FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[westcoastDad]

I keep thinking.....who was the guy on this board who said the Lord Mammoths would go 0-3 to finish year by losing to Tufts, Trinity and Williams?

And shouldn't head to head MATTER in a tie?  Especially since now each team plays the other in a season?

Trinity no way believes they are "co-champions" with Amherst after getting thoroughly defeated.  Time of possession 36mins to 24mins?  Savage

[PolarBearPA]

Hats off to a gritty Polar Bear team that kept grinding and had a legitimate shot at coming back for the W with under 2 minutes remaining.  Maimaron gets all the headlines, but Bowdoin's Grif Stallcup and Bates' Brendan Costa are both pretty special.  A great QB Class of 2021 for the CAC.

Sadly for the Mule fans, I think Bowdoin gets the W next week.  The White has more playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Stalcup has looked good for the Polar Bears, but it should be noted that it was the junior Noah Nelson who was the QB today for the Bears.

Getting a win to finish up the season feels like it is really important for JB Wells for two reasons. 1. It will be a big lift for the team, especially young players, and will hopefully help to get them energized for the offseason. 2. Finishing with a win should help a bit with recruiting as well. I know that a lot of recruiting is already done at this point, but you still have the ED2 timeline for kids who might not have gotten into their first choice. Bottom line, Wells needs to show that there is some sort of forward momentum in Brunswick.

Agreed. While the Polar Bears have improved as evidenced by their play over the past two weeks, it is JB Wells' third season and he's 2-21 and riding a 15 game losing streak. They need a win badly heading into the off-season; moral victories can only go so far and a tangible one will go a long way for those February dawn weight room sessions.

I thought the Polar Bear D has taking strides forward last two weeks. Let a couple of big runs by the fleet footed FY Bates QB but overall made some very big plays to keep the team in the game... especially in the 4Q. Will be a good game with Colby - both teams will play hard no matter the record.

[Grabowski]

THAT was the Wes squad we expected to see all year.  Easily the best game they played this season, ran the ball effectively and what a difference to have the whole DL rotation back.  I suspect that Eph injuries recorded on these pages also played a role?

[Nescacman]

Hats off to a gritty Polar Bear team that kept grinding and had a legitimate shot at coming back for the W with under 2 minutes remaining.  Maimaron gets all the headlines, but Bowdoin's Grif Stallcup and Bates' Brendan Costa are both pretty special.  A great QB Class of 2021 for the CAC.

Sadly for the Mule fans, I think Bowdoin gets the W next week.  The White has more playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Stalcup has looked good for the Polar Bears, but it should be noted that it was the junior Noah Nelson who was the QB today for the Bears.

Getting a win to finish up the season feels like it is really important for JB Wells for two reasons. 1. It will be a big lift for the team, especially young players, and will hopefully help to get them energized for the offseason. 2. Finishing with a win should help a bit with recruiting as well. I know that a lot of recruiting is already done at this point, but you still have the ED2 timeline for kids who might not have gotten into their first choice. Bottom line, Wells needs to show that there is some sort of forward momentum in Brunswick.

Agreed. While the Polar Bears have improved as evidenced by their play over the past two weeks, it is JB Wells' third season and he's 2-21 and riding a 15 game losing streak. They need a win badly heading into the off-season; moral victories can only go so far and a tangible one will go a long way for those February dawn weight room sessions.

JB Wells=Jay Civetti (without the institutional resources for athletics and institutional desire to excel at all things, including football...the ending will be different for Coach Wells, unfortunately). Bowdoin is the wasteland for D3 football coaches.

[amh63]

Interesting "day after" reflections on the board.  Some comments of my own.
The "9th" game on Sat. are ALL meaningful.  Amherst vs Williams becomes a game for a piece of the Title.  The Trinity vs Wesleyan is more than a battle of the birds and CT. Bragging rights.  A win by Wes would mean a clear Title for Amherst with a likewise win over the Ephs.
ED2?  What schools still have ED2?  Not Amherst.
PolarCat....glad to see the "smaller" players overcame their size.  Also hope your daughter and her Lax Polarbears behaved themselves. .  Want a menu of your cookout!
In the Amherst win, the Trinity defensive players appeared tired at key positions in the 2nd half.  The Amherst offensive line started to wear down the Bantam's defensive line...especially in long sustained drives....see WCD's last post.  Trinity had a fine LB/defensive player no.55.  He met Amherst's RBs  Head On,   In the 2nd half, I believe, no.55 limped off the field...game stopped.  Do not know if he returned later.  Amherst on the other hand rotated sets of Defensive players in and out, as well as RBs and TEs.  In short, Amherst had fresher players,IMO.  Trinity had no advantage in depth of talented players.  Give the credit to Amherst's coaching staff.
Amherst honored 14 seniors at the game...including all Nescac 1st team RG and Captain from WCD's hometown.  He did not play or dress.

[polbear73]

Hats off to a gritty Polar Bear team that kept grinding and had a legitimate shot at coming back for the W with under 2 minutes remaining.  Maimaron gets all the headlines, but Bowdoin's Grif Stallcup and Bates' Brendan Costa are both pretty special.  A great QB Class of 2021 for the CAC.

Sadly for the Mule fans, I think Bowdoin gets the W next week.  The White has more playmakers on both sides of the ball.

Stalcup has looked good for the Polar Bears, but it should be noted that it was the junior Noah Nelson who was the QB today for the Bears.

Getting a win to finish up the season feels like it is really important for JB Wells for two reasons. 1. It will be a big lift for the team, especially young players, and will hopefully help to get them energized for the offseason. 2. Finishing with a win should help a bit with recruiting as well. I know that a lot of recruiting is already done at this point, but you still have the ED2 timeline for kids who might not have gotten into their first choice. Bottom line, Wells needs to show that there is some sort of forward momentum in Brunswick.

Agreed. While the Polar Bears have improved as evidenced by their play over the past two weeks, it is JB Wells' third season and he's 2-21 and riding a 15 game losing streak. They need a win badly heading into the off-season; moral victories can only go so far and a tangible one will go a long way for those February dawn weight room sessions.

JB Wells=Jay Civetti (without the institutional resources for athletics and institutional desire to excel at all things, including football...the ending will be different for Coach Wells, unfortunately). Bowdoin is the wasteland for D3 football coaches.

Certainly can't argue that point. The evidence is overwhelming.

[meadowdale]

Colby us now 0-8. 89 total points on the season. Two facts. I leave the analysis to others.

I will jump on your bandwagon, players are good enough.. Offensive imagination and schem are terrible.
Right or wrong head coach is responsible after 0-8 89 points..

[Nescafe]

I was wrong, didn't think the purple would win today.  Jeff got out coached and out prepared today by EJ Mills. Congratulations to a classy Amherst outfit. Mills is a magician- in a class with Ostendarp, Farley and Miller.

Run it up Jeff.

Dick Farley career winning percentage - 83.8%

EJ Mills winning percentage so far - 86.2%

    Darp 68 %
   
    Mills 76%

    Miller 77%

    Farley 86 %

[lumbercat]

Interesting- thanks Nescafé
Thought the old bespectacled Darp had a higher percentage than that but still a great one.

[frank uible]

Darp had some lean years at the end of his career when he was suffering from alzhiemers.

[frank uible]

alzheimers.

[Vandy74]

And shouldn't head to head MATTER in a tie?  Especially since now each team plays the other in a season?

Trinity no way believes they are "co-champions" with Amherst after getting thoroughly defeated.  Time of possession 36mins to 24mins?  Savage

I only learned of the no-tiebreakers/co-champions rule a week or so ago and feel the same way you do about it.  I ran it by a friend whose son played his football in the CCIW and was told many conferences do the same regarding co-champions but do apply tiebreakers when determining who gets the AQ.  Still, since the NESCAC plays for no AQ one would think that head to head results would mean something.

[amh63]

It must be noted that coaches like DARP and Miller...assuming it is Miller at Trinity, who was an assistant for DARP., coached mostly before there was a Nescac..  Opposing teams were Springfield, AIC, and Coast Guard Academy, etc. in addition to Williams, etc. Different era, etc. 
Frank U's post introduces the leans years.  His former players and the HCs he coached against know his impact on Amherst football well and honor him for it.  Percentages...number of wins?  Quality of wins, quality of opponents, impact on his players, etc. are true measures of a great coach,imho.

[JEFFFAN]

I was wrong, didn't think the purple would win today.  Jeff got out coached and out prepared today by EJ Mills. Congratulations to a classy Amherst outfit. Mills is a magician- in a class with Ostendarp, Farley and Miller.

Run it up Jeff.

Bad math on my part - thanks for the clarification, Nescafé.

Anh63 - your comment about Darp et al playing before there was a NESCAC ... I trust you thought that the competition was stiffer pre-NESCAC?  I certainly think the NESCAC competition top to bottom in football isn't remotely as difficult as playing AIC, Springfield et al.   Frankly just go by the records.

What say the pre-NESCAC football players on this blog?

[lumbercat]

Not sure about AIC but Springfield is not the program it was in the 70s or early 80s.
The top NESCAC teams would handle Springfield today but that was not always the case in the 70s.