FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[WooClone15]

I've only been able to watch the second half, but while they haven't had a lot on offense. Their defense has done a good job forcing punts

[bashbrother]

The Scots fought hard today!   Something to build on.

[Li'l Giant]

I think it's there so the conference games can go unimpeded through the season starting with week 3.

Yeah, this is interesting.

[BashDad]

Kennedy is a not-as-good Jenkins who was a not-as-good Florence.

#wittweek

[BashDad]

Kennedy sucks, is what I'm saying.

[wally_wabash]

Kennedy is a not-as-good Jenkins who was a not-as-good Florence.

#wittweek

Really fired up to see them run this zone read option nonsense next week. 

[bashbrother]

Cool NCAC stat from today....

Hiram's 38 point margin of victory against Kenyon was their largest going back a long ways....    looking back to 1999 on this site I didn't find any wins this large.   Maybe a Hiram fan can look back farther and let us know.    Only one game I know... but still significant.   

Nice Job Terriers! 

[HCAlum86]

Cool NCAC stat from today....

Hiram's 38 point margin of victory against Kenyon was their largest going back a long ways....    looking back to 1999 on this site I didn't find any wins this large.   Maybe a Hiram fan can look back farther and let us know.    Only one game I know... but still significant.   

Nice Job Terriers!

I'll look into it, currently at the airport waiting to head to Atlanta but I have an archive in my library at home. The playoff team(s) of the late 1980s had some massive margin of victories, that would be my initial guess.

The Terriers also fumbled a handoff at the Kenyon 2 yard line, and the score could have gotten even wider.

Our defense, led by preseason All-American Kyle Burchett was extremely stout today. Next week will be a new, and bigger test for the Terriers. Interesting to see how much of this momentum they bring with them to Greencastle next week.

[Sir Battlescars]

I'm a bit surprised OWU didn't play better last night vs. Witt, OWU finished last season playing pretty well and I thought some of that would have carried over to this season. But then again Witt is Witt and I shouldn't be surprised at all.



 

[WooClone15]

The Scots fought hard today!   Something to build on.

Yeah, I thought so too; a definite step in the right direction. I still think Oberlin and Kenyon will be the best chances for wins, but if they build on what they had yesterday they might be able to pick up those two and another one too. 

[HCAlum86]

**For BashBrother: from what I can see, it was the largest margin of victory since 1995 when the Terriers beat Oberlin 57-7. ** When I get home I'll check in my book, as well.

Hiram Game Summary

Offensively

Hiram was able to move the ball with relative ease throughout the game. Stamford did an excellent job of mixing up the run plays; and he was able to do this, in no small part, because the offensive line did an excellent job pulling and getting out in front, particular in the outside zone schemes.

Paolo (271 Yards / 5 TD) played very well. He missed an open touchdown throw from about 35 yards out, but definitely made up for it with his decision making the rest of the game. Philander, Perkins, and Tate were reliable targets; all three of which showed an exceptional ability for YAC and to make defenders miss in space.

Hiram fumbled the ball on the Kenyon 3 yard line early in the game. In years past, giving up such a scoring opportunity would have been difficult to compensate for. Here, however, the offense shook it off and continued to move the ball extremely well. If Philander, Perkins, and Tate remain healthy, continue the exceptional downfield blocking, and keep their heads on straight, they will pose a difficult matchup even for the better teams in the conference.

All in all, the offense put up 528 yards of offense on 79 plays; that is a recipe for success.

Defensively

Kyle Burchett was again absolutely phenomenal; led by Burchett, the defense only allowed 261 yards of offense on 65 plays for Kenyon. I would like to focus my comments on someone other than Burchett, however. Horace Johnson, a freshman out of Fredricksburg, VA was PHENOMENAL at OLB. He started the game a little tentative, as most freshman will, missing an open tackle during the first series; from that point on he was outstanding. Set the edge extremely well and oftentimes commanded the attention of two blockers. He is very gifted physically (6-2, 220 with great athletic ability) and be an absolute menace off the edge. I hope that he continues to grow and keep his head down. It's too often that I've seen freshmen have a good start to the season, read their press clippings, develop a selfish attitude and lose sight of developing as a player and, most importantly, as a teammate. I have great hopes for this young man, I'm sitting here in the airport absolutely excited for the chance to see him test his skill when a great team like Wabash comes to Hiram, as that is often when you find out if the get is a true competitor. Thus far, my gut tells me he is.

Our secondary needs some improvement. Having Fleetion back there gives us a senior presence that is helpful, but I think we may be vulnerable to teams with exceptional speed at the skill positions. Kenyon's only TD came as the result of a receiver being able to get behind out secondary after play action.

Overall takeaway

This team left me excited in ways that other's have not. They are definitely capable of pulling a couple of upsets in the conference and, at the very least, will make most games very competitive. Kenyon came into the game 2-0 after beating a traditionally competitive program like Sewanee and then beating the cleats off of Oberlin; the momentum was in their favor. I am happy to see the grit the Terriers brought to the field.



P.S. Westminster must be the real deal

[ohiofan1954]

DePauw-Wooster was a good game today. Close till the end. I the the qb was in bounds on that final run. Scots didn't give up, and put up a great fight.

[wabashcpa]

Reading the recap from Wooster DePauw, Muntean threw for 435 yds (in a loss!), and that was his 6th straight game with 300+ yds passing.  Someone to keep an eye on for sure.

[Sir Battlescars]

Is it Wabash week already? 

[The_Bishop]

This, to me..will show coaching more than anything.

So now what?