Derek Victory is a player of few words. But the 5-foot-9-inch, 185-pound senior quarterback commands respect at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
“Derek is a quiet captain, he is a quiet leader, and he will be a quiet future officer,’’ said Bill George, in his 18th season as head coach at the Academy. “But you can not find anyone who leads by example such as him.’’
On Saturday afternoon, in a wild 56-54 shootout against NEFC rival Curry, Victory set or tied seven program records, racking up 525 yards and six touchdowns on 32-of-47 passing. He also ran for a 1-yard score as the Bears improved to 3-3. With Curry junior Alex Corvese connecting for seven TDs and 519 yards, the game featured 13 scoring passes, tying an NCAA Division 3 record.
On Wednesday afternoon, nattily attired in his dress uniform, Victory was presented the weekly Division 2-3 Gold Helmet from the New England Football Writers at Harvard’s Dillon Fieldhouse.
“Five to six players from that game alone could have won the award,’’ said a humble Victory, noting that the Helmet was a team award.
“When you have receivers turning 3-yard passes into a 50-yard gain, that is a quarterback’s dream.’’
The 21-year-old Government major is glad to be back on the field, healthy and contributing after a junior season cut short by injury.
In Week 7, in the first quarter of an eventual 42-14 loss to at Curry, he broke his right hand on the helmet of a Colonel defender. At the time, Coast Guard was 4-2. The Bears went 1-3 the rest of the way without their QB.
It was the first time he had suffered a season-ending injury on the football field dating to his days at West Broward High in Weston, Fla.
“It was very different sitting on the sideline,’’ said Victory. He absorbed as much he could, but the idle time did not suit him.
After being stationed on a ship for two months this past summer in which his throwing reps were limited (there was a gym on board), he was raring to go for two weeks of preseason work.
In the first six games, Victory has thrown for 15 touchdown with five picks while piloting a unit averaging 33.0 points per game. His 44 career TD passes are an Academy record.
“We have a very young defense and an offense that is just exciting to watch,’’ said George.
“I have often said, I have a team of guys that you would want your daughter to marry. But Derek Victory is a guy that you might order your daughter to marry. He has never said a bad word about anything . . . We had some tough losses when he was a sophomore, and people criticized him, but he never said a thing. Never said a cuss word.
“And it is amazing how our young defense looks to Derek for leadership. This day belongs to Derek.’’
Hitting the road
The nation’s, as well as the Ivy’s longest road winning streak, at 16 games, is now history after Harvard’s 27-17 loss at Holy Cross on Saturday.
Minus starting QB Joe Viviano, lead back Semar Smith, and sophomore receiver/return whiz Justice Shelton-Moseley to various ailments, Harvard turned the ball over three times. “That really was the difference,’’ said coach Tim Murphy. “We have to get better. Even though we are 4-1, we are a work in progress.’’
Now, Harvard (4-1, 2-0 Ivy) must regroup for a trip to take on a potent Princeton squad (4-1, 2-0) that throttled Brown a week ago, 31-7. And Crimson, again, will likely be testing their depth.
Sophomore Tom Stewart, who was 19 of 33 for 219 yards with a pick in his first start, is listed above Viviano on this week’s two-deep. Harvard will need more production from a ground game that managed 26 yards on 29 rushes against Holy Cross. That’s not going be easy. Princeton is yielding an FCS-low 81.6 rushing yards per game.
Putting up 34.6 points per game, the Tigers have had success alternating quarterbacks Chad Kanoff and John Lovett.
“[Princeton] is really in sync, they have a real veteran team, and they are up-tempo as you can get,’’ said Murphy. “It works for them. It is a big road game for us.’’
Dartmouth safety Charlie Miller collected Gold Helmet honors in Division 1 after helping the Big Green lock up a 20-17 win over Towson last week. The senior from Shoreline, Minn., made seven stops, but his most critical plays came deep in Dartmouth territory. In the second quarter, with Towson threatening to erase a 10-7 deficit, on a third-and-9 call, he snared an interception on his own 10. In the fourth quarter, with the Tigers lining up a game-tying 22-yard field goal, he broke through the left side to swat away the kick with his left hand. The 3-2 Big Green travel to Columbia on Saturday.
Receiving attentionIn his first seven games as a collegian, Dennis-Yarmouth grad Andrew Jamiel has the second-highest season mark for receptions at Stonehill. The 5-10, 175-pound freshman has 73 catches for 671 yards and five TDs while averaging 147.9 all-purpose yards per game . . . Tyler Ford is putting together a stellar final season at Bentley, averaging a healthy 44.7 yards on 39 punts. The 6-foot, 210-pound senior was immense in last week’s 5-3 win at American International — the program’s first W in Springfield since 2004, booming 12 kicks for a 44.9 average.
Week 8 schedule
Friday
IVY
Penn at Yale, 7
Saturday
UMass at South Carolina, 12
ACC
Syracuse at Boston College, 12:30
AAC
Central Florida at UConn, 12
CAA
Maine at Rhode Island, 12
New Hampshire at Towson, 3:30
IVY
Cornell at Brown, 12
Harvard at Princeton, 1
Dartmouth at Columbia, 1:30
PATRIOT
Lehigh at Holy Cross, 12:05
NORTHEAST
Robert Morris at Sacred Heart, 1
Wagner at Bryant, 1
Central Connecticut at Coastal Carolina, 2
NORTHEAST-10
Pace at Saint Anselm, 12
Assumption at New Haven, 1
AIC at LIU Post, 1
Stonehill at Bentley, 1
Southern Conn. at Merrimack, 1
MASCAC
Mass. Maritime at UMass-Dartmouth, 12
Bridgewater State at Westfield State, 12
Framingham State at Plymouth State, 1
Worcester St. at Western Conn. St., 5
NEFC
Western New England at Endicott, 12
Coast Guard at Nichols, 12
MIT at Salve Regina, 12
Maine Maritime at Curry, 1
NESCAC
Hamilton at Colby, 12
Trinity at Bowdoin, 12:30
Bates at Middlebury, 1
Amherst at Wesleyan, 1
Williams at Tufts, 1:30
ECFC
Anna Maria at Husson, 12
Becker at Mount Ida, 12
Gallaudet at Norwich, 12
SUNY-Maritime at Castleton, 1
LIBERTY
Springfield at Hobart, 12
WPI at Rensselaer, 12
Craig Larson can be reached at craig.larson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeLars.
