FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[Nescacman]

Congrats to Wes QB David Estevez on winning the second Golden Helmet Award of his career...

https://newenglandfootballwriters.com/this-weeks-recipients-1

[Charlie]

Congrats to Wes QB David Estevez on winning the second Golden Helmet Award of his career...

https://newenglandfootballwriters.com/this-weeks-recipients-1

Wes QB Estevez did have great game. It is incredible though just think about this. If Tufts kicker made his extra points against Williams they would have won that game. Had Tufts not allowed a blocked extra point against Wesleyan that game would have potentially had a different outcome Tufts had all the momentum that game. There is no reason Tufts should not be 4-1. I know they lost to Bates I still think they are a better football team than Bates & Amherst. In a nutshell their kicking game could have put them in a top three scenario with Trinity. I will say in their defense HC Civetti and his coaching staff are still getting there players to ball out hard.

[The Mole]

What is also incredible is that Wesleyan had 5 turnovers (4 fumbles and 1 INT) and missed two extra points (really 3) and still won. Kneeled out the ball inside the 5 in the last minute. Third game in a row they scored on a long 4th quarter drive to take the lead and hold on for a W. It is why they are 5-0 and Tufts is 0-5 (maybe best winless team in the country). Good teams find ways to win and teams that are not accustomed to winning are unable to close it out.

The wind was a major factor in the kicking game, it should be noted.

Congrats to Wes QB David Estevez on winning the second Golden Helmet Award of his career...

https://newenglandfootballwriters.com/this-weeks-recipients-1

Wes QB Estevez did have great game. It is incredible though just think about this. If Tufts kicker made his extra points against Williams they would have won that game. Had Tufts not allowed a blocked extra point against Wesleyan that game would have potentially had a different outcome Tufts had all the momentum that game. There is no reason Tufts should not be 4-1. I know they lost to Bates I still think they are a better football team than Bates & Amherst. In a nutshell their kicking game could have put them in a top three scenario with Trinity. I will say in their defense HC Civetti and his coaching staff are still getting there players to ball out hard.

[BigKat]

Officiating was lackluster at best in that game. Wes kid was blatantly offsides on the blocked PAT and was never touched and then the Wes kid missed the Pat and they called it good.  But as you mention, Wes took a knee on 5 yard line with time running out so saying that outcome would be different is a stretch.

Hats off to Wesleyan as they found a way. Keep an eye out on Berluti-came away super impressed with him. Estevez is also a super tough kid. Not sure their D is taking them to the promised land though.

[Trin9-0]

Good teams find ways to win and teams that are not accustomed to winning are unable to close it out.

Eight of Wesleyan's last ten wins have been one-score games. That's amazing.

Regarding the OPOY discussion, I tend to agree that with three strong candidates it will likely go to whichever signal-caller finishes as a league champ. Of course, given that the three contenders still have each other on their schedules it could very well be a two or three way tie for the NESCAC title. In which case it would be up for grabs again.

I'm trying not to sound like a homer, but Fetter's stats are just absurd. He leads, by a healthy margin, every statistical passing category and is on pace for one of the top 5 QB seasons in NESCAC history. Estevez and Maimaron have both been fantastic but what Fetter has produced thus far has been incredible, especially when you consider it's his first year as a starter.

[BigKat]

Trin 8-0....I know QB's usually get the honor but I think their is a legit argument for Girard getting OPOY. His stats are on pace for 16/17 TD season from the WR position which is incredible.

[The Mole]

QB play is very impressive in the league this season. Cards D has faced 3 slingers/gamers in a row. It is not an accident those contests were close. Hard to stomach as a believer in defense winning championships, but if you can outscore the other team in a one shot deal.....

BigKat link=topic=4146.msg2014037#msg2014037 date=1634589308]
Officiating was lackluster at best in that game. Wes kid was blatantly offsides on the blocked PAT and was never touched and then the Wes kid missed the Pat and they called it good.  But as you mention, Wes took a knee on 5 yard line with time running out so saying that outcome would be different is a stretch.

Hats off to Wesleyan as they found a way. Keep an eye out on Berluti-came away super impressed with him. Estevez is also a super tough kid. Not sure their D is taking them to the promised land though.
[/quote]

[Nescacman]

Our observations from the Jumbo's/Cards game on Saturday:

1. Our condolences to the family of the young Tufts student (and the entire Tufts community) that suffered a medical emergency during the game across the street from Ellis Oval and ultimately passed away on Sunday. Just awful. Really puts things into perspective.
2. As expected, both teams offenses showed up to play; both teams exceeded 500 yards of total offense (Wes went over 600 and set a new school record for total offense in a game).
3. The wind had a huge impact on the game with most of the scores coming "with the wind".
4. Wes QB David Estevez had another huge game setting the Wes single game total offense record and winning NESCAC offensive player for the week award for the 3rd time in the last 7 weeks of NESCAC football. He also won his second career Golden Helmet Award. With no dis-respect to the Eph's Maimaron and Hartford State's Fetter, as well as Girard, Stola, et al, Estevez is the most dynamic player in the league right now. He is doing exactly what he did at River Dell HS in NJ, for those of you fortunate enough to see him play there. He is a threat to score or do something amazing every time he touches the ball. Really a treat to watch him play.
5. Tufts QB Berlutti, who wasn't even supposed to play this year, is the front runner for NESCAC offensive rookie of the year. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with over the next 3 years in Medford. Very, talented...think of Boel with much better running skills. He is definitely the best (and hopefully last!) Berlutti to play in the NESCAC....wow, could the Lord Mammoths ever use him (we know that his Dad was a Jumbo)!
6. Jumbo's WR Lutz and Wes WR Tomlinson (who leads the NESCAC in receiving) both had huge days and are amazing talents. Imagine what the Cards will look like next year with Estevez, Tomlinson and Simco back...scary.
7. We would say that both team's defense continue to be a "work in progress". Wes looked better to us against the pass compared to how they looked against Bowdoin. They get most of their players back this week for Middlebury.
8. HCOF Civetti made some questionable play calls, poor coaching decisions, and his clock management skills probably cost his team the game.   
9. The "new" Ellis Oval reminded us of Colby. Football field and track....very high school-esque. Nice new scoreboard and the turf looked good (but the turf had saw dust instead of rubber pellets...place smelled like Home Depot). Give us real grass any day of the week.
10. Beware: Tufts is the toughest place to tailgate in the league. Need to be really low key to tailgate near the field. Tufts campus security carries guns and they threatened to use them if tailgaters got out of hand!!!
11. Officiating was overall, horrendous. You can mention the calls that went Wes' way but there were three blatant misses by the officials that went Tufts way...1). Tufts player was clearly out of bounds on the interception of an Estevez pass 2).On the Tomlinson fumble the Tufts player recovered it two yards out of bounds 3). On an interception by Wes' Danny Banks, he was inbounds by two yards and the refs called him OB...by our calculation that would have been about a 20 point differential plus, as has been mentioned, Wes ran out the clock on the 8...

[lumbercat]

NMan

As usual, a fine weekend recap.

I share your thoughts on the whole Tufts setup. Forget tailgating and trying to park there is a nightmare. I recognize they are are larger college with an urban setting which creates issues we don't see at other campuses in the league. Tufts is different than the other NESCACS. If they formed the NESCAC today they may not be included. Always been rumored to move to the UAA but I won't start that whole thing up again.

Agree on the Ellis Oval field, beautiful new turf but the track moves everything back too far from the fielld. At least Tufts provides decent visiting stands with some elevation so you can see the field. At Colby the stands are even further from the field and they
provide a small bleacher with about 10 rows. The problem is you can't see the field over the players bench so the first 4 or 5 rows are useless and always empty.

Attended the Bowdoin Amherst game and came away with some observations.

Got there early, watched Boel closely in warm-ups. If you didn't know him and walked into a camp or clinic and saw him throw the ball you might not give him a second look. Really different delivery, ball kind of comes out from the side, has to bring the ball up from the hip. Release almost like Phillip Rivers. This, combined with his size- (they are good to him in the Bowdoin program) and you can see the kid falling off recruiting radars.

Then the whistle blew and under game conditions the kid was superb. He gets it away very quickly with some zip. Very accurate and sees the whole field. Don't think he missed more than 2-3 throws all day. Checked down, changed receivers and delivered the ball unbelievably well despite the funky mechanics. Eyes up all day. Rush was minimal but he knew just when to move around in the pocket or roll out.

The prior week I watched Berluti at Tufts.
Totally different package- Berluiti wins the beauty contest and has more conventional throwing mechanics. Very different package.

However, I can't make a real comparison because the 2 young QBs faced different situations.
Bates blitzed, stunted and applied relentless pressure on Berluti all day. The kid didn't have much chance to set his feet most of the time.
Conversely Amherst didn't pressure Boel much at all. They sat in a cover 2 zone all day with a 3-4 man rush. Didn't much of anything in the way of blitzes, games. The great EJ Mills dared the kid to beat them he took the Mammoths apart. I don't see why Amherst refused to pressure the young kid. They made it too easy for Boel......Maybe EJ was watching Boel in warmups too.

At the end of the day both of these kids will be fine NESCAC QBs but if I were Bowdoin I would expect a lot more pressure on Boel after he showed that you can't defend him by sitting back in a zone with a conventional pass rush and not get hurt by this kid.

Overall I couldn't believe the way Amherst came unglued in the second half. I couldn't believe this performance by the Purple, unprecedented to me. EJ really lost it with the refs later in the 4th over a false start penalty. If you've never heard EJ yell at the Refs it's like a desperate shreik- like a horror movie. It typically manifests itself later in games where the Mammoths have a chance to lose. Heard the same thing at Bates a few weeks before with the game in the balance late.

Last observation on the weekend. How confident can the Cards feel with their last 3 wins by a total of 7 points over 3 teams with a combined total of 2 wins. Birds in huge trouble- they can't stop the pass and not much better against the run.

[Nescacman]

NMan

As usual, a fine weekend recap.

I share your thoughts on the whole Tufts setup. Forget tailgating and trying to park there is a nightmare. I recognize they are are larger college with an urban setting which creates issues we don't see at other campuses in the league. Tufts is different than the other NESCACS. If they formed the NESCAC today they may not be included. Always been rumored to move to the UAA but I won't start that whole thing up again.

Agree on the Ellis Oval field, beautiful new turf but the track moves everything back too far from the fielld. At least Tufts provides decent visiting stands with some elevation so you can see the field. At Colby the stands are even further from the field and they
provide a small bleacher with about 10 rows. The problem is you can't see the field over the players bench so the first 4 or 5 rows are useless and always empty.

Attended the Bowdoin Amherst game and came away with some observations.

Got there early, watched Boel closely in warm-ups. If you didn't know him and walked into a camp or clinic and saw him throw the ball you might not give him a second look. Really different delivery, ball kind of comes out from the side, has to bring the ball up from the hip. Release almost like Phillip Rivers. This, combined with his size- (they are good to him in the Bowdoin program) and you can see the kid falling off recruiting radars.

Then the whistle blew and under game conditions the kid was superb. He gets it away very quickly with some zip. Very accurate and sees the whole field. Don't think he missed more than 2-3 throws all day. Checked down, changed receivers and delivered the ball unbelievably well despite the funky mechanics. Eyes up all day. Rush was minimal but he knew just when to move around in the pocket or roll out.

The prior week I watched Berluti at Tufts.
Totally different package- Berluiti wins the beauty contest and has more conventional throwing mechanics. Very different package.

However, I can't make a real comparison because the 2 young QBs faced different situations.
Bates blitzed, stunted and applied relentless pressure on Berluti all day. The kid didn't have much chance to set his feet most of the time.
Conversely Amherst didn't pressure Boel much at all. They sat in a cover 2 zone all day with a 3-4 man rush. Didn't much of anything in the way of blitzes, games. The great EJ Mills dared the kid to beat them he took the Mammoths apart. I don't see why Amherst refused to pressure the young kid. They made it too easy for Boel......Maybe EJ was watching Boel in warmups too.

At the end of the day Bothe of these kids will be fine NESCAC QBs but if I were Bowdoin I would expect a lot more pressure on Boel after he showed that you can't sit back in a zone with conventional pass rush and not get hurt by this kid.

Overall I couldn't believe the way Amherst came unglued in the second half. I couldn't believe this performance by the Purple, unprecedented to me. EJ really lost it with the refs later in the 4th over a false start penalty. If you've never heard EJ yell at the Refs it's like a desperate shreik- like a horror movie. It typically manifests itself later in games where the Mammoths have a chance to lose. Heard the same thing at Bates a few weeks before with the game in the balance late.

Last observation on the weekend. How confident can the Cards feel with their last 3 wins by a total of 7 points over 3 teams with a combined total of 2 wins. Birds in huge trouble- they can't stop the pass and not much better against the run.

Thanks Lumber...

Berlutti and Boel are exhibits 1a and 1b why you recruit kids from high caliber, non-public schools like Xavarian and Bergen Catholic...these kids are ready to go day one...

One big difference between the two that you failed to mention is that Berlutti is a much better runner/scrambler than Boel....that's why we give him the slight edge...

As far as Wes is concerned, they were up by two TDs and ready to go up by 3 on the Jumbo's when the refs went to work...if not for the officiating, Wes wins by 3-4 touchdowns, easy...and they played without Thomas Elkourey (the kid who was on ESPN with "the catch" 2 weeks earlier) and many defensive starters who will be back this week....we wouldn't worry too much about them...they've won 13 of their last 14 games and 8 in a row...Cardiac Cards...

[D3FLETCH]

When Tufts loses to Bowdoin next will they be the best 0-6 team in the country? Tufts is an underachieving football program for the past 15 plus years. They did have good years in 2016 and 2018. I believe Kelton could have produced those results. 

[Nescacman]

When Tufts loses to Bowdoin next will they be the best 0-6 team in the country? Tufts is an underachieving football program for the past 15 plus years. They did have good years in 2016 and 2018. I believe Kelton could have produced those results.

WOW....quote off the year!!! Where are all the Jumbo fans when you need them???....maybe HCOF Kelton will be the next coach of the Jumbo's after he finishes his reign of terror at Howard U.!!!

[Charlie]

When Tufts loses to Bowdoin next will they be the best 0-6 team in the country? Tufts is an underachieving football program for the past 15 plus years. They did have good years in 2016 and 2018. I believe Kelton could have produced those results.

WOW....quote off the year!!! Where are all the Jumbo fans when you need them???....maybe HCOF Kelton will be the next coach of the Jumbo's after he finishes his reign of terror at Howard U.!!!

I have funny feeling a year from now the same conversations will be made about the fall of Middlebury and Amherst. The rumors are they they each do not have good recruiting classes. Amherst bet on 5 or 6 top propsects from the Brown football camp and all have chosen Ivy League schools or different directions. So going to be a long cycle of depression on the gridiron for those schools.

[lumbercat]

NMan

As usual, a fine weekend recap.

I share your thoughts on the whole Tufts setup. Forget tailgating and trying to park there is a nightmare. I recognize they are are larger college with an urban setting which creates issues we don't see at other campuses in the league. Tufts is different than the other NESCACS. If they formed the NESCAC today they may not be included. Always been rumored to move to the UAA but I won't start that whole thing up again.

Agree on the Ellis Oval field, beautiful new turf but the track moves everything back too far from the fielld. At least Tufts provides decent visiting stands with some elevation so you can see the field. At Colby the stands are even further from the field and they
provide a small bleacher with about 10 rows. The problem is you can't see the field over the players bench so the first 4 or 5 rows are useless and always empty.

Attended the Bowdoin Amherst game and came away with some observations.

Got there early, watched Boel closely in warm-ups. If you didn't know him and walked into a camp or clinic and saw him throw the ball you might not give him a second look. Really different delivery, ball kind of comes out from the side, has to bring the ball up from the hip. Release almost like Phillip Rivers. This, combined with his size- (they are good to him in the Bowdoin program) and you can see the kid falling off recruiting radars.

Then the whistle blew and under game conditions the kid was superb. He gets it away very quickly with some zip. Very accurate and sees the whole field. Don't think he missed more than 2-3 throws all day. Checked down, changed receivers and delivered the ball unbelievably well despite the funky mechanics. Eyes up all day. Rush was minimal but he knew just when to move around in the pocket or roll out.

The prior week I watched Berluti at Tufts.
Totally different package- Berluiti wins the beauty contest and has more conventional throwing mechanics. Very different package.

However, I can't make a real comparison because the 2 young QBs faced different situations.
Bates blitzed, stunted and applied relentless pressure on Berluti all day. The kid didn't have much chance to set his feet most of the time.
Conversely Amherst didn't pressure Boel much at all. They sat in a cover 2 zone all day with a 3-4 man rush. Didn't much of anything in the way of blitzes, games. The great EJ Mills dared the kid to beat them he took the Mammoths apart. I don't see why Amherst refused to pressure the young kid. They made it too easy for Boel......Maybe EJ was watching Boel in warmups too.

At the end of the day Bothe of these kids will be fine NESCAC QBs but if I were Bowdoin I would expect a lot more pressure on Boel after he showed that you can't sit back in a zone with conventional pass rush and not get hurt by this kid.

Overall I couldn't believe the way Amherst came unglued in the second half. I couldn't believe this performance by the Purple, unprecedented to me. EJ really lost it with the refs later in the 4th over a false start penalty. If you've never heard EJ yell at the Refs it's like a desperate shreik- like a horror movie. It typically manifests itself later in games where the Mammoths have a chance to lose. Heard the same thing at Bates a few weeks before with the game in the balance late.

Last observation on the weekend. How confident can the Cards feel with their last 3 wins by a total of 7 points over 3 teams with a combined total of 2 wins. Birds in huge trouble- they can't stop the pass and not much better against the run.

Thanks Lumber...

Berlutti and Boel are exhibits 1a and 1b why you recruit kids from high caliber, non-public schools like Xavarian and Bergen Catholic...these kids are ready to go day one...

One big difference between the two that you failed to mention is that Berlutti is a much better runner/scrambler than Boel....that's why we give him the slight edge...

As far as Wes is concerned, they were up by two TDs and ready to go up by 3 on the Jumbo's when the refs went to work...if not for the officiating, Wes wins by 3-4 touchdowns, easy...and they played without Thomas Elkourey (the kid who was on ESPN with "the catch" 2 weeks earlier) and many defensive starters who will be back this week....we wouldn't worry too much about them...they've won 13 of their last 14 games and 8 in a row...Cardiac Cards...

I'd take off the Cardinal colored glasses NM. I'm not ripping the Cars for fun. Wes is a team who can't stop the pass or the run with some phenomenal skill position guys on offense. Against your final 4 opponents you're going to have to light it up offensively. But who knows- as things come down to the wire it might tighten up.

[Nescacman]

Lumber....we are very objective....

The Cardiac Cards have Mid and the Lord Mammoths the next two weeks, who are both very beatable...then they play the Ephs who they have beaten 7 straight games (Coach Dice has never lost to his alma matter as HCOF)...they finish up at home against Hartford State which will def be a tough hill to climb...