FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[PolarCat]

Quite the Homecoming in Lewiston today, as the Mules showed the Bates crowd that their blow out victory last week was anything but a fluke.  The Garcelon Field crowd was on the edge of their seats all day, as the Bobcats were twice down by 2 TD's.

Unfortunately for Colby, Bates QB Matt Cannone just refused to lose, grinding back from setback after setback.  Including one of the dirtiest plays I've ever seen, when Colby's CB #2 made a late, helmet to helmet hit on the defenseless Cannone when he was already down.  The type of cheap shot that would draw expulsion in D1, or a suspension and a 5 figure fine in the NFL.  The entire stadium held its breath as Cannone lay motionless on the turf.  We were all sure his season (maybe his career) was over.

Instead, he was back in the game 3 plays later, and threw a gorgeous touchdown strike to turn it into a 1 score game.  Amazingly tough kid, and an inspiring competitor.  Will be fun to watch him through the stretch.

Bates Special Teams had their best game of the season.  Not just P David Kurey, but also freshman K Grant DeWald.  DeWald played in place of Bates' other K, who has struggled with consistency all season. In his first NESCAC start he went 4 for 4, including the clutch PAT that tied the game with 32 seconds on the clock and sent it to OT.

All day, the Bobcat defense had bent but didn't break, and they really stepped up in OT, stifling the Colby air attack and giving Cannone the chance to put the game away.  Which he did with yet another beautiful pass over the middle.

It was the first OT game the Bobcat seniors had ever played, but you would never know that from their grit and poise.  A very special victory, overcoming not only a talented Mules team, but also what was quite possibly the worst officiating crew in D3.  (I know dreadful refs are commonplace,but I honestly think you could have randomly selected 6 homeless people off the streets, and they could have called a better game.)

All in all a great win for a Bobcats team that has struggled through adversity all season, but refused to quit.

[Vandy74]

Last night in Middlebury the high school football team won it's 20th consecutive game beating Champlain Valley Union 54-6 in the state DI quarterfinals.   Senior tailback Bobby Ritter carried the ball 6 times for 218 yards and 3 TDs including a 93 yarder to kick-start a sluggish offense in the 1st Q.  Did his accomplishments portend today's convincing upset of Trinity by Coach Bob Ritter's Panthers?  Congratulations to Middlebury football this weekend.  Tigers and Panthers.

[Trin9-0]

Thought this group might enjoy a look at what exactly a 13 year home winning streak looks like in its entirety:

W - Hamilton 10 @ Trinity 21
W - Bowdoin 34 @ Trinity 50
W - Wesleyan 14 @ Trinity 28
W - Colby 10 @ Trinity 17
W - Tufts 12 @ Trinity 13
W - Middlebury 20 @ Trinity 22
W - Amherst 14 @ Trinity 21
W - Williams 0 @ Trinity 10
W - Hamilton 7 @ Trinity 45
W - Bowdoin 0 @ Trinity 51
W - Wesleyan 0 @ Trinity 53
W - Bates 0 @ Trinity 49
W - Tufts 14 @ Trinity 36
W - Middlebury 7 @ Trinity 28
W - Amherst 7 @ Trinity 31
W - Williams 6 @ Trinity 34
W - Hamilton 0 @ Trinity 58
W - Bowdoin 3 @ Trinity 23
W - Wesleyan 7 @ Trinity 63
W - Colby 10 @ Trinity 27
W - Tufts 0 @ Trinity 17
W - Middlebury 3 @ Trinity 34
W - Amherst 0 @ Trinity 24
W - Williams 40 @ Trinity 46
W - Hamilton 7 @ Trinity 42
W - Bowdoin 13 @ Trinity 54
W - Wesleyan 14 @ Trinity 32
W - Bates 7 @ Trinity 17
W - Tufts 27 @ Trinity 28
W - Middlebury 31 @ Trinity 34
W - Amherst 13 @ Trinity 30
W - Williams 21 @ Trinity 26
W - Hamilton 8 @ Trinity 38
W - Bowdoin 31 @ Trinity 45
W - Wesleyan 23 @ Trinity 26
W - Colby 6 @ Trinity 33
W - Tufts 7 @ Trinity 27
W - Middlebury 10 @ Trinity 25
W - Amherst 13 @ Trinity 28
W - Williams 13 @ Trinity 21
W - Hamilton 0 @ Trinity 35
W - Bowdoin 0 @ Trinity 31
W - Wesleyan 0 @ Trinity 27
W - Bates 16 @ Trinity 37
W - Tufts 7 @ Trinity 40
W - Middlebury 7 @ Trinity 45
W - Amherst 20 @ Trinity 32
W - Williams 13 @ Trinity 20
W - Hamilton 13 @ Trinity 48
W - Bowdoin 21 @ Trinity 40
W - Wesleyan 10 @ Trinity 40
W - Colby 7 @ Trinity 32
W - Tufts 14 @ Trinity 35

Thinking of all the dominating performances, miracle finishes, and mostly all of the different players and coaches involved in these 53 straight wins makes me PROUD to be a Trinity College Football alum. GO BANTS!

[lumbercat]

Warriorcat-
Very accurate report on a fantastic game between Colby and Bates. You are right, Bates refused to lose and Cannone is one of the toughest, grittiest competitors I have seen. He has made countless clutch throws today and throughout the year and had another great game today.
Great win and one of the best comebacks in recent memory in Lewiston.

You say it will be fun to watch Cannone next year- does he have another year of eligibility?

[maineman]

Did anybody see the injury to Trinity's Oiiver that was away from the play?  The description on the play by play was that it was a cheap shot by Nate Leedy.  Can anyone describe what happened?

[amh63]

Posters!...we are posting well...reached 500 pages for a conference that only plays 8 games and does not go into the post season.  Good job all in both quality and quantity.
The Amherst has posted its writeup of the win over Tufts....has a video highlight of the game.
Looking at the stats....offensively one would think the game would be close.  tufts had one more play than Amherst and 5 more yards.  amherst had one more first down and only 4 more minutes of possession time.  Amherst won with field position...kicking game and the TOs battle with 4 picks and one lost fumble.  The defense was super with 6 sacks and many hurries leading to several picks.
QB Lippe stayed in the game into the 4 th quarter.  Left after his TD pass.  He ran for a TD in the first quarter.  Passing yardage and rushing yardage were ok for both teams. When Lippe left the game, he was replaced by a new freshman QB who handed off to new RBs.  A number of young players got into the game on both sides in the second half.  Lippe has now gone 10 quarters with out a TO...steady hand.  Two of Amherst first team defensive line players got all the sacks.
It should be noted that Tufts got the three points on a FG soon after an 80 yard pass according to the announcers.  Th Jumbos also got to the 3 yard line late in the game...went for the TD...on 4 th and 1  but loss a yar d...ball back to the Jeffs.  Lippe steady hand got Amherst TOP even with Tufts.

[amh63]

Trinity8-0...you are scaring me .  Will ignore your post of the great run of victories.  Next week will worry.i

[Trin9-0]

Posters!...we are posting well...reached 500 pages for a conference that only plays 8 games and does not go into the post season.  Good job all in both quality and quantity.

Sorry to belabor the point but this post from amh63 got me thinking so I checked, and page 1 of this message board is dated four years AFTER the first victory of the Trinity home winning streak.

Any chance you'll be making the trip to Hartford for the game? Our tailgate is always open.

[PolarCat]

Warriorcat-
Very accurate report on a fantastic game between Colby and Bates. You are right, Bates refused to lose and Cannone is one of the toughest, grittiest competitors I have seen. He has made countless clutch throws today and throughout the year and had another great game today.
Great win and one of the best comebacks in recent memory in Lewiston.

You say it will be fun to watch Cannone next year- does he have another year of eligibility?

Sheesh, get your cat's right!  I put a lot of TLC into that post.  Meanwhile Warrior Cat is still at the tailgate, drinking PBR's.  All Cats are NOT created equal!

Seriously, it's all good.  Wasn't that a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon?

[banfan]

Congratulations to Middlebury! It was going to happen and I am glad it was Midd. As some of you may know, my wife was a Midd Kid.

[lumbercat]

Polarcat-
Sorry for the oversight- does Cannone have another year of eligibility?

[lumbercat]

Polarcat-
Sorry for the oversight- does Cannone have another year of eligibility?

[PolarCat]

Polarcat-
Sorry for the oversight- does Cannone have another year of eligibility?

I had it in my mind that he was a Junior, but I see from the roster he is actually a senior.  My bad.  Must have had a couple too many PBR's at the tailgate myself.   

[PolarCat]

Couple of morning after thoughts about Bates.

First, I forgot to mention some key plays / players in my post yesterday.  That touchdown to tie with 32 seconds left would not have happened without Adam Cuomo's clutch fumble recovery that gave Bates the ball on the Colby 18 with 2:06 left in the game.

Second, for a team that is not known for its recruiting, some Bates kittens (according to Wikipedia, that's the technical name for a baby Bobcat) had fine games.  Sophomore defenders Ben Coulibaly (back from injury) and Ben Upton had huge games (Upton had 11 tackles on the day), as did running backs Mikoy Nichol (Fr.), Ryan Spillane (So.) and Ivan Reese (So.).  But outside of Cannone, the biggest clutch plays came from Freshman receiver Frank Williams, who caught the TD pass that sent the game into overtime, and followed up with the one that won the game.

It's been a year of tough breaks for Bates (last week, they had to have a slot back play QB against Midd, as their first-, second- and third-string QB's were all sidelined with injuries), but the future looks bright.

Next week we travel to Bowdoin for their Parent's Weekend, to face Dave and Mac Caputi in their final home game.  It should be a great one!

[banfan]

I think that I could give three or four paragraphs about things that could be different at Trinity, but I won't.

I am very proud of my son but it is a team sport and you win and lose as a team.

I do think that the pressure is off players and coaches. IMHO Amherst is in for a bigger battle than had Trinity won.