FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

The Trinity team won the battle of turnovers and that led to its 32-20 win over Amherst.  The key one was the pick 6 for a TD by the Trinity's defense in the 4th quarter that gave the host the lead.  Great play as both teams slugged it out.  The last TD was a fine pass by Trinity's QB.  It was set up by a short punt by Amherst that gave Trinity a short field to work with.  The game was closer than the score and the predictions.  That is how I saw it.

[shartwell]

Williams defense limits Wes running game to 62 yds, and forces 2 fumbles, a safety and a pick.  Eph passing offense was ragged and Hartwell (my son) shut down by Cards D, but Scyocurka back from injury runs for 200+ yds, including a 93 yd TD scamper.  Wesleyan kept knocking at the door all 2nd half, but the defense held - it was a nail-biter to the end.

[shartwell]

Sorry, the score was Williams 19, Wesleyan 7.

[madzillagd]

Shartwell -- I didn't get to see the entire game on the feed but from what I did see I'd say the Williams poor QB accuracy was more to blame than the Wes d. Just too many missed passes; a throw it up for grabs INT into double-coverage, etc.  The Ephs D did a great job of keeping Wes out of the end zone and the one TD they got should not have happened. We had the benefit of a replay but the sliding 'catch' by the Wes rcvr was clearly on the ground and the initial incomplete pass should not have been overruled.

[nescac1]

The Ephs' defense, after a rocky first half of the season, seems to really be coming together, and not a moment too soon.  Some young players like Cabarle in the secondary and Howe and Datema on the defensive line seem to really be coming on.  Given the continued struggles with the passing game, they will have to come up huge again vs. Amherst.

It's too bad Williams can't seem to get it together at QB, because they do have an excellent group of WRs led by Hartwell but they go super deep as well with pretty fast guys like Payton, Beaton, Brewington, Riemann, and some very tall and talented frosh.  Just need to find a way to get them the ball down field!  Good to see Scyocurka have a break-out game.  Coach Kelton was quoted in the release as saying he is still not 100 percent.  If he could ever finally get healthy (hopefully he will have better luck in the next two years than in the last two) he could really be a force in NESCAC.  Amherst seemed to hang with Trinity for most of the game and played them fairly even, so Williams will have to play its best game of the season to pull out a win.  Amherst has received very good production from a frosh back in recent weeks after their starter went down to injury earlier in the year.  And it appears that the Jeffs' young QBs are also improving. 

What a year for Foote.  I imagine he must own, or will soon own, virtually every single season record for a NESCAC QB ... and he still has a year left to play. 

[amh63]

Some football reflections after TOO much football watching.
Interesting that the home field advantage held up for Trinity and Williams.  Looking at the "stats", the games in Williamstown and Hartford looked closer than the scores.  Both games had BIG plays....the 95 yard run for a TD in "Willie town" and the 60 yd. pick for a TD in the Coop.  Both appear to be a game changer, imho.  Trinity's defense came up big in the 4th quarter....Banfan's son had a sack as
Trinity had 3 sacks versus 2 sacks for Amherst.  The Ragone brothers had good games and a runner name Bunker again made the difference....this time it was for Trinity.
Talk about a big game in the South in D3....the Wash.& Lee versus Hampton-Sidney football game went to 3OT's.....just like the Pitt. and ND game.  The Amherst vs. Williams game will not go there.
Harvard beat Columbia 69-0 yesterday.  Was Harvard running it up after Columbia beat Yale earlier?
The "CAC" season is coming to the end.....But, as they say on TV.....Are you READY for some FOOTBALL?....this Sat.
Guess, you can guess that I am ready for Homecoming this coming Sat.  Ready to join classmates coming in from the UK, Canada, the far West, the South and yes the NE area.  We will eat well and lie about how brilliant we were in the last century in our tent to the disbelief of our spouses...and even watch a bit of action on the field.
Good luck to all in the games ahead.

[shartwell]

madzillagd - agree that Williams QB accuracy was a problem, and also that the receiving core is very capable if the QB has time and can get it there.  One of the contributing factors I found out later that the starting Ephs center came down sick Saturday morning, affecting an o-line that is already in a rebuilding year.

On the controversial catch, my view from the sideline was blocked but several of the Ephs players thought it was a catch.  I do want to catch the game replay online.

[frank uible]

A general statistical proposition which the Trinity and Williams outcomes reconfirm is that a yard gained rushing is more valuable than a yard gained passing.

[gridiron]

Report from the Tufts game.  Surprisingly nice weather.  Very sunny with steady wind.  Tailgating was in full swing with supporters of both the Jumbos and Mules having a great time before, during and after the contest. 

An extremely competitive game with both teams looking very good in stretches.  Both teams made some big plays and both were able to put together impressive scoring drives in the first half.  Both had excellent opportunities to close the other one out in regulation time, but it was not to be.  In the end Colby made the big play in overtime to leave town with the win. 

Couldn't help but fondly recall the days before overtime.  The teams probably deserved to tie, but I'm sure Colby is thrilled with hard fought victory.

[frank uible]

Football ties were less than good, but overtimes are something less than football.

[lumbercat]

Bates-Bowdoin
Bates clinches the Maine State Championship.
A surprising warm day in Brunswick for a defensive battle between these long time rivals. Bates moved the ball well in the first half but shot themselves in the foot with a fumble, a bad shotgun snap and an int coming away with no points on some good drives.
Bowdoin moved the ball well in the second half but also turned the ball over. The story of the game was the Bates defense that stopped Bowdoin 3 different times on with 4th and 1 yard or less. Bates also ripped the ball from the hands of a Bowdoin receiver on the Bates 20. Later Bates stole the ball from a Bowdoin ball carrier in a gang tackle scrum--both were forced takeaways by a ball hawking defense.
The game displayed some very good athletes on the defensive side of the ball who should be All NESCAC selections: Bowdoin LB Cardew, Bates Safety Kukesh  and Bates CB Starr
The field was soft but dry however I've never seen the Bowdoin playing surface in that kind of condition, lumpy with thin grass---maybe a field turf surface will be on the future agenda for Whittier.
More Garnet clad fans on the Bates side of the field clad in which made for a large, spirited tailgate.

[Trin9-0]

What a gutsy win for Trinity! If I'm not mistaken, Wesleyan's loss secures a NESCAC championship for the Bants. Can anyone confirm? Also, anyone happen to know if a NESCAC championship is enough to get a ring, or does Trinity require an undefeated season to distribute "the bling"? 47 in a row in the COOOOOOP! Way to go, boys!

Indeed, Trinity secured at least a share of the NESCAC title with the win. If Wesleyan upsets the Bantams on Saturday Trin would share the title with Middlebury (if the Panthers also win) despite having beaten them head-to-head.
Unless things have changed since 2002 you need to go undefeated to get a ring in Hartford. We did receive NESCAC Championship watches for our 7-1 record back in '02 however.

I'm hopeful that the Bants will take care of business this weekend against Wesleyan. With a perfect season on the line there shouldn't be any reason for them not to show up ready to play. With that said, the Cards have given Trinity trouble in two of their last three meetings and Trin hasn't played particularly well this year in road games on grass surfaces. A win for Wesleyan would be a huge boost for their program and the rivalry.

I know there's still a full slate of games to be played but here are my early picks for player/coach of the year:

Coach - Mark Harriman, Bates: One of the best seasons in recent memory for the Bobcats despite dealing with the tragic death of Troy Pappas.

OPY - Toss-up between McCallum Foote, Middlebury and Evan Bunker, Trinity: Foote is essentially rewriting the NESCAC record book but Bunker has nearly twice as many rushing yards and rushing touchdowns as the next closest candidates despite sharing carries with Ben Crick (who's fourth overall in rushing and tied for second in rushing TDs). My guess is that Foote will get the award however Bunker outplayed him when the teams faced each other.

DPY - Rae Haynes, Trinity: Captain of the league's best defense, is second on the team in tackles, he's top 5 in the league in pass break-ups and interceptions and his pick-6 essentially won the game for Trinity over Amherst.

[banfan]

Well, Amherst made it a game.  We did not play our best.  The Midd game was our best this year.  The Jeffs played hard and for four quarters.  Trin wears people down.  Twenty points in the 4th qrtr. and only gave up 3 in the second half.  How in heck did Amherst lose to Midd?  Your QB has to be a better basketball player.  Reminded me of a skinny Frank 'Red' Harris from BC.  Sit back in the shotgun and throw it all over the field.

We made some mistakes.  Bad personal foul, kicked the ball out of bounds twice to give Amherst the ball on the 35.  But overall a pretty steady game against the second best team in the CAC.

Does anyone have a problem with Foote playing almost to the end of the Ham game?  Running up the score and the stats.  After getting the snot kicked out of them the prior week against an actual defense, not much character displayed.  Setting records against those defenses is hollow.  They passed the ball 60 times and ran it 18?  Gotta say that Midd is better than that.

Great for Bates!!!
Good for Williams.  It will be a battle in Middletown but unless we don't show, Wes is not quite there.  I do like improvements there though.

Trin has a tough schedule with the last three being the three biggest games of the year.  Mid Terms are over and the league is theirs.  Motivated to be sure that Midd does not share anything with this team.  How the heck did Amherst lose to the panthers??

[maineman]

Does anyone have a problem with Foote playing almost to the end of the Ham game?  Running up the score and the stats.  After getting the snot kicked out of them the prior week against an actual defense, not much character displayed.  Setting records against those defenses is hollow.  They passed the ball 60 times and ran it 18?  Gotta say that Midd is better than that.

Great for Bates!!!
Good for Williams.  It will be a battle in Middletown but unless we don't show, Wes is not quite there.  I do like improvements there though.

Trin has a tough schedule with the last three being the three biggest games of the year.  Mid Terms are over and the league is theirs.  Motivated to be sure that Midd does not share anything with this team.  How the heck did Amherst lose to the panthers??

Midd scored their last passing touchdown a little over a minute into the 4th quarter.  That made a two score lead into a 3 score lead.  The last touchdown was a rushing touchdown midway through the 4th quarter.  Maybe Hamilton didn't agree to not try to score anymore?

[frank uible]

The not-unheard-of occurences of outrageously large late comebacks facilitated by the wide open nature of modern football tend to make coaches reluctant to ease up on leads until almost the final gun.