Making an impact
 | Bentley University junior Liam Regan (above) and senior Michael Duffy, once teammates at Boston College High School, are back starting together as linebackers for the 2-0 Falcons. (Photos Sports Pix) |
WALTHAM - The Curry College player, seemingly, was out of reach, with a clear path to the end zone after scooping up a blocked extra point. Could Liam Regan track him down?
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Michael Duffy, his former teammate at Boston College High School, had faith. But he was likely alone in his belief on the Bentley University sideline.
“I knew he had wheels, I kind of had a feeling he’d catch him,’’ Duffy said of the 80-yard rundown, in which Regan, a junior weakside linebacker from Milton, stiff-armed a blocker and stripped the ball from Jaime Santiago before it was recovered by Bentley around the 15-yard line.
“It wasn’t a surprise to me. It was one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen,’’ said Duffy, a senior strongside linebacker from Plymouth. “Any time you see a play like that you’re always taken back. If anyone was going to do it, it’s Liam Regan. I’m so proud of him.’’
Not long after, Duffy punched in the first touchdown of his college career, when he was inserted as a fullback in the goal-line offense. That score came shortly after Regan registered his first career interception as the Falcons pulled away for a 43-17 win with 21 unanswered points Sept. 4.
Regan’s performance in Week 2 was an upgrade from his starting debut the week before at Ohio Dominican, in which he struggled on pass defense and didn’t fill the running lanes hard enough.
“He had to attack the football more,’’ said first-year Bentley coach Thom Boerman, a longtime assistant to retired coach Peter Yetten. “I think he really did improve at linebacker. A linebacker has to be the hammer, not the anvil. We’re trying to get him to be a better hammer.’’
Starting for the first time at linebacker since Pop Warner, the 6-foot, 210-pound Regan admitted he had jitters in the opener.
“It was good to get it out of the way,’’ he said. “I felt a lot better about myself after the second game. I felt like I belonged. It felt like I deserved to be out there.’’
At BC High, Regan was one of the top 10 scorers as a senior, despite missing the last five games because of a broken leg.
He did not receive a great deal of attention from recruiters because of the injury, but when he visited Bentley, Duffy served as his host and eventually sold him on the program.
But with a number of running backs on the depth chart, the Bentley coaches asked Regan to move to linebacker after his freshman season, joining Duffy.
Duffy logged 75 tackles last season, while Regan made 10 as a reserve.
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“It’s fun to play with him, too,’’ Duffy said. “I know he’ll always be there to clean up for me. I trust him because he’s someone I played with for a couple years.’’
The most difficult part of switching positions for Regan is figuring out where the play is going.
“I knew where I was going when I was a running back,’’ he said. “I saw a kid and either ran him over or juked him. Here, I see five kids running at me, and I’m supposed to fill the hole. I don’t have linebacker instincts. That’s one of the hardest things, . . . trying to learn to attack more.’’
Bentley junior lineman Tim Smith, who played at BC High with Regan and Duffy, is also impressed with Regan’s development as a linebacker.
“In our league, all the lineman are 300-pound kids,’’ said Smith, a starter every game since replacing an injured senior halfway through the 2007 season. “He’s used to running behind those kids instead of going after them.’’
That would be news to anyone who saw Regan sprint 80 yards after the blocked extra point. Playing behind Duffy at BC High forced Regan to learn how to run in the open field; scoring three long TDs was the only way to distinguish himself while playing in Duffy’s shadow. Duffy scored 20 touchdowns for the Eagles in 2006, earning All-Scholastic honors.
“Mike was so good at running back they never took him out of the game,’’ Regan said, adding that he only got two plays at a time to give Duffy rests. “I was never put in on the goal line. If I was gonna get a touchdown, I had to break it for 60 yards.’’
Duffy also helped Regan learn to be modest. He shrugged off several Bentley coaches who called Regan’s 2-point saving tackle against Curry one of the best plays they’ve seen in years.
“Everyone was saying I never knew you were that fast,’’ Regan said.
“I didn’t know I was that fast, either.
“I was just chasing the kid down.’’
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