Good showing for the NEFC.  Three teams in the ECAC, though two are playing each other.  Not sure I understand that.  I would have thought that Maine vs Norwich would make sense for the NorthEast game and these two teams used to play each other.  Framingham vs WNEC would have been a battle of the NEFC division runner-ups and make more sense as the North Central game.  Anyway.

Maine vs WNEC should be a great game.  These teams in the last fours years played each other twice, split the two games.  But this game will have seniors on both squads and this will be the third meeting, so sort of a tie breaker.  In past years WNEC passed most of the time, but looks like they counted more on the run this year.  And we know what Maine likes to do.  My pick is Maine, but I'm biased as my son is a senior on the Maine team.

I think Framingham will give Norwich a challenge.  If Kurt Leone has a good passing game I can see a Framingham win, but he'll have to have a good game.  Norwich is going to run the ball and Framingham will have to keep that under control.  My pick is Framingham in a close one.

Quote from: CadetFan on November 14, 2010, 09:54:04 PM
Any thoughts on the ECAC match ups? Glad Norwich has the game at home.

For the Norwich game I did get to see Framingham State play once.  Good offense.  Quarterback has a nice touch to his passes and they do mix it up by passing to multiple receivers.  For TD passes has a tendency to go to one receiver.  But they just aren't a passing team, they do mix in the run.  Game I saw was against Maine Maritime.  Since Maine rarely passes hard to say how good their pass defense is.  Statistically they didn't do well against Maine's rushing attack, but many don't.  But at times they made some good stops.

They didn't share any common opponents, though Norwich beat up on WNEC, Endicott beat WNEC (close game), and Endicott beat Framingham (in OT).  But 2 of 3 of these games were early season and all these team improved as the season went on. 

Almost looks like it could be another game like the Norwich-Castleton game.  Rushing team vs a passing team.  Should be a good game.

Quote from: AUKaz00 on November 13, 2010, 04:51:54 PM
Congrats to Endicott on a thrilling win.  Perhaps the most entertaining game of the day in D-III.  How close was the final play to be a game-winning TD completion for Maritime?

According to my wife who was at the game.  Ball was caught on final pass, but receiver was called out of bounds.  Some disagreement there I guess, but looks like a good game and either team can walk away with their heads held high regardless of what the outcome might have been.  In this case congrats to Endicott for a great season going from 5-5 last year to 9-2 this year.  Good luck in the NCAA playoff.  And for Maine Maritime, a heartbreaker, but three straight Bogan Division titles.  Hopefully they'll get an ECAC game and take it.

Another great weekend of football.  I was 7-1 with my picks.  Looks like we all got the WNEC-Plymouth game wrong.  So if Endicott beats WNEC does anybody know how a three-way tie gets resolved.  Head-to-head won't work.  Bur first Endicott has to beat WNEC and the way WNEC is playing that will be a real tough one to predict.  Plymouth still has a tough schedule with Salve Regina and Curry, so 3-way tie isn't guaranteed.  Anyway must win for Endicott and WNEC.

I was at the Maine Maritime vs Mass Maritime game.  Great game.  Mass Maritme looked real good on offense.  Nathan Sherr was back and he and Matt White caused Maine fits.  Mass Maritime would have been on top this year if Sherr hadn't got injured.  Like expected Maine just did the ground game and Mass did a great job slowing it down, but eventually it wears you out.  Big key in this game was Maine defense stepped it up in the second half and you could say for the first time in a while that the defense won this game for Maine.

With tie-breakers the Bogan is a two horse race between Maine and Framingham.  On paper Framingham should win out against Coast Guard and Worcester, though you never know.  Maine has Bridgewater next week and looks like Bridgewater is starting to play like was expected at the beginning of the season.  Should be a good game.

If you haven't heard Maine Maritime assistant coach Richard Dykas was killed early Sunday morning.  We graduated from Mount Ida in 2008.  Not much details in the online article, but the road that he was on has a few bad curves and this is not the first time there have been accidents on that road.  Tragic loss for everybody.


http://new.bangordailynews.com/2010/10/24/sports/football/mma-coach-killed-when-pickup-goes-airborne-crashes/

A little info on the Admiral's Cup.  Mass leads series 21-16, but Maine has won last 6.

http://www.mmabucs.com/sports/fball/2010-11/releases/Massachusetts_Maritime_Football_Week_-8_Notes_10-18-10.pdf

My picks for this week.

Game of the week:
Plymouth over WNEC  (Endicott would love a different result.)

Endicott easily beats UMD.
Will Curry lose 4 in a row?  Not likely.  Easy win over Nichols.
Salve Regina beats MIT.

Maine makes it seven Admiral Cups in a row with a win over Mass Maritime.  Mass Maritime will not be able to stop the Maine running attack.
Framingham in a close one over Westfield.
Bridgewater over Fitchburg.
Worcester beats Coast Guard.

I was at the Maine-Framingham game and into the 3rd quarter it looked like last team with the football was going to win.  But after Maine took the lead 29-26 in the 3rd they stopped Framingham on their next possession.  After that they figured out the Framingham offense and just started to pull away.  As much as Framingham tried they could not stop Maine's running game.  They might get one or two stops, but then pow Maine would roll off a big gain.  Framingham QB Kurt Leone has great passing accuracy and touch.

Maine now has the tie breaker, but still has to win out.  And their schedule is still tough as everybody left always play them tough.

Looks like it could be down to Plymouth and WNEC.  My bet is on Plymouth.  But if WNEC beats Plymouth and then 2 weeks from now Endicott beats WNEC there could be a 3-way tie.  Anybody know how that gets figured out?

Also Plymouth has both Salve Regina and Curry.  Not an easy schedule to close with.  Who would have though that Curry could be a spoiler.

Getting interesting.

Bower played the first two non-division games in his Sophmore year then got injured.  He didn't play in any of the seven Division games that year which must have allowed him to be eligible for a 5th year.  He's on a hardship waiver and he is in his final semester as a senior.  That's what I know.

Looks to be another great weekend for football with some great and unexpected important matchups.
Endicott at Plymouth State
Maine Maritime at Framingham State

Would have never thought at the beginning of this season that these games would be so important.  And WNEC, Endicott, and Plymouth State go at each other this week and the next two weeks so it's up for grabs.

The winner of Maine and Framingham has the upper hand and controls their own future.  Framingham is calling themselve the underdog in that game.  I'm not buying that.  Looks like a very balanced offensive attack against Maine's defense which is average.  Last team with the ball probably wins this games and could be high scoring.  Weather, other than Saturday is expected to be a windy day, should have no effect on the game.

I follow Maine and at first it looked like Framingham was going to make it a decent game, but after a few series Maine just took it to them.  Of course I want to see Maine win out, but next week is Coast Guard and they always seem to give them trouble.  But overall, it's hard to know from week to week who is going to win.  Lot of surprises each week.

Got to see Mass Maritime play against Maine and I agree this could be a team to watch out for.  Offense executes very well.  Cranberry Bowl could go either way the way Mass Maritime is playing.  Bridgewater State is so good one week and then goes flat the next. 

If Westfield State had a little more offense they could have probably won it this year

Quote from: Boxer7806 on October 25, 2009, 01:03:11 PM
Looks like some of the praise you guys gave Framingham came back to bite them in the butt as they were down 43-0 at one point. Maine established themselves as the top dog in the Bogan with the win and Bridgewater's loss to Westfield. Maine is 6-1 and I do not think they are going to be beat the rest of the year

Curry takes out Plymouth and looks to be the Boyd champ. As of right now it seems like Maine will make the championship game again and Curry will return.

Congrats to WNEC beating Endicott, they have shown more fight this year then anyone would have expected.

Final thought is how bout Mass Maritime. They lose Sherr but continue to fight and beat the heck out of Fitchburg. Their losses are only by a handful of points and they might be the youngest team in the conference. I think they play Framingham next week and I think they beat them as Framingham is on a 4 game losing streak. That will set up a game against Bridgewater St which could be the first time they have an actual shot at winning the Cranberry Bowl. If sherr comes back healthy next year for Mass, I strongly believe they have a shot at the Bogan.

This week should help clarify the Bogan a tad bit.  Three teams go to 3-1 narrrowing the field.  My picks for the Bogan division.

Coast Guard over Bridgewater State.  Loser is out of the hunt so this should make for a great game.  Bridgewater seems to find a way to work their way out of the playoff hunt, like losing to Fitchburg in the last five miuntes of the game.  Got a feeling Coast Guard is going to catch them off guard.

Fitchburg over Worcester State.  Fitchburg I think has the inside track for the division as I see Framington losing again to somebody.  Should give them enough incentive to stomp Worcester.

Westfield State over Framington.  Mini upset of the week, but should be a close game and could go either way.

Maine Maritime over Mass Maritime.  Admiral's Cup goes to Maine for the six straight year.  Should be a good game as teams get up for this game no matter how good or bad they are at the time.


Boyd Division.  Big upset this week??  Can Nichols or Endicott catch the leaders off guard.

Endicott over Curry.  This is a stretch, but damn we need something to shake up the Boyd Division and make the title chase interesting.

Plymouth State over Nichols.  Nichols will give them a scare but Plymouth will prevail.

Salve Regina over UMD.  This is the start of the easy part of Salve Regina's schedule for the next few weeks before ending with Plymouth State.  See them romping all over the no-offense and no-defense UMD.

MIT of WNEC.  DeRon Brown sits out the fourth quarter because of physical exhaustion from running all over WNEC.

The coaches poll for the NEFC.  Looks like it came out on 19 August.

Curry College and Bridgewater State College have been selected as the pre-season favorites in the Boyd Division and the Bogan Division of the New England Football Conference, in a poll conducted among conference coaches. Curry was also tabbed by the coaches as the pre-season favorite to earn the Conference's automatic Bid to the 2009 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Curry received six first place votes in the Boyd Division followed by Plymouth State University, the 2008 Boyd Division Champion, which had two.  In the Bogan, Bridgewater captured five first place nods, with the other three going to 2008 Division Champion Maine Maritime Academy.

13 of the 16 conference coaches put forth their selections for the eventual Conference champion with Curry receiving nine votes, Plymouth State receiving two votes, and Maine Maritime and Bridgewater State each being named on one ballot.

The NEFC will kickoff the 2009 season on Thursday, September 3 when Massachusetts Maritime Academy hosts SUNY Maritime at 7:00pm.  The Conference championship game, pitting the champions of the Bogan and Boyd Divisions, will be held on Saturday, November 13 at noon at the site of the Boyd Division Champion.


The results:

Bogan Division

1. Bridgewater State College
2. Maine Maritime Academy
3. Westfield State College
4. U.S. Coast Guard Academy
5. Fitchburg State College (tie)
5. Worcester State College (tie)
7. Framingham State College
8. Massachusetts Maritime Academy     

Boyd Division

1. Curry College
2. Plymouth State College
3. Salve Regina University
4. Endicott College
5. UMass Dartmouth
6. MIT
7. Nichols
8. Western New England College

I agree as well that I don't see a reason why MUC has to be moved to the East for the playoffs.  Any point about no undeafeted teams doesn't pass my sniff test.  So Cortland loses one game and they don't seed #1.  They lost to what is probably the second best team in the East.  If MUC is in a tough conference it's not obvious to me since they monkeystomp that conference every year (1 conference loss in 10 years!).

The NEFC Division teams have been announced for those that are interested.  Congrats to those that made the list.

http://www.newenglandfootballconference.com/awards/2008_All-Division.pdf

Quote from: redswarm81 on November 18, 2008, 01:29:25 PM

Quote from: vttanker on November 17, 2008, 10:20:01 AM


If you assume the kid is just looking at football programs, maybe.  But that is far from what really happens.

Below are some real numbers.  Mass had 20 schools that offer D3 football, but not near the population of a PA, IL, or OH.  Ah yes, but WI does good you ask??  Hey I didn't say it was the only reason.  Just one reason. 

State   #Schools   Population   Density
PA   24   12,432,792    518,033
IL   21   12,852,548    612,026
OH   21   11,466,917    546,044
MA   20   6,449,755    322,488
WI   18   5,601,640    311,202
NY   17   11,023,202    648,424
MN   15   5,197,621    346,508
IA   10   2,988,046    298,805
VA   10   7,712,091    771,209
CA   9   36,553,215    4,061,468

There are other factors as well.  Real world, my son plays D3 football and wouldn't go to WPI if he had the choice.  No Men's Lacrosse.  My son plays two sports, loves them both.  School had to offer both, plus an academic program that interested him.

Are you sure NY's population is less than OH's?

I took out the population of New York City, about 8.3 Million.  I'm not trying to manipulate the results, but given the city's close proximity to New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania it's fair to assume many of those kids could head to schools in those areas and not just New York schools.  So a piece of that 8.3M belongs to New York, but also all the surrounding states.  Just no good way to account for it so I took it out completely.

Population density is just one factor, but not the only one.  Otherwise California should be a D3 power house, but they're not.  Yet they have some great high school teams, so where do all those kids go?  D1, D2?

If you take a closer look at Mass.  Other than NESCAC and NEFC teams there are only four other teams from Mass not in those conferences.  Becker,2-7; Mt Ida,4-6; Springfield,4-6; and WPI,7-3.  Only WPI had a winning record, but inside the LL they're an average team.  Springfield 3 of the last 4 years has just been an average team.  You gotta wonder what's going on.

Quote from: XREDDRAGON77 on November 18, 2008, 09:48:02 AM
What style of Offense does Plymouth run.  Hearing mention of 70 rushes a game can only be from an Option or Wing T ( highly improbable Wing T) style of offense.  What's the scoop?

They run the I formation.  Jeff Mack lines up 7-8 yards off the line of scrimmage and gets a majority of the carries.  The up man will get his fair share and occasionally the QB will run.  They will pass, but my guess is only to keep the defense honest.  The QB has a decent arm so he can go deep.  Against Maine Maritime they went to left quite a bit.  I don't know if that is a statement of that side of their O-Line, but it worked for them most of the time.  Mack is good at finding the whole and that is where he can be dangerous.  If you don't get him in the backfield he's getting 6 or more yards.