The bottom line of Husson University’s on-field football philosophy over the years has been two-fold — run the ball and stop the run.
It’s been quite successful, given the Eagles’ four NCAA Division III Tournament berths in the last five years.
Just don’t tell Tyler Halls that Husson’s approach to offensive football is limited to ground and pound.
The junior wide receiver from Lisbon is in a record-breaking mode this fall as the favorite target of Eagles’ senior quarterback David Morrison.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Halls already has established a new single-season school standard with his 67 pass receptions. Last weekend he became the first Husson receiver to surpass 1,000 yards during a single regular season.
Halls’ 1,019 receiving yards through nine games this fall are just 12 yards short of the Husson-record 1,031 yards caught by teammate Kyle Gaudet a year ago in 11 games, including one postseason contest.
Halls also ranks first among Husson receivers in career receptions per game (4.75) and receptions per game in a season (7.44).
“Obviously it started in spring football and it’s carried over to this season,” said Husson head coach Nat Clark, whose team concludes its schedule Saturday at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“Tyler’s one of our special players on offense. He’s got great hands and great speed, he runs fantastic routes, and any time we can get him the ball we do it because he’s a threat.”
Halls, a sport management major, has been especially productive while helping Husson (4-5 overall, 4-2 in its first year of Commonwealth Coast Conference play) win its last two games.
He had 11 receptions for 219 yards and three touchdowns during a 31-7 win at Nichols two weeks ago, then had eight catches for 182 yards and three more scores as the Eagles rebounded from a 23-6 halftime deficit to outlast Salve Regina 29-26 in overtime at the Winkin Complex in Bangor last Saturday.
That latter performance was highlighted by a spectacular 71-yard touchdown catch that rallied Husson to a 23-23 fourth-quarter tie.
“I think the big thing that separates Tyler from a lot of good receivers is just his ability to get open and make catches,” Clark said. “That catch he made Saturday down the sideline for a 71-yard touchdown, it was an unbelievable throw by David but a great catch by Tyler.”
Halls played both wide receiver and quarterback at Lisbon High School, where as a senior he quarterbacked the Greyhounds to the Class D South championship and a last-second 20-14 loss to Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield in the 2016 state championship game.
He returned to wide receiver in time for the 2017 Maine Shrine Lobster Bowl Classic and ultimately was recruited to Western New England for his pass-catching abilities.
Halls spent one year at WNE before transferring to Husson in 2018 to be closer to his family, and he worked his way into the Eagles’ starting lineup as a sophomore. Halls finished last season with 28 catches for 318 yards and three touchdowns.
He said the relationship he developed with Morrison on the second-team offense early last year proved pivotal to his promotion to the starting lineup and continued growth.
“I feel like Dave really helped me make that jump to first string last year because of how strong our relationship was, and it’s carried over to this year,” Halls said.
Halls’ role has increased this fall, and so, too, has his production. In addition to the number of receptions, he’s added nearly 4 yards per catch on average from a year ago, to 15.2 yards per reception this fall.
Halls’ current late-season hot streak will face a significant challenge in his team’s regular-season finale against his former school, where he still has a lot of friends.
Western New England (8-1 overall, 6-0 CCC) already has clinched its third straight Commonwealth Coast Conference championship, and the Golden Bears are ranked No. 2 in New England Division III and No. 6 in the NCAA Division III East Region.
Halls plans to approach the game the same way he has the Eagles’ previous outings this fall.
“I like to make big plays for my team,” he said. “When the ball’s in the air it’s mine, that’s just the mindset I have on the field. No matter if I’m double-covered or there’s a safety over the top, it’s still mine.”
