FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[tarpondad]

Tufts started out slow, but the QB finally found his groove, and the D held, good solid game.

Hopefully the Wes QB makes a speedy recovery.

[nescac1]

What happened to the Wesleyan QB?

[Ephmen1991]

NESCAC 1, you got that right.  Ephs definitely looked sharp in the second half and Moffitt is not afraid to throw it deep.  Impressive drive in the 3rd quarter from their own .5 yard line for a touchdown.  We will need Powell and Szawloski, one of the tackles, to be healthy for Trin.

[nescac1]

Glad to hear it.   What is the story with Powell and Szalowski?  Any update on Schultz's knee injury? 

[tarpondad]

Okay:

Wes QB was sacked by Tufts Frosh Matt Williams, # 90, looks like the QB will be out for season.

[nescac1]

Thanks tarpondad.  Wow, brutal. 

[Col. Partridge]

But way to give your son credit for ending someone's season, Mr. Williams (a/k/a tarpondad).

Edit:  I take that back.  There are two frosh on the Tufts roster from Charlotte HS in Punta Gorda, FL ("The Tarpons").  I don't know for certain Matt Williams is your son.

[eclinchy]

Good to see Fucillo find his groove in the second half. He was overthrowing quite a few people in the early going, but he looked much better later on.

On another note: Will Forde is all kinds of good.

[nescac1]

Based on the stats, quite a show put on by Oliver Kell and McKillop at the Bowdoin / Middlebury game.  Those two should both have huge years and fight Eric McGrath for all-league QB honors.  First time starters for Tufts, Amherst, and Williams all put up impressive stats in their debuts as well. 

Midd's defense may, unsurprisingly, be a little down after all the guys they lost to graduation.  Nothing that happened yesterday changes the pre-season consensus ... Williams, Amherst, Trinity, Midd, and Tufts are the contenders.  Next week will give a little more insight into how they stack up against each other with the big Eph / Bantom match-up.   Should be an intense game as Trinity still remembers that it was the Ephs who stopped their big winning streak two years ago, and the memory of last year's heart-breaking triple overtime loss (a game the Ephs should have put away before OT) is fresh in Williams' mind. 

The Williams game write-up said that Powell was out with an illness, so that will give the Ephs another big weapon to utilize against Trinity's defense.  Caro and Powell, plus Carroll at tight end, provide a huge trio of downfield weapons for the Ephs ... it will be interesting to see how Moffitt looks with all three at his disposal, but against a MUCH stiffer defense.  Look for Bryce Bennett to become the Eph version of "Slash" as he gets more practice reps in that role ... hopefully Szalowski is not seriously hurt and will return to the field next week ...   

[redtail]

hamilton offense is brutal again in 30-6 loss.  defense not as bad as score indicated - they were on the field all day.  hamy going to have to look at QB situation spot again this year.  Hamy - Wesy should be interesting mext week.

[redswarm81]

For what it's worth, I've (somewhat inadvertently, somewhat "vertently") rekindled the "why won't NESCAC join the NCAA playoffs" conflagration on the Division III rivalries board in General Football.

The discussion might benefit from some NESCAC input, since I'm for the most part the lone defender of NESCAC's decisions with respect to NCAA playoffs, and I'm an outsider.

[neathDelms]

Trinity vs Williams in less than 3 days!  Any thoughts?

[nescacftbl]

I would like to see a 9 game schedule with the top two playing the 10th game for NESCAC Title.

[Pat Coleman]

That seems excessive considering they'll have played once already. Doubt any NESCAC president would sign off on that.

[nescac1]

Forecast is for rain on Saturday in Williamstown.  Given that this is the last year on the grass field, conditions could be rough.  Normally that would favor Trinity as a traditional running team and Williams as more of a passing team, but this year both offenses figure to be very balanced, so probably a wash.  Trinity defense is obviously a lot better than Colby's, but Williams offense should be stronger this week with Powell back and Moffitt more confident after a solid first game.  Still, I'd expect the Ephs to try to overpower Trinity's relatively young front seven with lots of runs up the gut with Morrissey and their bread-and-butter short screens to Powell.  As for the Ephs, they look VERY strong against the pass this year with good pass rushers and a great veteran secondary, but with Schultz out and the losses up front to graduation, they are smallish and not very deep at LB and DT, so Trinity may employ the same approach.