FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[frank uible]

Isn't night football so very public high school?

[Grabowski]

Isn't night football so very public high school?

If by "public high school" you mean fast, physical, fun, well played and well attended, then bingo, you are spot on.  At least with respect to my two game sample size.

It was nice to see the students out in force, every bleacher seat on both sides was full, and there weren't any spots I could see open on the fence.  IMO, every September NESCAC game should be played at night, and then we enjoy the fall Saturday afternoons when we hit October.

Wes fans have been treated to eight+ quarters of intense football played by three good teams so far.

[Nescacman]

Did anyone from the board attend the Wesleyan game last night?  Attendance was logged at 2703!  Outstanding!  Last year's Amherst v Trinity game was very well attended.  Love when the D3 schools get a little bit of that big time "feel or atmosphere".

Kudos to those that made it a great night of football

We were there...and the crowd was a heckuva lot more than 2,000. We would estimate based on other observed games there that the crowd was in the 5,000-6,000 range. And it was a great atmosphere. D1 experience. Word is that Wes had 30 recruits at the game last night and got a substantial number of them to commit today as a result of what they saw last night. We were at other games as well and will give our impressions later tonight.

[westcoastDad]

One benefit of delaying games until the evening is the many Saturday conflicts it avoids.  Saturday at 1pm is usually when volleyball, field hockey, soccer and I'm sure other sports are occurring.  Fans, students, families etc are pulled in many different directions to show support. 
Night games eliminate most of that

[Nescacman]

Isn't night football so very public high school?

Yeah Frank, its about as "public school" as wearing purple uniforms, starting a frosh at QB and losing 59-14 at home in a rivalry game. We hadn't heard from you in a while. Based on posts like that maybe you should keep it that way.

[westcoastDad]

That's impressive feedback Nescacman! 5-6K?  Very impressive



Did anyone from the board attend the Wesleyan game last night?  Attendance was logged at 2703!  Outstanding!  Last year's Amherst v Trinity game was very well attended.  Love when the D3 schools get a little bit of that big time "feel or atmosphere".

Kudos to those that made it a great night of football
[/quote]

We were there...and the crowd was a heckuva lot more than 2,000. We would estimate based on other observed games there that the crowd was in the 5,000-6,000 range. And it was a great atmosphere. D1 experience. Word is that Wes had 30 recruits at the game last night and got a substantial number of them to commit today as a result of what they saw last night. We were at other games as well and will give our impressions later tonight.
[/quote]

[westcoastDad]

Nescacman, where was the game played? My son is saying Gillette Stadium?

[Pat Coleman]

Tufts at Wesleyan?
http://www.d3football.com/seasons/2017/boxscores/20170923_tfed.xml

[Vandy74]

  Amherst takes a low percentage of legacies compared to many Ivies and CAC schools. 

amh63......As you know my niece, who I believe you met at the Amherst-Williams game two seasons back, was an ED.   She told me that while on a campus visit they informed her that her father's and grandfather's alumni status would play a very small role, if any, in their decision.  I assume that the comparatively small size of the Amherst student body weighs heavily in their decision to minimize the legacy factor as part of the ED equation.  Middlebury, who recently welcomed the largest entering class in the school's history, is quite the opposite in this regard. IMO

As for the lowering of admission standards of any member institution for any reason; wouldn't that be diametrically opposed to the rational behind the decision to establish the NESCAC in the first place?

[Bucket]

Maybe every NESCAC school should adapt the "less legacies and more inner city/underpriviledged" concept. 

Seems to be getting a better more competitive product on the field for Trinity. 

I'm sure the swimming and lacrosse programs will embrace the increased talent pool.  Jim Brown was an All-American.  Gotta be a few other diamonds out there.

Don't panic.  It has already been stated that this isn't participation college sports.  Legacy at some of these schools needs the infusion of new talents IMHO.

That Tufts Wesleyan game was amazing!

Jim Brown was from Long Island, a lacrosse hot bed and not exactly the inner city.

[Vandy74]

This post would be of little interest except for the recent thread concerning the treatment of relatively nonproductive seniors.

Middlebury's leading rusher against Bowdoin was senior RB Matt Cardew.  He lugged the ball 14 times for 74 yards.  His longest carry gained 13.  He also scored a touchdown.  Coming into this season his MC career numbers read 31 yards on 52 carries with a TD.  If you delete each season's longest gainer they become 30 yards on 28 carries.  Over three-plus seasons now he has put his body through the rigors and punishment of practice and training sessions while, no doubt, supplying team spirit on the sidelines and in the locker room with little to show for it.

Last season's leading ball carrier Diego Meritus is injured.  He is yet to play a down this season.  Freshman Peter Scibilia was the primary RB against Wesleyan although his 36 yards on 12 carries hardly stand out in the box score.   Watching his performance late in that game, however, when the Panthers had to stay on the ground to burn time off the clock, left me feeling confidant that if Meritus continues to be unavailable the team has a capable replacement.  Considering how he had been used against Wesleyan, I assumed that Scibilia would be the likely workhorse against Bowdoin, and it became obvious early on that Middlebury had a more run-oriented game plan than usual.  He wasn't.  He gained 23 yards on 5 carries on the Panthers' opening drive and that was it for him.   With a notably weak opponent it was decided to reward a senior who has stayed with the program despite earning virtually no fan recognition for his efforts.  Finally given a chance to be an important part of the offense, senior Matt Cardew quite literally seized the opportunity and ran with it.   Hats off to OC Dave Caputi and HC Bob Ritter. 

[PolarCat]

+K Vandy for a nice feel good story.  I can almost hear the fans chanting "Rudy!  Rudy!"

And I'll give you another +K tomorrow for having the stones to break this boards unwritten rule by saying something complimentary about Coach Caputi

[lumbercat]

Great Post Vandy

I was on the fence on the whole senior cut issue but you put it in perspective. Very nicely stated. Really good post.

We chomp at the bit at the chance to beat Ritter in Lewiston but at the end of the day he runs a great program. He's got more resources and an immense amount of administrative and community support than we do and he capitalizes on it. We strive for that at Bates but its a long way off for the Bobcats. You guys are lucky up there.

Another Middlebury observation......... watched reserve QB Meservey in a couple of recent Middlebury  practices and the warm up at Bowdon on Saturday. This kids throwing mechanics, release and velocity on the football may be the best in the nescac. Meswevey is a junior, he's going to play one year at Mid- he would have been on the field as a FY or a Soph anywhere else in the NESCAC- Ritter is a magician to recruit this depth.

I know Leibowitz is the second coming up there but for this kid to be riding the bench is a crying shame. And we looked at another kid who threw the ball almost as good as Meservey who also may never get on the field.

Middlebury coach Ritter is a great recruiter of QBs but he leaves a lot of talent on the bench. The ability to recruit depth is a knack--- not sure how Ritter gets these QBs in the fold but he is good.

[Nescacman]

This post would be of little interest except for the recent thread concerning the treatment of relatively nonproductive seniors.

Middlebury's leading rusher against Bowdoin was senior RB Matt Cardew.  He lugged the ball 14 times for 74 yards.  His longest carry gained 13.  He also scored a touchdown.  Coming into this season his MC career numbers read 31 yards on 52 carries with a TD.  If you delete each season's longest gainer they become 30 yards on 28 carries.  Over three-plus seasons now he has put his body through the rigors and punishment of practice and training sessions while, no doubt, supplying team spirit on the sidelines and in the locker room with little to show for it.

Last season's leading ball carrier Diego Meritus is injured.  He is yet to play a down this season.  Freshman Peter Scibilia was the primary RB against Wesleyan although his 36 yards on 12 carries hardly stand out in the box score.   Watching his performance late in that game, however, when the Panthers had to stay on the ground to burn time off the clock, left me feeling confidant that if Meritus continues to be unavailable the team has a capable replacement.  Considering how he had been used against Wesleyan, I assumed that Scibilia would be the likely workhorse against Bowdoin, and it became obvious early on that Middlebury had a more run-oriented game plan than usual.  He wasn't.  He gained 23 yards on 5 carries on the Panthers' opening drive and that was it for him.   With a notably weak opponent it was decided to reward a senior who has stayed with the program despite earning virtually no fan recognition for his efforts.  Finally given a chance to be an important part of the offense, senior Matt Cardew quite literally seized the opportunity and ran with it.   Hats off to OC Dave Caputi and HC Bob Ritter.

Let's spin this story another way. Shows that literally anyone (Middlebury and a previously unheard of player) can run the ball against Bowdoin.

[Nescacman]

Nescacman, where was the game played? My son is saying Gillette Stadium?

The game was at Wesleyan, although there were discussions about having a NESCAC double header to start the season at Gillette when there was an 8-game schedule.