FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[polbear73]

A minor correction on your Bowdoin preview---the trip for Hammers Boys to Hamilton is more like 7 hours. I remember the bus ride from Maine to Hamilton very well. No way the White Bears leave on Saturday. Usually Friday morning with a practice at some venue en route.

Correct, they bussed up (down?) to NY today.  Interestingly, the writeup posted on the Bowdoin football page here lists a large number of sophomores (Hammer's first recruiting class) as probable starters.

Thanks, Polar Dad.They would have had to leave Brunswick at 4am to get to Clinton 2 hours before gametime, which is cutting it short.

[polbear73]

A minor correction on your Bowdoin preview---the trip for Hammers Boys to Hamilton is more like 7 hours. I remember the bus ride from Maine to Hamilton very well. No way the White Bears leave on Saturday. Usually Friday morning with a practice at some venue en route.

Correct, they bussed up (down?) to NY today.  Interestingly, the writeup posted on the Bowdoin football page here lists a large number of sophomores (Hammer's first recruiting class) as probable starters.

Thanks, Polar Dad.They would have had to leave Brunswick at 4am to get to Clinton 2 hours before gametime, which is cutting it short.

It's a noon game, so they had no choice.

[amh63]

It's football time in the Nescac...minus Conn College...!  Reading earlier posts, one would think Las Vegas and not New England was the area the  league is located....minus Hamiliton.  Comments brought back some old old high school memories.  Was the "manager" of my HS football team.  School located in NE D.C..  First game of the year was in Lebanon, Pa....near Hersey,Pa.  Long bus ride...one stop to pick up a coach in Gaithersburg, Md.  Evening game...tough game against a great QB.  Opponent QB went to Un of Md and became an All-American.  Overnight stay...roommate, a backup QB, went on to Springfield College, Ma.  Cannot remember who won the game...selective old memories.  In any case...enjoy the games and may the best team? Win.

[nescac1]

Hey amh63 you may want to alert your SID that the football roster resolves to a broken link ....

[amh63]

Nescac1....thanks!   Am aware of the "broken" link.  Not aware of an link to the SID.  Yes, seems all other schools have nice pixs...full squad ones...of their teams.  Maybe Amherst is using the upcoming game as a gauge of Thinning Down the roster?  Went back to Amherst site and saw a football preview up now.  Not there early this morning or late yesterday.  The "Sid" wherever he/she is working on it.  Maybe by game time there will be a roster and group pix.

[lumbercat]

Correct....you got us Spring....we were thinking "what if" the Pants were playing at the friendly confines of LEAF PEEPER STADIUM or whatever they call where they play ("Youngman Stadium at Alumni Field")...should have been Ephs -3...correction noted and modified in our picks...thanks!

Another NSCACMAN original- Leaf Peeper Stadium. Classic, love it.

[amh63]

Back again...went to the Nescac site to see what early games in other sports are being broadcasted.  The site is a bite hard to follow presently.  Several formats of sport events presented.  Early "jitters" by site SID? .  Maybe just me getting excited about FOOTBALL1

[nescac1]

I hate the new Nescac scoreboard, which is clearly some sort of automated system tied to the live stats they all use.  I agree with amh63 that it's really hard to follow.  Much better when organized by sport. 

[SpringSt7]

One last gambling question while there's still time:

Over/Under 8.5 Wins for the league champion?

I have the under, Williams or Wesleyan could maybe go 9-0 but I think 8-1 with a head to head winner is a lot more likely. The league just seems too solid in the top 4-5 for there to be another 9-0 winner

[Conts Fan]

NESCAC site scoreboard currently has Amhest playing Colby and Syracuse playing NC State

[polbear73]

NESCAC site scoreboard currently has Amhest playing Colby and Syracuse playing NC State

It is unbelievably bad as it jumps around with no rhyme or reason. There was nothing wrong with the old scoreboard. Please revert to the old site.

[nescac1]

Let's go Cuse!

Certainly a very impressive opening win for Williams against last year's champ.  Maimaron and Wesner should be the OPOW and DPOW as they just dominated the game from their respective positions.  Wesner with ten tackles, two sacks, a really tough INT, and generally tormented Jernigan the entire game.  All four Ephs starting LBs played great, clearly the strength of the team once again, the four leading tacklers today and all four were all over the field.  A tough, veteran crew.  As for Maimaron, Midd just had no answers, he was just about the entire Ephs offense for much of the game and the best Williams play is the same play it's been for four years now - Maimaron running up the middle.  He absolutely dominated the QB match-up today.  The only concern with him is keeping him fresh and healthy -- don't want him having that much of a rushing load week after week, ideally, even if that is when the offense works best.

Young players to watch for Williams were three highly touted recruits: Cameron Smith, Coleston's "little" brother, spent a lot of time in the offensive backfield as a true frosh on the line.  He looks like a recruiting steal.  K Ivan Shuran looked stellar, he will likely end up being the best Ephs kicker in many years, not traditionally a position of real strength for Williams.  TB Mario Fischetti is small but quick, shifty and powerful for his size, his high school tape is pretty nuts.  Look for some big games from him this year as Maimaron, Nicholas and Vaughn can wear a defense down and then he can come in as a fresh change of pace back against tired defenses and cause problems.  Also dangerous in the return game.  Also very impressed by sophomore NT CJ Vilfort, he played most snaps and was a rock out there, very hard to move in the middle, tough dude.  Other than Vilford, the Ephs rotated four DEs on the DL, including another highly touted recruit, Calvin Jackson.

The Ephs passing game looked pretty meh.  The coaches didn't get too aggressive or creative as there really was no need to take big risks downfield.  Stola missed some of the game with an injury and generally had a pretty quiet day, but he's of course the best there is when he is the focus of the offense.  Michael Degasperis looks like the clear number two receiver, he had a really good day, looked quick and smooth out there, especially for a guy who has not played a down of football in three years.  Would like to see Stola and the TEs get more involved in tighter games and also some more quick slant type passes on early downs to catch the defense off guard.   

The negatives for Williams -- the downfield pass coverage was a bit soft at times, especially in the first half, but did tighten up throughout the game.  Not bad, but could be better.   The biggest negative was the offensive line play which struggled with penalties and miscues.  Way too many procedural penalties for an offense that relies on four yards and a cloud of dust.  But to be fair, four guys were playing new positions on the line (three of them starting for the first time as Ephs I believe) and the top OL was out with an injury today, plus another starter kept getting banged up.  They certainly blocked reasonably well when they weren't making mental mistakes, so hopefully in time they clean all those things up as they gain continuity together.   But those are obviously nitpicks, the Ephs were stellar overall.

Tough day overall for Midd, just not the same as last year's squad, clearly.  Honestly it could have been even worse as the two Midd TD drives were helped by a very questionable personal foul that negated an Eph forced fumble and two circus catches off of deflections.   Other than those two drives, the Midd offense could not do much.  Jernigan is a tough runner but was asked to do too much in the passing game and Midd does not have its usual stable of elite speed receivers.  The Midd special teams were a disaster overall really hurting them quite a bit.  And the Midd defense was not terrible, especially in pass coverage, but simply had no answer for Maimaron on the ground -- nothing to be ashamed of there as most NESCAC teams haven't over the past four seasons.  WR Donovan Wood and TB Izzo Lizardi are exciting young players to watch for the Panthers, they had some burst out there.  Scibilia had a solid game at TB although most of his yardage came on one play earlier in the game and after that the Ephs bottled him up.  I thought Midd gave the Ephs the most trouble when they played no huddle and I was surprised they didn't try that look for more of the game.  Then again, their defense was on the field a LOT so probably didn't want them to get too tired out vs. the Ephs' relentless interior running attack. 

Right now, it looks like Williams, Trinity (very impressive win over a Tufts team I expect will be good, I guess much-hyped QB Fetter is the real deal) and Wesleyan are the teams to beat this year, probably in that order.  Midd is probably in that next group with Amherst and Tufts, maybe Colby too.  Surprised Bates hung so tight with Amherst.  Either Bates is better than reputed or Amherst is in for another down year.  The next few weeks, we will find out!

[jumpshot]

Thanks, nescac1. Your report on the EPHS win today is both accurate and complete, as usual. I was at the game in person and on the edge of the field. I am most impressed by the force and courage with which the EPHS play. Really hard-hitting team. Physically dominated and wore down Midd. Excellent size and speed at all positions. Toughness is a Coach Raymond hallmark ....

[Nescacman]

Heading out for a nice dinner with some of our fellow correspondents...we were at/watched every game...will have our full observations later but here are our quick takes on NESCAC winners/losers on opening day...

Game Ball:Ephs, Wes, Hartford State, UBates

Rat: Lord Mammoths (football/SID related), MID, Jumbo's, Bowdoin/HAM (just painfully brutal ugly football to watch), HCOF Cos (for packing it in way too early in Q4), NESCAC (fire whoever runs/manages their website please), 

[polbear73]

Heading out for a nice dinner with some of our fellow correspondents...we were at/watched every game...will have our full observations later but here are our quick takes on NESCAC winners/losers on opening day...

Game Ball:Ephs, Wes, Hartford State, UBates

Rat: Lord Mammoths (football/SID related), MID, Jumbo's, Bowdoin/HAM (just painfully brutal ugly football to watch), HCOF Cos (for packing it in way too early in Q4), NESCAC (fire whoever runs/manages their website please),

It's amazing how quickly and thoroughly that Williams was able to turn their program around, particularly from the depths of the Aaron Kelton years. It shows what a good coach can accomplish in concert with support from the Administration.