East Region Playoff Discussion

[ITH radio]

Tonight we interview Coach Martinovich on the Husson win and advancing to face Wesley. Tune in at 7:30 pm to www.inthehuddlle.com!

[D3MAFAN]

Sorry for the late post, but I had a chance to watch a majority of the playoff games this past weekend and have to say, this was by far one of the most spectacular 1st rounds I have seen in a long time. Forgive me for reiterating what has already been said by other posters and podcast (haven't listened yet).

I'll start off talking about the Ithaca vs. Hobart game. This game came down to the "Redzone". Ithaca continues to be a great defensive team, however the offense inability to score points in the Redzone really prevented the game from getting out of hand. I was saying to myself just after the 4 field goal try that put Ithaca ahead 12-0 that Ithaca blew their opportunity from dominating the game and somewhat putting Hobart away. Yet even after that they continued to play well and tacked on another field goal that made it 15-0, however still not scoring a touchdown. Hobart kept playing great defensively themselves that kept them within a couple touchdowns was key, they eventually made a couple big plays late that put them in great position and they capitalized with touchdowns, which good teams do. Also, the fake punt was a head scratcher, I didn't think it was necessary and really change the momentum of the game. Overall, it was a great game to watch from an outside perspective, to see a good comeback. I think Hobart represented the LL well and Ithaca play how Ithaca has played how they all year, playing good defense, getting points where they could.

Now there is the Muhlenberg vs. Widener game, no way did I think this was going to be as close, yet alone, almost an upset (I am not going to get into the calls). I watch a couple of the Mules games this year and was really impressed with them coming into the game, however I thought Widener was going to pull away in the third. Muhlenberg had a great game plan for Widener and didn't seemed fazed, they played Widener as if they were the better team, so hats off to the Mules. Widener made big time plays here and there that kept them from losing momentum. I believe both teams were evenly matched and if they played 10 games, it would be 50-50.

Then it was the shocker was the CNU vs. Delaware Valley game. As predicted this game was going to be a barn burner with each team defense being unable to stop the opposing teams offense, however it was almost a tale of two halves with a great finish from a very tough CNU team, they really kept with their game plan a ended up with the win, hats off to them in representing the USA South in their last year in the conference. As some have already mentioned their was an injury to Del Val QB, which definitely changed the game, but championship teams have to adjust and be able to adjust on the fly, especially in the playoffs. Do I think the game would have been different if Wilmer were 100%, yes. Overall, one of the best games to watch.

Now for the Rowan vs. Johns Hopkins game (shout out to their broadcast, great video). Johns Hopkins look like the most complete team and continued to be well balance and played great defense, even though it wasn't spectacular showing on offense. Rowan kept it close in the end, but never seemed to be able to capitalize on early turnovers by Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins play a bend but don't break defense. I think next weeks game is going to be interesting between both Hobart and Hopkins.

[ITH radio]

It was never 15-0 in the Hobart-IC game. Statesmen scored on a 1 yard TD run to make it 12-7 in the 3rd, then IC countered with their only points of the 2nd half to make it 15-7. Hobart then scored the remaining 15 unanswered to win it.

To Rowan's credit they were the top ranked D in the NJAC (which in most years says a lot but this season seemed like the conference was down), which is probably why JHU struggled, at least to start.

[wcrosby]

Johns Hopkins has the video feed that every team should attempt to match!

[D3MAFAN]

It was never 15-0 in the Hobart-IC game. Statesmen scored on a 1 yard TD run to make it 12-7 in the 3rd, then IC countered with their only points of the 2nd half to make it 15-7. Hobart then scored the remaining 15 unanswered to win it.
To Rowan's credit they were the top ranked D in the NJAC (which in most years says a lot but this season seemed like the conference was down), which is probably why JHU struggled, at least to start.

thanks for the correction, it was tough to recall from watching multiple games all at once (it was all worth it though), got to see some great games, with amazing finishes.

[ITH radio]

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Preview of Hop vs Hob is up at http://gohobart.blogspot.com. Really a game of mirror images in many ways. Should be a great one.

[Bartman]

Happy thanksgiving everyone. Preview of Hop vs Hob is up at http://gohobart.blogspot.com. Really a game of mirror images in many ways. Should be a great one.

Nice pre-game summary. I think the skills of these 2 teams are as close as you can get and whether it is low or high scoring, it should be close and intense. Just imagine if the Statesmen could play games like they did against SLU and Ithaca, but with no turnovers? They clearly dominated Ithaca in the second half, and that kind of effort and execution is what the Statesmen need tomorrow along with the mental toughness to play the entire 4 quarters. Weather forecast in the mid 30's with 10-15 mph winds and 20% chance of rain....virtually perfect weather for the Finger Lakes.  Congratulations to both teams on the last 4 years of excellence, but may the Statesman prevail. GO BART!

[pg04]

Well here are the Eastern Teams that will be in the playoffs. There will be no tension on the teams selected here.

Pool A:
Western New England
Norwich
Framingham State
St. Lawrence
Albright
Cortland State
Salisbury

Pool C:
Wesley

[pg04]

I also feel bad for the east team that will probably have to face Mount Union in the 2nd round. They have allowed only 34 points this year. That's 3.4 points a game. The next lowest is 96 for this season. They have what looks to be an all time defense.

[wesleydad]

Well here are the Eastern Teams that will be in the playoffs. There will be no tension on the teams selected here.

Pool A:
Western New England
Norwich
Framingham State
St. Lawrence
Albright
Cortland State
Salisbury

Pool C:
Wesley

not a very strong looking group compared to the rest of the country.  I hope that a few of them can win or be competitive in games against non east teams.  I know some will play each other in first round so hoping for a competitive second round game.  Will be interesting to see who ends up in Dover next week.  Salisbury can always give someone trouble with the triple option, but the defense is not very good.

[pg04]

Well here are the Eastern Teams that will be in the playoffs. There will be no tension on the teams selected here.

Pool A:
Western New England
Norwich
Framingham State
St. Lawrence
Albright
Cortland State
Salisbury

Pool C:
Wesley

not a very strong looking group compared to the rest of the country.  I hope that a few of them can win or be competitive in games against non east teams.  I know some will play each other in first round so hoping for a competitive second round game.  Will be interesting to see who ends up in Dover next week.  Salisbury can always give someone trouble with the triple option, but the defense is not very good.

I think Norwich will probably head your way. That should not be fun for them.

[Div3Fan]

Norwich v. Wesley? It'll be a bloodbath...

They lost to three teams from the LL, and they just lost to Castleton.

[pg04]

Norwich v. Wesley? It'll be a bloodbath...

They lost to three teams from the LL, and they just lost to Castleton.

Yeah this is what was projected by the D3football.com crew last week and I checked the distance and it is under 500 miles. Another possibility is Norwich going to Johns Hopkins, which would leave Wesley with a slightly tougher opponent, probably. But I think it'll end up being Norwich, which Wesley will be able to toy with like a cat, I'd guess.

[wesleydad]

Norwich v. Wesley? It'll be a bloodbath...

They lost to three teams from the LL, and they just lost to Castleton.

Yeah this is what was projected by the D3football.com crew last week and I checked the distance and it is under 500 miles. Another possibility is Norwich going to Johns Hopkins, which would leave Wesley with a slightly tougher opponent, probably. But I think it'll end up being Norwich, which Wesley will be able to toy with like a cat, I'd guess.

New bracket shows WNEC.  Guess an undefeated team is tougher but I still dont think it will be much of a game.  The bracket looks interesting with some nice second round games.  We could get to see if we ranked the east right if Albright beats W&L.  Or we get to see if Wesley can stop the triple option better than they did against Salisbury.  Win both of them an maybe UMHB or HSU beats Linfield in round 2 and Wesley hosts the third round.  Wn that one then a trip to St Thomas unless they lose to one of the WIAC teams and maybe Wesley hosts again, not sure which bracket was higher seed.  Pull off the upset there and Wesley makes the Stagg bowl.  May be dreaming but I dont think any of that is over the top crazy.  One can always hope.

[Div3Fan]

In the new bracket I see Wesley making it to the quarterfinals playing Linfield, and I have no idea who'd win that game.

I'd see Salisbury winning their first game, and then I'm clueless about how they'd perform against Hopkins. I've never seen a Hopkins team vs the option. As far as I know, the Centennial Conference has two kinds of teams: spread teams and pro-style "west coast" fb & te teams.