Salem's Van Alstyne racks up honors in first college football season

November 23, 2010

By Matt Williams, Salem Evening News

It might be a coincidence that Framingham State University had its best football season the same year that Melikke Van Alstyne arrived on campus this fall.

A lot of wise men in this world don't believe in coincidences, though, and you can probably count the Rams' faithful among them.

Framingham State set a school record for wins this fall by going 9-2, including a win the ECAC Northeast Bowl. Along the way, one of Salem's favorite gridiron sons became just the second FSC player ever to top 1,000 yards rushing in a season.

"It feels great; this is my first winning season since Pop Warner, I think," said Van Alstyne, who graduated from Salem High in 2009 and did a post-graduate season at Bridgton Academy in Maine before enrolling at Framingham this fall.

Van Alstyne put the exclamation point on FSC's season when he raced to the end zone from 18 yards out in overtime to beat Norwich in the ECAC Northeast Bowl.

"Our defense already got the stop, so when I fell into the end zone the whole team sprinted out and they're diving on top of me," said Van Alstyne, who was named MVP of the bowl.

"It was an amazing day; a great crowd and atmosphere and the way we won was crazy. We were down 14-0 and 21-7 and rallied up in the second half."

For the season, Van Alstyne ran for 1,152 yards and scored seven TDs. Salem High's all-time leading rusher topped 100 yards in five games on his way to being named New England Football Conference Bogan Division Offensive Rookie of the Year.

"You don't often see a freshman run the way he has," said FSC head coach Tom Kelley.

The Rams have a two-time 1,000 yard rusher on the roster in David Leach, but the senior suffered a preseason injury that never really healed. That opened a spot for Van Alstyne — and he was more than willing to run through it.

"We had to rely on Melikke and he certainly came through with flying colors," said Kelley. "We're pretty deep at that position, so for him to jump right in says a lot. The cream rises to the top."

Van Alstyne ran for 128 yards in his collegiate debut, an overtime loss to Endicott, and was off to the races from there. In fact, FSC's only two losses this fall were to the teams that played in the NEFC title game: Maine Maritime and the Gulls of Endicott, the latter of whom made their first appearance in the Division 3 NCAA playoffs last weekend.

"Melikke's a very good back. They run the spread and that benefits him; he gets a crease and hits it hard," said Peter Kallas, the Endicott linebacker from Beverly who got to know Van Alstyne in the annual Beverly/Salem Thanksgiving battles.

Van Alstyne set school records at Salem High in rushing yards (3,853) and touchdowns (42). He amassed over 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons, including a school record 302 yards to upset Beverly on Thanksgiving of his senior year.

The Rams run a conventional spread, with QB Kurt Leone throwing for 2,978 yards and 33 TDs this fall. The extra room in the running lanes provided by that offensive set work wonders for the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Van Alstyne, who gashed his way into one of the best running seasons in FSC history as a freshman.

"Melikke has great vision and tremendous speed," said Kelley. "He's a slasher — once he hits that hole, he's gone. He's the lone back in our offense and it's a ride-and-read type of handoff. There's a lot of instinct that comes with it."

Van Alstyne was quick to pick up his blocking assignments in the spread as well, and gave Leach and his teammates the bulk of the credit for his success.

"(Leach) just being there helped me a lot. He helped me recognize guys coming hard off the edge and how to block," said Van Alstyne. "Our whole offense jelled really well and the line helped me out so much. We have so many leaders on our team and they led me the right way."

After earning MVP of both the Shriners and Agganis all-star classics as a senior, Van Alstyne enjoyed a successful season at Bridgton Academy before committing to Framingham State. He spent the summer training with Pat Downey's Gridiron Training and showed up at FSC in tremendous shape.

"He's not a kid that's afraid of the weight room; Melikke's a hard worker that's only going to get better," said Kelley. "His best days are ahead of him. As he matures, he's going to be one of the best kids that's ever come through here."