FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin defeats Hamilton 30 - 24 but the game had a crazy finish.

Bowdoin started the second half strong.   Mac Caputi moved the team down the field efficiently including a nice deep throw on a crossing pattern and then a throw for a TD. 

I wasn't able to view the game again until late in 4th.  With just over 2 min remaining and Bowdoin up 22 - 17, Tyler Grant broke a long run for a TD.  Hamilton had kept Grant bottled up until then.  Bowdoin made the 2 pt conversion.  At this point the game looked like it was wrapped up but as Coach Corso would say...."Not so fast my friend!!"

Amman Weaver from Hamilton took the ensuring kick off 85 yards for a Hamilton TD.  That was a combination of great running by Weaver and really poor coverage by Bowdoin.  Hamilton converts the PAT and the score is 30- 24 in favor of Bowdoin with just less than 2:00 to play.

Bowdoin recovers a very good on side kick attempt.  The P'bears run the ball up the middle 3 times to drain the clock.  With just 17 ticks on the clock Bowdoin sets up for a punt.....and the Continentals block it and recover the ball on the Bowdoin 27 with just 9 seconds to go.

Hamilton sends everyone into the end zone but the pass is intercepted by Bowdoin.  Unbelievably the camera for the web feed was focused on an empty part of the field so we never saw what happened in the end zone.  According to the announcers there were no Hamilton receivers near the pass - which seem very odd as it didn't look like the QB was under any pressure (but again it's kinda hard to tell when the camera is pointed at empty turf).

Finally, Bowdoin takes a knee to secure the victory.  Whew....a little too close for comfort but congrats to the Polar Bears.

Mac Caputi finishes the day 17-30 (56.7%) for 209 yards and 1TD and 0INT. 

[amh63]

Amherst wins over a depleted Colby team 35-10...at Pratt Field.  Game has its twist and turns but Amherst ends the game with three knees at the 29 or less in Colby's backyard.  Colby led 3-0 at the half after Amherst missed a tying field goal.  Amherst started  FY Reese Foy at QB...two 3 and out....and was replaced by soph QB, the posted starter.  No offense....Colby dominates time, and most everything else.  Tried two 4th and short in the red zone.  Amherst stops the Mules both times...one on a take away.  Bates' FG was strong.  Reese Foy does come back in and moves the offense due to running by Nick Kelly.  However, Foy throws an interception in the end zone....drive stopped.
Second half...it was another story as the Sun comes out.  Senior QB Lippe starts the 2nd half and finishes the game with three knee downs.  Amherst scores 3 TDs in the 3rd....and yes Colby scores one TD on a long pass that was challenged to no avail.
Amherst at the start of the 4th, with Colby on its 15 yard line....pick up a pick 6 TD by LB Dean...19 yards.  Amherst win the TOs battle with three interceptions and several fumbles I believe.  Oh yes, there was a fumble recovery that was run in for a TD.....long run by a tired Amherst player....but was called back by a man in stripes.
Lippe threw 3 TDs and even ran the ball at times.  A long ball pass was good to the one yard line.  Two running TD.
Colby followed its football "script" again.  Played strong in the first half against strong opponents...only to loose in the second.
Announcer noticed that several Colby players were playing both sides......when Amherst was bringing in many new players in the 2nd half for game experience.

[nescac1]

Williams is now 0-8 in its last 8 games decided by 7 points or less.  That's an incredible statistic, a combination of everything that could go wrong in close games, has.   As per the usual over those eight games, Williams had a chance to make a big play late, but instead, the opponent made it.  The biggest play of the game was a 4th and 10 completion on what would have ended the game in the Ephs' favor with anything short of first down.  I'm sure every fan who has watched the team over the past few years knew it was coming. 

[PolarCat]

Bates played their best football of the year, jumping out to an early lead, stifling Wes offense, and blocking FG and PAT.  All the time playing without their starting QB, corner and safety.  The Bobcats played with incredible heart and tenacity.

The biggest surprise of the game was the Cards APPALINGLY poor sportsmanship.  Late hit on a receiver out of bounds, disgusting cheap shot hit on the Bates QB after he'd already slid for a first, and the grand daddy of them all was Coach Whale coming all the way out to the hash marks to argue a call, and drawing a penalty flag for his bombast.  If I was a Cards alum or parent, I'd be really embarrassed.

Cards QB was exceptional and their secondary made some huge plays, but the lack of class they displayed is the impression that sticks. 

[lumbercat]

Polarcat-
You and I saw the same game, very well stated. Bates D played a fantastic game-
A lot of heart on that team. Def Coordinator Kempton has the Bates D playing extremely well.

QB Dugan was put in a tough predicament today against a very good football team- the kid is a grinder who played hard and hung in there all day taking anything Wes was dishing out and getting up and grinding until the end.

A bit of arrogance projects from the Wesleyan arsenal--maybe they think that is a characteristic of  a great program- I disagree. It all filters down from the Whale who rode the refs hard all day.

Polarcat is spot on relative the cheap hits but I'd like to provide some additional detail on the out of
bounds hit by Wes on the Bates QB. Classic dirty hit- the Wesleyan kid should have been ejected.
Late in the game Dugan completes a huge run for a first down and goes out of bounds at the Wesleyan 2. He's 3 steps out bounds where he starts to let up as the play is long over and the Wes kid drills him, blatant,way late.
On the 2, I believe the Wes kid knew it would be a net penalty of 1 yard and he tried to put Dugan out of the game and he almost did but Dugan got up slowly and to his credit came back and competed after.

Tired of the ticky calls by these refs on infractions that wouldn't be a foul in a basketball game and then you see a kid try to take out another player like that today and they don't have the guts to make the right call.

Wanted to post my observations  but let me say Wesleyan is a fine football team, they outplayed Bates in the end today and got the win. Believe they will have their hands full with Trinity. Their O line is smallish by today's Nescac standards and not sure how effectively they will run the ball against Trin and even Amherst. Warren is the best QB in the league.

[frank uible]

In football, especially late Williams College football, Little Things Mean a Lot (Kitty Kallen).

[PolarCat]

Lumbercat, thanks for corroborating my observations.  I made my post from my phone (tiny little keyboard) so kept it short by necessity.  Primarily, I wanted to express my feelings about Wes' sportsmanship while they were still on my mind.  The really infuriating thing is that they are a good team, and don't need to play like that.  When you have 125 kids show up at camp and can cut 50 to make your roster, it stands to reason you have some very good players indeed.  Not just QB Warren (who had 262 yards passing), but also their graduate student D back Jake Bussani, who made some fantastic athletic plays, though he got called on one (though I thought it was interference, not just illegal contact).  I felt badly for the Wes kicker; the two missed FG's were due to high snaps, not his efforts.

In my book, the stars for the 'Cats were QB Dugan who stepped up BIG TIME, and the entire defensive unit, which held Wes scoreless on their first five possessions, including several in the red zone.  Pretty amazing given that two of Bates' stars (Ben Coulibaly and Trevor Lyons) were out today. 

The Bobcats should be very proud of themselves today, both in the way they played and the way they comported themselves.

And a special shout out to Bates' two freshmen kickers: Drew Korn who completed his first collegiate FG today after a really rough outing against Williams last week, and Grant DeWald, who made a touchdown-saving tackle on the second-half kickoff, in his first ever collegiate game.

[jumpshot]

Thanks, NESCAC1 for deflecting amH63's frail attempt to diminish Williams' excellent new facilities far superior to amHerst's squandered cash (science building) and poorly designed football and track renovation. Perhaps he's annoyed by recent EPH wins against  hyped lord jeffs in volleyball, women's tennis, etc.,and continuing negative national publicity and campus unrest ( see recent student newspaper).
Oh well, the relative reality of the two distinctly different institutions is not likely to change in our remaining lifetimes ...:

[NothingButNESCAC]

One other thing to add that bears mentioning is that Hamilton scored with 2:24 left to go down 22-17. Then they appeared to recover their onside kick but an offsides penalty negated it. The second try Bowdoin managed to recover the ball and Grant scored
the touchdown two plays later.

Bowdoin defeats Hamilton 30 - 24 but the game had a crazy finish.

Bowdoin started the second half strong.   Mac Caputi moved the team down the field efficiently including a nice deep throw on a crossing pattern and then a throw for a TD. 

I wasn't able to view the game again until late in 4th.  With just over 2 min remaining and Bowdoin up 22 - 17, Tyler Grant broke a long run for a TD.  Hamilton had kept Grant bottled up until then.  Bowdoin made the 2 pt conversion.  At this point the game looked like it was wrapped up but as Coach Corso would say...."Not so fast my friend!!"

Amman Weaver from Hamilton took the ensuring kick off 85 yards for a Hamilton TD.  That was a combination of great running by Weaver and really poor coverage by Bowdoin.  Hamilton converts the PAT and the score is 30- 24 in favor of Bowdoin with just less than 2:00 to play.

Bowdoin recovers a very good on side kick attempt.  The P'bears run the ball up the middle 3 times to drain the clock.  With just 17 ticks on the clock Bowdoin sets up for a punt.....and the Continentals block it and recover the ball on the Bowdoin 27 with just 9 seconds to go.

Hamilton sends everyone into the end zone but the pass is intercepted by Bowdoin.  Unbelievably the camera for the web feed was focused on an empty part of the field so we never saw what happened in the end zone.  According to the announcers there were no Hamilton receivers near the pass - which seem very odd as it didn't look like the QB was under any pressure (but again it's kinda hard to tell when the camera is pointed at empty turf).

Finally, Bowdoin takes a knee to secure the victory.  Whew....a little too close for comfort but congrats to the Polar Bears.

Mac Caputi finishes the day 17-30 (56.7%) for 209 yards and 1TD and 0INT.

[NothingButNESCAC]

Just noticed the unintentional but entirely terrible "bears" pun in my post above. Please accept my sincerest apology for making all of you suffer that.

[Vandy74]

Middlebury has been a hard team to figure.  They spent the first 59 minutes of this afternoon's game with Williams matching the Ephs in self-defeating miscues.  They didn't lose badly to a Wesleyan team that stands 4-0.  They had little trouble with Colby but didn't overpower them in any way.  In a rain drenched game with Amherst if you negate one 59 yard run (49 yards longer than any other run from scrimmage that day) you have a scoreless tie determined in the same manner as today's contest with Williams.  The effect of last week's weather understood, the Panther offense which seems to have very capable personnel came within :59 of going ten quarters without scoring a TD while managing only a pair of FG.  Yet they ended this drought by going 60 yards in 1:16 and followed that up by scoring a TD in their first possession of OT.

My gut feeling is that the Panthers are a good football team.  Coach Ritter's program is solid.  But I also see a conference this season with a lot of parity.  Despite some teams' records, with few exceptions I think anyone can win or lose on any given Saturday.  I'm hoping for better weather in Middlebury against Bates next week than we had for the Amherst game I had to miss anyway. 

[Vandy74]

Just noticed the unintentional but entirely terrible "bears" pun in my post above. Please accept my sincerest apology for making all of you suffer that.

We'll just have to grin and bear it.

[magicman]

Just noticed the unintentional but entirely terrible "bears" pun in my post above. Please accept my sincerest apology for making all of you suffer that.

We'll just have to grin and bear it.

Plus K Vandy!!

[banfan]

The Trinity O started slowly as it often does. It woke up after Tufts scored after the Trin special teams gave up a very long run back. Tufts had the ball on inside the 5. Trinity is a team that runs well and should only pass after it has established the run. They might be better off running to set up the pass. Opening drives against weaker teams should be better. The D is very good and maybe they are better off progressing with the pressure of giving up the first TD. Yesterday's first TD was not on the D.
After the Bantams realized that Tufts punt and kickoff return teams are pretty good, they kicked away from them. With kickoffs in particular being effective. Chip shots to the 30 which were fair caught by Tufts resulted in better results. That was good coaching. Perhaps Trin was willing to take a few attempts at stopping the Jumbos special teams but after failing were prepared to back off.
Tufts #14 Zack Trause is not only a tough runner but he has surprising speed. Actually, I thought that Tufts overall had good speed. They went to back up QB late and he can throw the ball well and hard but has poor mobility. Their O line protected pretty well and of course the officials helped, but he held the ball a little too long.
Again, we played the fourth quarter with our bench. Our third string QB has played quite a lot this year. Based upon posters disgust with the Wes lack of character, it would appear that, should the last game be as big as it looks, we will at least have the support of this site in that game.

Home game next week at Bowdoin (I live in Maine). I know, another NESCAC walk over. Who the heck made this gawd awful schedule?! We are sooooooo lucky to have another easy one. (tic)

Hope they have some electricity for the tailgate. Fish Chowdah.

[FourMoreYears]

Amman Weaver from Hamilton took the ensuring kick off 85 yards for a Hamilton TD.  That was a combination of great running by Weaver and really poor coverage by Bowdoin.  Hamilton converts the PAT and the score is 30- 24 in favor of Bowdoin with just less than 2:00 to play.

Hamilton sends everyone into the end zone but the pass is intercepted by Bowdoin.  Unbelievably the camera for the web feed was focused on an empty part of the field so we never saw what happened in the end zone.  According to the announcers there were no Hamilton receivers near the pass - which seem very odd as it didn't look like the QB was under any pressure (but again it's kinda hard to tell when the camera is pointed at empty turf).

Perhaps some others can shed light ... is there a rule in college football that allows a player receiving a kickoff to have his knee on the ground while catching the ball and return it? I always thought they were down at that point, in college at least.  Weaver from Hamilton did just that on the 85yd return.  It was a short kick and he had to run forward a bit to get under it.  I was standing on the grassy knoll (fonder for conspiracy theorists) at the 15yd line and had a pretty good view. 

As far as the Hamilton QB, my memory tells me he was under ZERO pressure.  It was almost like they had a play drawn up and the receivers weren't in the end zone where they thought he would be.  Strange play call ... Hamilton had been throwing the ball to wide open receivers with access to the sidelines all day long.  Thought they had time to do just that and set up a much closer play into the end one.

One last comment from a non-Hamilton supporter: I do think this new Hamilton HC has the program headed in the right direction.  They are a much better football team and the spirit around the team appears to be much improved.