FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

Rhythm21 · March 11, 2021, 05:48:00 PM

Aurora Spartans drawing some attention from NFC North squads. I'd have to believe the attention from the next level is mostly focused on Jewell.

Rhythm21 · March 13, 2021, 10:32:17 PM

One week away!

Games kicking NACC play off on March 20th:
CUW @ Lakeland
Benedictine @ CUC
Aurora @ Eureka
Rockford @ WLC

WLCALUM83 · March 20, 2021, 12:52:57 PM

NACC Opener (Benedictine/CUC) about ready to kick off-

Rhythm 21 may finally get to see some in-conference action--

WLCALUM83 · March 20, 2021, 05:25:59 PM

Caught a lot of Benedictine's win over CUC earlier today. The IL Eagles would have had 7 more points if it weren't for a football mis-placement that wasn't caught soon enough. One of Benedictine's WR's caught a pass midway through the 2nd Quarter and just before he got to the end zone the play was blown dead. As I understand it, the ball was placed on the wrong line of scrimmage (it was a 1st down play right after a change of possession.) (Correct me if I'm wrong on that one.)

CUC's offense, other than 2 drives, sputtered. Cougars were stopped on the Eagle 1 yd line on the last play of the 1st half. The other promising drive, in the 2nd half, James got good yardage on several running plays, but the drive stalled and a FG attempt was missed.

Benedictine had a better day passing, and their defense -for the most part-was strong in pitching a shut-out.

Rhythm21 · March 21, 2021, 01:46:10 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on March 20, 2021, 12:52:57 PM
NACC Opener (Benedictine/CUC) about ready to kick off-

Rhythm 21 may finally get to see some in-conference action--

Haha, and it was great! Before Aurora/Eureka kicked off, I caught that play that was blown dead. Alex Lopez was headed for the endzone, no question. Couldn't imagine what would have happened if it was a closer game.

But Aurora picked up right where they left off last season. Jewell was absent from the game, so we lost his pass catching ability, but Jackson Howarth handled the run blocking duties seamlessly.
A few other takeaways from the 42-7 win:
*Cam Moore is the truth. He is everything we hoped we would be. And with Maxwell graduating, we need him, newcomer Trey Madsen, Harner and company to replace his production.
*Aurora's Offensive Line is dominant! Run game, pass protection, didn't matter. Aurora's OLine was a class above Eureka. Shout out LT Chris Toth (Juco transfer Jr.), LG Jackson Clevenger (So.), C Jackson Nazos (Jr.), RG Jalen Cole (So.), RT Matt Kickel (So.). Everybody who knows football knows it starts in the trenches, and our trenches are young monsters. So excited to watch them continue to develop over the next couple years.
*Youth and talent in the secondary. Robbie Peterson is easily our number 1 CB. The other side seems to be an open competition between a couple Freshmen. I'm big on Trelynn Lee. He has a long frame and can keep with quick receivers on double moves. Jeffrey William's Jr played well at nickelback, running with a wheel route and getting his head around in time to get a pick.
*Zimbelman is fast. We knew he could pass and hit a glimpse of his speed against St. John's, but he looks quicker this year, almost Johnny Football-esque.

I cannot wait for next Saturday. Aurora at home vs a rebuilding CUC. Should be fun.

WLCALUM83 · March 21, 2021, 02:22:14 PM

Also caught the 4th Quarter of CUW/Lakeland:

CUW had its' chances - got 2 interceptions, but missed a FG after the 1st, had the drive stall after the 2nd.
Rivers got boatloads of carries and yards for Lakeland in the Muskie win.

Rhythm21 · March 21, 2021, 10:45:29 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on March 21, 2021, 02:22:14 PM
Also caught the 4th Quarter of CUW/Lakeland:

CUW had its' chances - got 2 interceptions, but missed a FG after the 1st, had the drive stall after the 2nd.
Rivers got boatloads of carries and yards for Lakeland in the Muskie win.

That Nunnery/Rivers combo is dangerous. And unfortunately for CUW, it's been about 8 years since they had a dangerous offense like the one they had in 2013 with Damashke and Wenzelberger.

WLCALUM83 · March 26, 2021, 06:10:06 PM

Lakeland/Rockford: 2 contrasting style RB's -- Muskies' Rivers is a shifty "Barry Sanders-like" back who relies on a lot of moves during his carries--Rockford's Johnson is more of a punishing,'grind-it-out' back who punishes defenses with muscle. If Ray has a good day throwing the ball, this could be interesting if the Regent D can slow down the QB-RB duo of Lakeland.

WLC/Concordia-WI: On offense, one concern I have is with the Warrior's running game. Fortunately, their passing game was good in their opener. I figure this could be a tight one, if WLC's D is as "bend but no break" as it was against Rockford

Benedictine-Eureka: If the Eagles' passing game is as good as it was against CUC in the opener, Ben U's got a great chance in this one.

CUC/Aurora: Spartans should take this one unless they have a totally flat game.

WLCALUM83 · March 27, 2021, 02:04:59 PM

Eureka/Benedictine just underway:

WLCALUM83 · March 28, 2021, 10:24:39 AM

Caught all of Eureka/Benedictine. The IL Eagles, trailing by 11 at one point, had 3 scoring drives, all for TDs in the 2nd half. Eureka's Hughes got hurt and had to leave the field for a while in tht 1st half. After he returned, Eureka scored 1 TD to pull within 3, but couldn't get the road win.

Benedictine's Lopez got several clutch catches to keep those 2nd half drives going. Eureka showed an ability to move the ball very well in the 1st half.

Also caught the last minute of the WLC/CUW game. During the Warriors' last frantic drive, Yockey connected with Jewell for a big gainer, but just couldn't get that needed end-zone completion.

Kudos to Lakeland's Rivers on the Muskie rushing record in their win over Rockford.

CUC/Aurora: Rhythm 21 can have the floor for that one.

Rhythm21 · March 28, 2021, 05:46:23 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on March 26, 2021, 06:10:06 PM
Lakeland/Rockford: 2 contrasting style RB's -- Muskies' Rivers is a shifty "Barry Sanders-like" back who relies on a lot of moves during his carries--Rockford's Johnson is more of a punishing,'grind-it-out' back who punishes defenses with muscle. If Ray has a good day throwing the ball, this could be interesting if the Regent D can slow down the QB-RB duo of Lakeland.

WLC/Concordia-WI: On offense, one concern I have is with the Warrior's running game. Fortunately, their passing game was good in their opener. I figure this could be a tight one, if WLC's D is as "bend but no break" as it was against Rockford

Benedictine-Eureka: If the Eagles' passing game is as good as it was against CUC in the opener, Ben U's got a great chance in this one.

CUC/Aurora: Spartans should take this one unless they have a totally flat game.

You were 100% right on all counts.

Rhythm21 · March 28, 2021, 06:05:06 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on March 28, 2021, 10:24:39 AM
Caught all of Eureka/Benedictine. The IL Eagles, trailing by 11 at one point, had 3 scoring drives, all for TDs in the 2nd half. Eureka's Hughes got hurt and had to leave the field for a while in tht 1st half. After he returned, Eureka scored 1 TD to pull within 3, but couldn't get the road win.

Benedictine's Lopez got several clutch catches to keep those 2nd half drives going. Eureka showed an ability to move the ball very well in the 1st half.

Also caught the last minute of the WLC/CUW game. During the Warriors' last frantic drive, Yockey connected with Jewell for a big gainer, but just couldn't get that needed end-zone completion.

Kudos to Lakeland's Rivers on the Muskie rushing record in their win over Rockford.

CUC/Aurora: Rhythm 21 can have the floor for that one.

I caught all the AU-CUC game and flipped back and forth between the other 3.

Benedictine battled back impressively and Eureka showed its youth. I like the talent Eureka has at their skill positions, and I think this spring season is going to benefit them the most come next fall.

WLC vs CUW was definitely the most entertaining game. You were spot on against WLC's offense. Yockey (sorry if I misspelled) is definitely a top 2-3 QB in the conference already, and I believe he is only a Sophomore. The run game needs some work for sure, but I like WLC's offense as a whole. CUW has a Freshman RB that I was impressed with, but I dont think either defense is at a level to slow AUs offense in the NACC playoffs.

Rockford battled for a half, but Lakeland shrugged it off in the 3rd and never looked back. Jaelen Ray is a big QB with high upside, but the rest of RU just isn't there yet.

AU started super slow. It did look like CUC's coach knew it was just a matter of time though. I believe they had the lead early in the first half when he chose to punt from AU's 29 yard line on a 4th and 7ish. I think CUC is a couple years from being competitive in the NACC. But I am concerned at the slow start by the Spartans. It seemed like they took Concordia too lightly at the beginning and then turned it on in the 2nd quarter. Beebe's halftime speech must have been a good one though, coming out and putting the game away with a 35 point 3rd quarter.

*AU and BU have qualified for the NACC playoffs already, next week will decide who gets the 1 seed from the South Division. The North Division is a 3 team race, Lakeland (2-0), CUW and WLC (1-1), with Lakeland playing WLC and CUW playing Rockford.

WLCALUM, do you know what the NACC is using for a tiebreaker this year? It's possible we have a 2-1 team getting the 3rd seed and missing the Playoffs.

WLCALUM83 · March 28, 2021, 06:38:43 PM

4/3/21 NACC North Schedule:

CUW @ Rockford:
Lakeland @ WLC:

Scenario 1: CUW and WLC both win, there'd be a 3-way tie at the top. WLC would have beat Lakeland, CUW lost to Lakeland, CUW beat WLC. WLC would be out.

Scenario 2: WLC's best chance to get in--Warriors beat Lakeland, Rockford beats CUW. Warriors would have the tie-breaker on the Muskies.

Scenario 3: WLC and CUW both lose--I think WLC would be out because the Falcons have the tiebreaker over the Warriors.

Rhythm21 · March 29, 2021, 01:54:42 PM

Quote from: WLCALUM83 on March 28, 2021, 06:38:43 PM
4/3/21 NACC North Schedule:

CUW @ Rockford:
Lakeland @ WLC:

Scenario 1: CUW and WLC both win, there'd be a 3-way tie at the top. WLC would have beat Lakeland, CUW lost to Lakeland, CUW beat WLC. WLC would be out.

Scenario 2: WLC's best chance to get in--Warriors beat Lakeland, Rockford beats CUW. Warriors would have the tie-breaker on the Muskies.

Scenario 3: WLC and CUW both lose--I think WLC would be out because the Falcons have the tiebreaker over the Warriors.

So WLC has the edge over CUW in point differential as of this week, which I assume is the tiebreaker. If scenario 1 plays out and Lakeland, WLC and CUW are all 2-1 with head to head evening out (Lakeland over CUW, CUW over WLC, WLC over Lakeland) I'd imagine it would come down to point differential. Barring a catastrophic defeat, Lakeland should be in, and if WLC wins and keeps point differential edge over CUW, I believe they'd be in as well.

WLCALUM83 · April 02, 2021, 04:58:03 PM

4/3 Match-ups: Eureka-CUC: Cougars are at home, Eureka has shown a bit more balance in their passing vs. rushing statistics. If CUC brings its' best game, this could be interesting if their D can slow down Hughes and the Eureka receivers enough.

CUW-Rockford: Regents are also at home. How motivated will they be, though? If the Regents use up a lot of time on their offensive possessions and keep the Falcons O off the field, I think their chances are better. Johnson's the type of back that can make that strategy work. Also, if the Regents decide to try throwing the ball deep and Ray connects on enough of those passes--

Aurora-Benedictine: If both offenses are hitting on all cylinders, this will be a very entertaining game. Eagles' Lopez has put up good numbers receiving his first 2 games.

Lakeland-WLC: Warriors are at home: What do they do on offense? Try keeping the Muskie offense off the field with time consuming drives, or risk getting into a "track meet" type game? They'll need to slow down Rivers and Co. just enough, but if Lakeland wears out the Warrior D, WLC's task will become that much more difficult.