FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[amh63]

Maineman....thanks...I have been well notified by others.
The early start in Middletown was due to some special events, including honoring Vets, I believe.
Did get to watch some of the GTW.  Seems Wes needs to get their kicking game together....Same task at Amherst.
Amherst wins in Maine with solid play.  Offensive line seems to have been rebuilt.  Last TD of the game by Amherst was by a Freshman runner who outran a tired Bates defense.  Time running out and many subs in, etc, etc, (yes...like Yul b in the King & I)...the young man swept left and thru the line for a TD.  First carry?....first college TD.
Next game is at Pratt Field...against Bowdoin.  Plan to be there...room booked.  Hope it will be a day to play football in NE.

[lumbercat]

Wow- I did not see the Colby-Trinity game but just read the play by play narrative on the stat page....Appears that Colby switched QBs between Harrington and pre season 3rd stringer Sparacio erratically during the game? ....UConn transfer Ecke no where to be found.........Game summary projects a chaotic account of the Mules execution........Hariington in throwing a pass, Sparacio throwing a pass on the next play.....? did they switch QBs or was it a Wildcat offense.....Would like to hear from a Mules follower on this.

[Vandy74]

Did anyone watch the Middlebury-Wesleyan game?  It must have been a good one.  I couldn't make the video feed work at all.  Live stats just doesn't cut it.  As well armed as the Panther QB passing attack seems to be, (3rd string Jake Stalcup would have a starting job on several 'CAC rosters) I hope some semblance of a running game is being developed.   

[frank uible]

amh63: Hickey must be saying to himself "This NESCAC stuff is a piece of cake. I ought to be playing at Stanford."

[amh63]

Vandy74.....the video cast via Wes...was having problems...up and down.  Several things I noted from the stats....the projected best runner in the conference was not used much..L. Drew.  The Wes offense was run heavy with young runners.  Also the projected stout defense with a solid secondary was being picked apart by Middlebury.  If Wes had a kicking game, the game could have gone into OT....much like the Tuft's-Hamilton game.
In general, a most interesting start of CAC football.
Frank U.....I thought the young runner surprised himself...so to speak.  A parent at the game related that the FY runner reminded him of John Riggins...Redskins days....built wise at 6'1" and 218 lbs now.  The kid also has some speed.

[JustAFan]

A tale of 2 halfs in Clinton in Tufts' OT win over Hamilton yesterday. Tufts dominated the first half, and was able to rotate QBS Alex Snyder  (a junior) and Jonathan DiBiaso (a sophomore transfer) on most series with good results. DiBiaso appears to be the better, quicker runner who gives the offense an extra dimension if plays break down but Snyder is the better passer at this stage although DiBiaso is rusty and that may change.

Hamilton was a completely different team in the second half in what ended up being a very competitive game between 2 very evenly matched teams, both of whom are heading in the right direction. The game stats were dead even, with time of possession 30 minutes for each team and total yardage 395 Hamilton vs. 386 Tufts, with Tufts having the advantage in rushing (169 vs. 42 yards) and Hamilton in the air (353 vs. 217).  I give Hamilton a lot of credit for coming out of the halftime locker room as a completely different team and turning what was headed towards a blowout into a great game.  Most of the credit goes to Hamilton junior QB Chase Rosenberg, who came in when the starter Tobin went down with an injury half way thru the first quarter and had a great game (14-23, 301 yards, 3 TDs).  Those numbers should put him in consideration for player of the week. And hard to see him not starting the next game.  As good as Rosenberg's passing game was in the second half the Tufts pass defense also played a role in his success, with lots of missed assignments by the Jumbos that led to many open Continental receivers.

Tufts kicker Willie Holmquist, a junior who missed last year with an injury, was 3 for 4 in field goal attempts, with his longest effort for 43 yards. He could be the difference in some future games for the Jumbos. Tufts was led offensively by junior running back Chance Brady, who rushed for 117 yards in 27 efforts. 

I thought Tufts called a curious game offensively in the second half, falling in love with the pass and relying exclusively on Brady for the running game.  Snyder seemed to force the ball into coverage too often in the 4th quarter, and the Jumbos inexplicably did not use freshman running back Dominic Borelli much in the second half.  Borelli finished the game with 110 yards rushing and receiving combined, but his number was only called once on the receiving end in the second half (a screen pass for 48 yards) and he only rushed once in the second half after rushing 6 times for 52 yards in the first half. I would like to see more of Mr. Borelli. And I suspect the Jumbos may continue to rotate QBs to get DiBiaso more game experience before they make a final decision on the starter.

[warriorcat]

Drove up to Lewiston to see the Bobcats open the season against preseason favorite Amherst.  Based on what I saw yesterday, Amherst's status as a league favorite is justified.  The QB threw well.  He had a number of great downfield throws in traffic on third down that kept the LJ's on the field and eventually into the end zone.  Bates is once again going to live or die with the triple option.  The Amherst D did a terrific job (except for the 80 yd run on the first Bobcat play from scrimmage) making the Bates O predictable. Like many Bobcat fans, we wonder if the offense would be a better if they found a way to throw to Mark Riley a little more than in obvious passing situations.   This game was won in the first half.  Bates could not overcome the 21 point halftime lead. 

Overall, like all good teams, the Amherst players looked like they were confident that they were going to win.  Bates' players looked like they were not sure.  There was a good sized crowd but there was little energy from the home fans and the team seemed to go quietly into the night as the game progressed. 

For Bates, the Tufts game next week will be important for setting the tone for the middle part of the schedule.  Looking at yesterday's results, the CBB may be a battle among teams in the lower third of the Conference unless the Bobcats pick off a couple of teams from outside of Maine. 

[lumbercat]

Ironic, promising Amherst FY RB Jack Hickey who scored the late TD for the Jeff's as time expired is the son of Chris Hickey who holds about every rushing record in Bates history. He was a D3 All American at Bates in the late 80's.

[JEFFFAN]

Nice to see the sophomore quarterback from Amherst have such a good game.   Mills is not a fun of turnovers, meaning that in the past he has accepted less flash and big gainers in exchange for a nice conservative QB performance, so the interception wasn't welcome but his stats were terrific.   Mills is a defensive guy but it would be nice to see a good Jeff offense.

[Nescacman]

We attended the GOTW yesterday in Middletown. First of all, hats off to new Coach DiCenzo for hosting "Salute to Service" Day honoring all Wesleyan related armed service veterans. Although Wesleyan is certainly one of the more liberal (aka "left wing") colleges in the country, it goes show that you that Patriotism and love for the US is not politically aligned. We also give kudos to Wesleyan for also making it "Middletown" Day and actively embracing the community that they are a large part of. It was really cool to see local youth players come out to watch the game donning their jerseys. And I am sure that it won't hurt Coach Dice's local recruiting down the road (case in point, stud Wes offensive utility player, Carillo, is from Middletown).

Now to the game...statiscally and actually, the Cards surprisingly dominated the game. We were very impressed with how their 18 new starters performed, in particular, the offensive line and their 3 headed monster at RB. We expect this team to continue to develop and be a major factor in the league this year. We like their new no huddle offense and their defense was as usual, aggressive and tough. Super Soph Jalen Berry showed why he got the majority of the carries racking up over 100 yards and scoring a TD in his coming out party. Jordan Stone was a standout on defense. We think Stone will be in consideration at the end of the year for DPOTY based on what we saw Saturday. So why did Wes lose? Uncharacteristic of the past couple of years, Wes had a huge number of penalties (some very questionable) ending drive after drive. In fact, as a result of one penalty, Wes had a TD taken off the Board which would have put them up by three scores. The second killer was Wes being -2 in the turnover department. Over the last 3 years, Wes has either been at or near the top of league in turnover ratio. Lastly, 2 missed kick XPs and one missed 2 pointer spelled the difference in the game.

On the other side of the ball, QB Milano played well but their one dimensional offense will hurt them against some of the better teams in the league. The Panthers had less than 20 yards rushing and their huge line showed no ability to open holes and get a push against the much smaller but far more athletic Wes front 7. The Panther defense looked decent against the pass but got pushed around on running plays by the new Wes O-line. Bottom line, Coach Ritter was very fortunate to come away with a win against a young and game Cardinal squad.

As an aside, the much heralded UNLV transfer, rookie QB Jared Lebowitz played a series towards the end of the first half, not looking particular comfortable in his D3 debut. He did not play at all in the second half. Our sources tell us that he had to leave the game early to attend his sister, Fawn's, funeral. Our condolences to the entire Lebowitz family.

[warriorcat]

Nice to see the sophomore quarterback from Amherst have such a good game.   Mills is not a fun of turnovers, meaning that in the past he has accepted less flash and big gainers in exchange for a nice conservative QB performance, so the interception wasn't welcome but his stats were terrific.   Mills is a defensive guy but it would be nice to see a good Jeff offense.

It would be hard to put a great deal of blame on the Amherst QB for his interception.  His tall receiver batted the ball in the air trying to reach for it and the Bates defender, Lyons, made a diving grab just before the ball hit the ground. 

[PolarCat]

Nescacman, did Ike Fuchs have a new holder and/or a new snapper this year?  He had a very strong season last year, 10 for 13 on FG's and 24-27 for PAT's.  Everyone has a bad day from time to time, but I'm wondering if he had a new snapper or holder that caused the block and the miss.

While the Animal House reference was unexpected, I hope everyone got the joke.  If Jared had a bad outing, it would rub salt in his wounds to have folks giving him condolences about her demise....

[NewtoNescac]

Somehow I get the feeling that winning the CBB is enough for. C, B & B. Am I wrong?

[PolarCat]

I don't think there's a team in the conference that wouldn't want to win it all.  CBB and Little Three are nice, but the goal is the NESCAC Championship.

[NewtoNescac]

I hope you're right, PolarCat. Every single player, and every single supportive parent and fan deserves that desire from the "Program".

BTW, tremendous effort by Chase Rosenberg yesterday. Came up a little short, but a great effort nonetheless. I've been hard on him in the past, but he has earned high praise today. I'm happy for him, and hope it continues.