Merrimack's Murphy resigns

Saying he wants to spend more time with his family, Jim Murphy has resigned as Merrimack College's head football coach.

The former Globe All-Scholastic quarterback from Reading, who went on to a record-setting career at Northeastern University before turning pro, completed five years at the helm and posted a record of 30-21, including 4-6 this season.

"I am very proud of what the coaching staff and the players were able to accomplish the last five years," he said. "I am really proud of the players for the effort they put in. I have two young boys at home, and they only get to be that age once. I want to spend as much time with my kids as I can."

Under Murphy, Merrimack set many game and single-season school records. In 2006, he guided the Warriors to their best season ever (9-2), ran up seven straight wins, shared the Northeast-10 Conference title, and earned an NCAA Division 2 playoff bid.

For his efforts, Murphy was named NE-10 Coach of the Year and Division 2/3 Coach of the Year by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston. At Northeastern (1993-1997), Murphy set and still holds career records in pass attempts (1,148), completions (624) and yards (7,804). His senior year, he received the Bulger Lowe Award as the New England College Football Player of the Year and the Harry Agganis Award presented by the New England College Football Writers. Murphy was a two-time member of the New England Patriots and an active member of the team's 1998 roster. In 1999, Murphy played for the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe.

Coach Marilyn Fitzgerald called it "the toughest one yet," but Andover proved once again it is the best of the best in the water. The Golden Warriors made it nine straight state Division 1 swimming and diving championships, but this one was a bit closer than the previous eight. Andover scored 245 points and beat back serious challenges by runner-up Chelmsford (227) and Acton-Boxborough (211).

Andover needed to finish no worse than fourth in the final event (400-yard freestyle relay) and the team of Kristi Korsberg, Ellen Cody, Ginny Gibson, and Monica Patterson were more than up to the task, finishing second to secure the title.

Andover's win overshadowed the record-setting performance of Methuen's Lauren Moriarty, who won the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley, both in state-record times. It was the fourth straight year she had won the 100 breaststroke. . . .

In the MIAA State Cross-Country Championships in Gardner, Kirsten Kasper of North Andover successfully defended her Division 1 title. In boys' Division 1, Lexington's Dyhan Adler-Belende and Medford's Philip Galebach finished third and fourth. Jonathan Gault of Bedford was the top area boys' finisher in Division 2 in eighth-place. . . .

Three-sport Andover star Ilana Cohen has accepted a scholarship offer from the University of New Hampshire. Cohen plays basketball, soccer, and is a tricaptain of the lacrosse team. Cohen has played for the Massachusetts Elite Lacrosse and Raptors club teams and was nominated to play for the New England Lacrosse Team at the national level. Cohen's teammates and fellow tricaptains, Kelly Driscoll and Jordy Shoemaker, had made commitments to Notre Dame. . . .

Senior Katie Bettencourt of Salem, N.H., will be reunited with former teammate Whitney Mollica at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst next year. The All-State catcher batted .434 with 30 RBIs and 31 runs scored for the Class L champion Blue Devils.

Reading High product Chris Pizzotti, who quarterbacked Harvard to the Ivy League title with a 37-6 win at Yale on Saturday, has been selected as the most valuable player of the Crimson. The backup quarterback before the season, Pizzotti finished the year with the second-best passing numbers in school history with 2,134 yards on 164 completions, a 63.1 completion percentage, and 14 touchdowns against just four interceptions. He led the league in passing efficiency and was the starter in all seven of Harvard's league victories. In the finale against Yale, the 6-foot-5-inch senior threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns, completing 27 passes. . . .

Hockey East teams can't take Merrimack for granted any longer. The Warriors, long a doormat and a welcome stop on most teams' schedules, are raising a few eyebrows this season, especially after last weekend's sweep of Maine, which accounted for their fifth and sixth wins - double what they had all of last year. Merrimack (6-4-1) went into the weekend series 0-15-2 against Maine since 2002 and picked up its first sweep since 2000, when it doubled up Northeastern. Goalie Pat Watson of Waltham was the key, stopping 53 of 55 shots in the 5-1 and 2-1 victories. . . .

Junior Lew Finnegan of Lexington had 22 points to spark No. 2 Bentley to a 93-83 season-opening win over Pfeiffer of North Carolina in the Clarion Hotel Tip-Off Classic in Shepherdston, W.Va.

Local charities got a huge boost from this summer's Bank of America Championship at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord. Tournament officials announced donations totaling $377,500, which brings to more than $4.8 million the amount donated since the tournament's inception 27 years ago. "As exciting as the tournament is for us, infinitely more rewarding is making these donations each year to local charities," said tournament director Tracy West. "Our commitment has never wavered and neither has the community's support for the tournament, which has resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship that grows stronger each year." Among those included in the annual giving are Emerson Hospital, Hanscom Air Force Base-Project Concern, Boys and Girls Club of Assabet Valley, First Tee of Massachusetts, Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, Greater Waltham Association for Retarded Citizens, the Genesis Fund, and the Concord-Carlisle and Lincoln-Sudbury Athletic Boosters Club.

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