned its NCAA berth by winning the NJAC title and will be making its third NCAA appearance in five years and eighth overall.

NCAA Division III Football Championship bracket at http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/football/d3/2012.