FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[polbear73]

Hope I'm not beating a dead horse, but Bowdoin really needs to replace Stalcup NOW. 

[SpringSt7]

When do we ever not beat a dead horse in here? You're in the clear. Stalcup might not be great but in my limited opinion Bowdoin has a lot of other stuff it needs to figure out that isn't going away overnight. Yeah you could make a switch and see what you have but I don't know what kind of situation he's going to be walking into. Should watch last week's Bears vs. Browns game before making your decision.

As for the rest of the game, the story has been Justin Burke through 2 quarters for Williams. 5 catches 99 yards and a TD, which by my count is already a career high in yards. Easy to forget he was all-league as both a freshman and sophomore, but fell out of the picture as a junior due to injuries and schematic fit. A huge boost for the Ephs to have him back in the fold.

[SpringSt7]

Bates will lose by less than 38 and I'll say right now they will lose by less than whatever your prediction is for Trinity and Williams too.  I'm doubling down on my Bates bet I guess.  When you have a QB who can play it's hard to lose by 40 to imperfect teams and no one in Nescac is perfect this year.

Will the NESCACMAN - nescac1 dinner be a 1 on 1 affair or does the entire consortium have to foot the bill?

[VoodooDoc]

Boel did a nice job today.  Some exciting things to come.

[polbear73]

Agree, Voodoo, he played well after his first pass sailed on him and was intercepted. Showed leadership and gained confidence throughout the half.

[nescac1]

Wow, Wesleyan could very easily have lost that game.  Bates driving for maybe the winning score, ball bounces off a receiver's hands for an interception.  Bates' last two drives ended in TOs.  Tough break for the Bobcats.

Bowdoin is definitely on the right path.  Their TB is DAMN good, maybe best in the league.  OL played pretty well today too.  Just couldn't finish drives.  Both QBs got a shot and neither was really noticeably better than the other but I agree Boel has promise.  Receivers seemed to drop some catchable balls for both, especially Boel, who could have had better stats.  The back-up does have a bigger arm for sure. 

Bowdoin D is definitely unusual.  They put a TON of pressure on the line of scrimmage.  Williams' physical running game went nowhere, a combo of meh blocking and great play up front by Bowdoin.  The only back who had success was Fischetti, who is a speed back who can wiggle through tight spaces rather than run dudes over.  But Bowdoin really exposes their secondary with so many guys in the box, which enabled Williams to torch them down the field much like Trinity did.  You need just absolutely stellar DBs to play that style and have a prayer to stop the pass.  Maimaron, Burke and Stola all were stellar in the passing game. 

Injuries really piling up which is a big concern for Williams.  Still no Wesner and two key defensive players left the game with injuries, including top CB Josh Wax with what looked like something pretty serious on the lower leg.  Two starting OL missing today as well.  Tim Landolfi had a nice game at LB off the bench and Austin Dehmel was excellent despite being repeatedly targeted after Wax went out. 

[Jonny Utah]

Boel did a nice job today.  Some exciting things to come.

Yea I was watching some of the Bowdoin and Bates games.  Once #10 for Bowdoin threw that real bad INT over the middle where WRs were open and #3 came in there seemed to be a spark. 

Bates on the other hand holy ****, those guys looked tough and on another level than their Brunswick brothers.

[AmherstStudent05]

Amherst rights the ship with a solid 24-21 win over a game Tufts team. Once again, Tufts hurt by the field goal kicking. Play of the game came when Tufts was attempting a short field goal that would have tied the game at 17. Amherst blocked the kick and returned the ball to the Tufts 20 yard line. We quickly converted with a TD to take a 24-14 lead. Tufts made things interesting at the end, but Amherst was able to hold on.

The big news for Amherst was that Chad Peterson has been demoted to third string QB. Breckinridge got the start and Mike Piazza got some play as well. Breckinridge ran for over a hundred yards, including a 69 yard run on our first offensive play, and three touchdowns, but we continue to struggle in the passing game.

For Tufts, Michael Berluti didn't get the start but he looked very promising indeed for the Jumbos. Kid definitely has an arm. I assume he is related to Alex and Bo? I wish we had gotten him!

Anyway, very nice bounce back win for Coach Mills and Crew. Schedule does not get any easier with a trip to Middlebury up next.

[SpringSt7]

Must be nice for Coach Mills to be able to call on a Hall of Fame catcher to call the signals and turn things around. Wonder how many of those crappy jokes that kid has heard over the years.

[xPolarDadx]

I think Bowdoin would have had a decent shot in the game if they abandoned the passing game and just ran Eden, D'Herete, and Boel all day.

That being said, Boel slings it fast, with a quick release.  Outside of the one INT on his first throw, he overthrew only one other pass.  All other incompletions hit the receivers in the hands (not all perfect, but catchable... just with zip).  Despite obviously not being a big weight room guy, he was pretty elusive when running or moving in the pocket.

Polar Bears did a great job on Stola for 3 quarters, but the Williams TEs had their number.  After the first long TD, it seemed like the DBs we're respecting the deep ball so much they left the TE come back wide open.  I don't know why Williams takes their 6'5" 245 TE with speed off the field, ever.

[polbear73]

I hope it's sustained, but for the first time in forever, I'm seeing tangible improvement in the Bowdoin football program. While they have not come close to winning a game yet, but improved play across the board allows for some hope,   something that hasn't been felt in Brunswick for a long, long time. Still a ways to go, but going in the right direction.

[nescac1]

Agree with the Bowdoin fans' takes.  Much tougher team than in 2019.  There are some roster holes but the game was certainly more even than the score indicated.  And holy cow that TB is good. 

[PolarCat]

Wow.  Rough week for the NESCACMAN octuplets.  I hope they found a decent breakfast in Lewiston since their next meal is a heaping bowl of crow.

Really happy for Costa's Cats.  Terrible recruiting, coaching change right before the season, short staffed, indifferent administration and student body but they keep bringing it.  Admirable.

[lumbercat]

I didn't see the Bowdoin game but am befuddled by all the accolades for Bowdoin in a loss where they scored 3 points. I will review the game further but not sure what I missed. The Eden kid is great, he's Nate Richam reincarnated.

Watched Bates outplay Wesleyan- Bobcats went toe to toe with the Birds in all three phases with a depleted roster only to suffer a devastating loss to a fine football team. Wes very fortunate to get on that bus with a W---- but at the end of the day a win is a win so the Bobcat nation sends a tip of the hat to the Birds.

Costa carried Bates- he's a great QB with the best arm and release in the conference. But he fumbled on a QB keeper down by 3 on the Wes 30 with Bates having their way on offense with 4 minutes to go trying to extend a run for a couple more yards....The Garcelon crowd thought he was down but they gave it to the Cards.

Bates D then forced a three and out and Bates got it back on their own 30 with about 3 minutes to go trailing 27-24. Costa calmly went to work. Three dimes by Costa took Bates down to the Wes 15 with 1:00 to go.  Wes couldn't stop the Bates passing attack all day. Bates had 2 timeouts left with first and 10 on the Wes 15. It was looking like like a Wes defeat. As the march continued, at the Wes 15 Costa threw a bubble screen to a sub WR receiver who came in the game due to injury. The ball hit the young WR on the numbers- he coughed it up in the air directly into the hands of Birds DB. Game over.......
27-24 Wes.

[amh63]

Was on the road a bit visiting family,etc.  Watching Nescac games online a bit..  Amherst's sports page really needs a SID....limited info on the fine games played on Sat......as well as players info.  Oh well...blame it on the departing Amherst's prez.  Bate's battle yesterday again illustrates the need for a solid QB.  Amherst is still searching for a QB, imo.  Amherst's defense is improving.  Tufts is a solid team...for it's 0-3 record to date.