Wes v. Bates

Loosided affair yesterday in Lewiston. Bates is in transition, and Coach Hall will need some time to recruit a different type of athlete for his offensive scheme. The Bobcats really didn't do much offensively yesterday. Their one offensive scoring drive of 75 yards was helped tremendously by 35 or 40 yards of Wes defensive penalties. Their late defensive score was against Wes 2nd team, QB sack/fumble scooped up by DT who raced 60+ yards to pay dirt (#99, pretty good wheels for a big man!). They only managed 10 1st downs, and were 1 for 13 on 3rd down.

I stated earlier that Wes needed to play better in all 3 facets of the game. They definitely did that on Saturday. Defense was happy to have Captain Brandon Morris back @ ILB, as he led team with 10 tackles. Offense was balanced, and Piccirillo was sharp. Several new offensive contributors yesterday due to some injuries at skill positions. FY's Simco (TE) and McPhee (RB), and Soph Cady (WR) made big plays, with Simco and McPhee getting their 1st career TD's for the Cardinals.

Competition stiffens considerably for the Cards down the stretch, but Saturday's effort was big step in right direction. Conference opened up quite a bit yesterday with Tufts and Williams losses. Last 4 weeks should be exciting!

Wes v. Colby

For anyone that cares...Wes won, but ended up winning ugly. Final ended up 28-20, with Colby scoring twice in last 2 minutes (60+ yard TD pass, recovered onside kick, drove and scored again). They actually recovered a second onside kick with 14 seconds left, but drew a flag for touching ball before it went 10 yards.

Wes was up 14-0 late in 1st half and driving. Ended up throwing an INT in endzone that Colby returned to Wes 27. Receiver ran wheel route that looked wide open. IMHO Piccirillo threw ball a beat late, and with too much air beneath it allowing Safety, who was playing CF, time to track ball and make interception. Colby drove 73 yards quickly to make it 14-7 @ half. Wes scored again with about 6 mins left in 3rd and once late in 4th to increase lead to 28-7 before the drama that ensued in the last 1:45 of the game.

Observations: 

Colby - Schwerm is a very tough kid. Runs hard and catches ball well out of backfield. QB was a bit shaky to start, missing some open receivers, but settled in and did a decent job.

Wes - Simply not that good. Piccirillo is an extremely talented athlete, and one of the toughest players at that position that I have seen in my 40 years of observation. Oddly enough, it's exactly these qualities that, again in my opinion, have adversely impacted his performance of late. I think he's listed @ 5'10", but that is charitable, which makes it difficult for him to see the middle of the field when he's in the pocket. Consequently, he's much more comfortable rolling out and throwing on the move, as he has better vision of the field. He threw more INT's last year than he's accustomed to, and I think he's conscious of that this season, which has caused him to hold on to the ball a bit too long. His receiving corps has made some nice catches, but have also dropped way too many catchable balls. Defensively they have been great early on, but have not played that well the last two weeks. Not coincidentally, ILB Captain Brandon Morriss has not played the last two weeks (except for two series late in Ham game). If I didn't witness with my own eyes, I would never have believed that one player could have that much of an impact on a team defense. Morriss is healthy, and scheduled to play vs. Bates Saturday. Interested to see how the Cardinal defense reacts.

Wes has to improve in all facets if they want to compete with Amherst, Williams and Trinity this season.

Ham @ Wes

Unlike last week, where I felt Wes should have gotten the "W", Hamilton deserved to win yesterday's game. Wes dropped a lot of balls, but Ham D-line pressured Pic all afternoon. Wes D had no answers for Ham balanced attack, which they had not shown up until yesterday. Run game opened up short quick passing game effectively. Ham Q took care of ball, which becomes a lot easier when you can lean on solid rushing attack. Wes never adjusted to counter running game all afternoon. Ends lost contain through over penetration repeatedly, allowing counter RB to easily run under DE and immediately get to edge. Poor discipline by Wes D-line IMHO. Congrats to the Continentals.

Wes v. Tufts

Everyone can check out team stats on the NESCAC site. Numbers dramatically favor the Cards. What stat line doesn't show:

- Wes muffed a kickoff return, no hit, just fumbled. Gave Tufts ball on Wes 10. TD pass on next play.

- Wes had bad line drive punt directly to Tufts deep back. Punt was caught without a Wes defender within 10 yards of him. Returned inside Wes 30. Tufts completed 28 yd TD pass.

- Wes Red Zone offense was anemic. At least 6 trips inside Tufts 20 (may have been more) resulted in 13 total points. One trip was 4th and 1 on Tufts 2. Wes went for it, but did not convert. Two other FG attempts (27 yards and 41 yards were missed).

Couple other observations....Wes defense very solid, particularly front 7. Tufts had moderate success taking advantage of a minor mismatch, their tall WR #11 vs. much shorter Wes corner. Tufts defense is strong. Gave up fair amount of yards, but "bend don't break" was definitely the motto, at least for last Saturday night. Wes has to be better in the red zone. This game should have been a W for the Cardinals.