FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[banfan]

So, you do not dispute anything that I wrote. They could fire a coach who goes 5-3?

Lowest paid position in conference. The coach of a national power in Lacrosse is going to split his time between two varsity sports. Why? Because the administration can get him cheap.

And you think there will be lots of interest in a job with that swirling around it. Does that make any sense to you?

By the way, can you give one reason why you rate Wes over Trinity?

In Clinton , NY there is a 90% chance of rain. Trinity runs the ball and Hamilton threw it 84 times in their first two games. "Weather: Not a factor." ?

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin marches down the field on it's opening possession to score a tuchdown against Tufts.  The 2 pt conversion failed.  Great start for the P'bears!

[maineman]

Can anyone find a link to the Midd-Amherst game that works?  If so, please send me it.

[P'bearfan]

Halftime in Brunswick and Bowdoin leads Tufts 20-14.  Bowdoin looks like a completely different team!  The entire offense including QB Caputi are playing very well.

[nescac1]

For the Kelton countdown folks, today's game may be the last straw -- four straight losses to Bates kind of speaks for itself, but worse is the way the team constantly, year after year, kills itself.  Williams hurt itself in every way a team can do so -- illegal procedures, false starts, total inability to read the defensive scheme, Bates able to time its rush nearly every time without Williams adjusting (obviously had the play cadence scouted), a blocked field goal, a missed extra point, a botched snap on an extra point, strange play calls, no adjustments at all to throw the defense off, constantly moving backwards and basically NEVER fooling Bates.  Williams got the ball consistently in incredible field position, basically lived on the Bates half of the field in the second half, but every time they took two steps forward, they took a step back with a negative yardage play or penalty.  The most embarrassing, 3rd and five, on the Bates 20, AFTER a BATES TO, they send 12 guys onto the field, five yard penalty.  Unreal.  That led to a 3rd and ten incompletion and then the blocked long FG.  Williams also threw a needless interception late in the first half when they seemed to be in total control, a pass to a one-man route covered by four men, maybe on QB, maybe on play call, but they were moving the ball and should have kept there to short passes and running plays.  Ended up being potentially a 14 point turnaround late in the half. 

The Williams defense really has given a heroic effort given that they were missing, I believe, three starters in the secondary which really hurt in the pass defense.  Bates defense also played very well and kudos to the Bates QB who played hurt and made some big plays. 

For Williams, Connor Harris gave the team a big spark, he is an exciting player who needs more touches.  Colin Brown had a very strong game at WR in play of injured Darias Sime, although did have a tough late drop which was costly.  Hopefully the injured guys (Sime, Harris, Cabarle, Scott) will all be coming back soon.  But when game after game, year after year, Williams finds ways to hurt itself in big moments, it's very frustrating to watch. 

[P'bearfan]

Bowdoin wins 33-20. Great job P'bears!

[quicksilver]

Polar Bears get very much back on track this afternoon, downing Tufts 33-20, as Mac Caputi plays his best game as QB and Tyler Grant is sensational, running for more than 200 yards and 4 TDs. A little problem with sportsmanship at the end of the game as the entire Tufts team runs off the field without the traditional hand shakes, likely at the instruction of the Tufts coach after a Jumbo threw a punch at a Bear after the game.

[amh63]

P'Bear ...happy for you!
Amherst wins over the Panthers in MIddlebury... 7-0..in a game dominated by Amherst's defense.

It was the first win and game that Amherst had more possession time!  Yippee...as Amherst took several knees to end the game in Midd's back yard.  Strange game in other ways..on a wet field and in the rain most of the game.  Against a Panther rush defense...first in the conference...Amherst rushed for over 250 yards.  Amherst passes from two QB were primarily short ones..remember it was raining.  Amherst had more TOs as Midd picked of two passes.  Still Amherst out passed the Panther QB....who was the player of the week.  Milano threw for less than 70 yards, while Amherst passed for just over 100 yards.  Amherst also beat Midd...in penalties..ugly..needs correction here...even though some calls on Amherst imo were a little...let us say here questionable.
The lone touchdown was by RB Nick Kelly from 59 yards out.  Believe Kelly may have run for over 100 yards.  He would be stopped for a lost and then carry defenders for 5 yards.  Amherst used 3 other RBs.  The Panthers offense played like pussycats.  their defense was solid...but could not stop Amherst's grinding offense.  Amherst's offense TOO often stopped itself.  The weather did impact the play calling by Amherst, imo.
A somewhat bias report...but a happy fan that did not have anything to drink at home!

[PolarCat]

I am wondering if NESCAC1 watched the same game in Lewiston I did.  (If Banfan was at Bates, I'd be interested in his take). My observations:

Williams is a very good team, with tall, fast, dangerous receivers.  Luckily, the Bates corners stepped up big time, and made some huge plays.

Game easily could have gone either way.  The difference wasBates OL and DL brought their A game today.  And QB Cannone decided he was getting a W today, EOD.  Even though he was injured in the 3Q he stepped up and threw a beautilul strike on 4th and long in the 4Q.  I'm guessing it went 40 yards with great touch, hitting his R in mid stride.  Gorgeous ball.

But there were plenty of impediments to Bates winning.  Starting with the fact this was far and away the worst reffed game I have ever seen, at any level.  Bates Special Teams gave up TD's to Tufts last week on a kickoff and a punt return, and the Ephs excellent R almost broke 2 today.  The tackling really needs to improve.

And although Bates has 3 K's on the roster (in addition to their all- NESCAC P), the first year who played today missed two chances today, and was lucky to have a third hit the crossbar and bounce through.  Too close for comfort.

All in all, a hard fought victory by a Bobcat team that refused to lose.

[PolarCat]

Thrilled for the Caputi's today, per et fil. It took a pair of stones for dad to tune out the naysayers and start Mac at QB, and he certainly delivered.  Hopefully that performance will quiet the chatter.

[banfan]

Bates vs Williams.

Close game with evenly matched teams but a lot of mistakes on both sides.
Going for two by Williams early in game was just plain dumb.
The Bates QB was hurt and hobbled in first half. Did not play in third quarter. Came back valiantly in fourth and saved Bate's bacon with bomb with about 1.5 minutes to play.
It was a badly reffed game but aren't they all?
Kelton calling time outs when Bates could run out the clock was kinda sad, desperate.

Look, Bates was the better team and I am glad they won with mistakes, key injuries and horrible refereeing BUT, Williams is not a very good football team and is not well coached. They might be a good basketball team. Very tall kids.

The weather was magnificent! (mist and gloom) Only thing missing was real grass

[warriorcat]

I just returned from Lewiston.  Yes, it was wet and gloomy but both teams played hard right up to the end.

Hats off to Bates for bouncing back from last week's debacle at Tufts. 

My observations from the Bates side of the field.

1) Matt Cannone displayed great toughness and grit.  The conversation on the Bobcat side at halftime was that he may have broken his ankle on a QB keeper late in the half.  As it turned out, the diagnosis was a high ankle sprain.  The decision was to bring in another QB.  Three-three and outs and minus 9 yds  later, Cannone returned to try to pull out the victory.  He led Bates to the only score in the second half with a one yard run with 2:28 remaining.  That run was set up by a 52 yard pass that Mark Riley (7 catches for 143 yds) took to the one.

2) On their last drive, the Bates offensive line played their best series of the season (14 plays 85 yards 7:45) helping the offense convert 4 third down plays to keep the Cats offense on the field and extend their one point lead to seven.

3) The Bates defense was back to form.  They were faced with defending short field throughout the second half but outstanding team defense held the Ephs scoreless in what was a one point game until the very end.  There may not be an obvious all league defensive player on this year's squad but it is a tough unit that plays hard on every down. 

4) The Bobcat punter, Dave Kurey, may not technically be listed as a member of the defense, but his punting today helped put the defense in better positions than they might have been in.  Eight punts - 44.2 ave- 3 inside the 20  including  a 64 yd punt in the third quarter when it looked like the Ephs would get the ball on the Bates side of the field.

[ContinentalsMan]

After Trinity shutout at Williams by a big number last week no one was sure what would happen in game Saturday at Hamilton ... the result continues to show the Continentals have undergone a huge change in just a few months under new coach Dave Murray ... Trinity led 3-0 at half and would win 19-7 but it was not easy ... three things turned the game ... There were 20 punts in the game and Hamilton had a couple of very short ones that set up shorts field scores for Trinity ... Meanwhile, the Trinity punter constantly put Hamilton in a tough spot, putting two inside the Hamilton 2 ... The Bantams also turned up the pressure on the Continentals in the second half and were able to get some timely sacks ... But Hamilton didn't quit and despite missing at least five starters to injuries, hung tough and two weeks in a row put a scare into the top two teams in the conference ... Bowdoin comes to Clinton next week for Homecoming ... will this be the game Hamilton finally puts it all together?

[daoustian]

For the Kelton countdown folks, today's game may be the last straw

I sure hope not.  Kelton needs a long leash to show what he can do.  It's pretty clear from his two years as a defensive coordinator at a premiere I-AA team like Columbia that he has the talent, and he just needs a few more recruiting classes under his belt.  Be patient Williams fans -- you'll always have women's crew in the meantime.  #AmherstFansForKelton

[banfan]

Daoustian, I am sure that most if not all Williams fans like and respect Kelton. They certainly want him to succeed as do I.  BUT, he has had four years and it is not like he had to change the culture as the new Hamilton coach has. Kelton has all the advantages of Williams and its tradition of winning and tough football. On top of that he has the best (I have not seen Amherst) facilities in the CAC. Yet, where is the improvement? Give me something besides his assistant coaching at Columbia. I was at the Trinity game and I was at the Bates game. There is some talent on that team but the offense is not very good. The running game does not exist. Kelton going for two in the first quarter? What was that about?

It is not my call. It is the Williams community that makes the call.

How about some Williams folks chiming in.