FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jknezek]

A good win for RMC in the odd shaped football. W&L just couldn't get off the field and the fumbles... Uggh. But yeah, a well deserved win by the better team.

In the round ball version it was the opposite. W&L was all over the Jackets and just pinned them back and peppered them all game long. RMC defended desperately and the goalie stood on his head for a few saves, but the score flattered the Jackets quite a bit. That should have been 3 or 4 to 0 easy.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ I was surprised at how close the round ball score was. Thanks for those insights.

[y_jack_lok]

It seems that there is only one way RMC can fail to win the ODAC and that is to lose its last two games and for W&L to win its last two. That would put the Generals at 6-1 and the Jackets at 5-2. Otherwise, one more RMC win puts them at 6-1 at worst and if W&L goes to 6-1 RMC has the head-to-head win. All other teams already have two or more losses. Do I have that right?

[jknezek]

Yes. Beating Ferrum, which should not prove difficult, wraps up the ODAC for RMC.

[y_jack_lok]

W&L wins on the road at Bridgewater 23-7.
Shenandoah downs H-SC at home 35-7.
Guilford put together a good drive at the end of the game but couldn't score and lost 28-21 at Averett.
RMC clinches the ODAC title with a 35-7 home win over Ferrum.

[jknezek]

Once again my hope for a W&L vs Wilkes Chesapeake Bowl come down to the last week of the season. W&L, Shenandoah, Wilkes and Moravian are the 4 teams that are in 2nd and 3rd place in both conferences going into the weekend. The Chesapeake matches the #2 from each conference with the #3 from the other conference. So I need either W&L or Wilkes to lose this weekend. If both win, they both finish second. If they both lose, they both finish third.

I just can't root against W&L, so I really need Wilkes to lose to Moravian. It's at Wilkes, so that's a bit harder.

Unfortunately of the four, Shenandoah has the most to play for. If they lose, they likely will finish 4th in the ODAC and not participate in the bowls. Bridgewater holds the tiebreaker and plays hapless Guilford this weekend. On the upside, the game is in Lexington and W&L rarely loses at home.

Anyway, fingers crossed I'll be meeting my Dad in Salem to watch our alma maters play for only the second time ever. Go W&L and Moravian...

[rmc1982]

RMC wins in FarmVille 27-6 after trailing 6-0 at half. I imagine Pedro ripped those boys a new a$$hole at half following a less than stellar performance in the first half! HSC people.... One suggestion.....GET SOME NEW FREAKIN ANNOUNCERS!!! Yours sound like a bunch of WHINY GIRLS!! You didn't see us, after getting our tails whipped in basketball in Fleet for the first time in YEARS, WHINING about everything from the officials to our coach!! No- we said "GOOD GAME" and went about our business because , quite frankly, y'all whipped our a$$es!! Your feed was MUCH MUCH BETTER with Cannon Watson and my old RMC ROOMIE and former football star ( and FarmVille native)Rob Stanley offering unbiased commentary!! YOU CAN DO BETTER than those two clowns!! Now on to the playoffs!

[y_jack_lok]

W&L loses to Shenandoah 28-21, so I think that means jknezek gets to hang out with his dad in Salem while their alma maters play each other, since Wilkes beat Moravian. I know he wanted it to happen the other way around -- W&L winning and Wilkes losing, but I hope you guys have fun at the game.

Bridgewater downs Guilford 58-0 and Ferrum beats Averett 35-6.

It was kind of a sloppy game in Farmville. The emotion of the game must have gotten to a couple of RMC players who committed uncharacteristic penalties, and may have gotten away with a couple of others. H-SC had chances in the red zone it failed to capitalize on.

I concur with rmc1982 re the H-SC announcers, though not quite as vehemently. I think the emotion of the game got to the main guy and he made judgements and assumptions about things happening on the field regarding officiating that he couldn't know the reality of. The commentator, who acknowledged not being as aware of the intensity of the rivalry, was more reasonable. It's unfortunate when the partisanship comes out as blatantly as it did from their main announcer. It's also unfortunate that the audio feed from the RMC announcers was so far ahead of the H-SC live stream that you could know what happened before seeing it. That's not a fun way, for me at least, to watch the game.

[jknezek]

Not really what I was looking for. And to throw gas on the fire, my dad is unable to make it. And without him, I'm just not going to drive 9 hours to watch W&L play Wilkes. But maybe some other time. W&L had some ridiculously slow starts this year and it caught up to them against Trinity and Shenandoah. You can't decide to get off the bus in the second half and expect to win.

[Tigerfan]

rmc1982, you need to come to The Game, not listen to it.  It was a gorgeous day on the Hill and the tailgating was fantastic.  H-SC fans had realistic expectations for the game and we were pleased to be leading at the half.  The Jackets took it to us in the second half.  I hope to see the Tigers return the favor of that TD in the final minute when a couple victory formations would have sufficed.  We'll just have to get better.  Speaking of which, the Tigers started 8 freshmen, including 3 on the O line.  I was impressed with their run blocking, less so with pass protection, but they will improve.  Vince Luvara has had a good first season leading the Tigers.  The foundation for future success is there.  Best of luck to the Jackets in the NCAA playoffs!

[Donnie17]

I am in favor of the victory formation when both teams acknowledge that their is no chance to come back. The victory formation would have worked except for one main reason. On the last R-MC drive they could have run the clock out but H-SC had all three timeouts left and used them in hopes of getting the ball back one more time. The victory formation only works when the other team stops calling these timeouts.

[Tigerfan]

I suppose the coaching staffs at H-SC and R-MC just have different approaches.  In the H-SC v BC game this season, with BC using all of their timeouts on the last possession, Terry Hicks slid at the 2 yard line when he could have scored unmolested to make it a 2 possession lead.  Then H-SC took a knee for the last 1:13 as the Jackets could have done yesterday.  The Tigers just have to get better so the Jackets don't have the opportunity to rub it in.  Perhaps the Tigers did the same to R-MC in the past, and it wouldn't bother my little hypocritical self if they did.  Its a rivalry game after all and we lost again- acting like we have greater sportsmanship is all I got.   

[Macon]

'82, you're correct about the HSC announcers, they were embarrassing.  Their general lack of football knowledge became hilarious in their absurd analysis of the game.

Tigerfan, I think your analysis of the final RMC drive is off base.  HSC called three timeouts during that drive.  If you wanted to get the RMC offense off the field and end the game, calling timeouts is not the way to do it.  Your analysis makes it sound as if RMC was calling timeouts to extend the game.  You can dislike Pedro and his success, but unsportsmanship is not part of his game, as RMC is one of the least penalized teams in DIII for many years.  Maybe, just maybe, RMC thought that more points might slightly influence the playoff committee for a home game.  If you want the 'sportsmanship win', you can have it, but I'll take 27-6.

I know you were at the game, but you need to listen to the game.  I think you'll then say that the only lack of sportsmanship was displayed by HSC through its announcers.  Constantly questioning and attacking the refs and the opposing team shows a lack of class and sportsmanship.

I would like to thank HSC for the archived webcast of the game, something my guys need to do going forward.

Good luck to HSC and their future, as they certainly are an improving football program. 

[Tigerfan]

Nah, I didn't say or imply the Jackets used any timeouts to score, merely that they could have taken a knee in the last minute and chose not to.  I was laughing about occupying the sportsmanship moral high ground, as I would be delighted to switch places. As far as the radio goes, I would also prefer to listen to my friend Rob Stanley.  His insights from his years of coaching and playing career at Macon were great. I don't think we have a lot to disagree about.   

[y_jack_lok]

RMC gets a week off then hosts Washington & Jefferson on November 30th in the second round of the NCAA playoffs. https://rmcathletics.com/news/2024/11/17/football-15-rmc-to-host-23-w-j-in-second-round-of-ncaa-playoffs.aspx