Panthers Make Rude Guests in Hartford: Stock Report 10/26

Every streak will end at some point, and Trinity’s vaunted home winning streak of 53 games finally came to a stunning finish on Saturday. Like any streak of such length, the Bantams endured many close calls before Saturday, but the Panthers sucked out any potential drama long before the final whistle. Middlebury scored the first 20 points of the game, and a Brendan Rankowitz ’15 touchdown catch with 6:07 left made it 27-7, essentially ending the game.

So just how did Middlebury manage to take down the unbeatable Bantams? Well, considering the margin of victory, the simple answer is that Middlebury just outplayed Trinity. From a more philosophical point of view, this was speed beating size. The Trinity starting offensive line averages 280 pounds while the three down lineman for Middlebury average 247 pounds. That didn’t matter as Middlebury was still able to get to the ball.

Trinity finished the game with 85 yards rushing on 38 attempts, a 2.2 yards per carry average. The last time Trinity was held to under 100 yards rushing was October 2, 2010 when Williams held the Bantams to 87 yards rushing. Not coincidentally that was also a loss for Trinity. The 85 yards was the lowest total in a game since October 11, 2008 when Tufts (yes, Tufts) held the Bantams to 50 yards rushing. (Of course in that game Trinity threw for 470 as well to win a wild overtime game 28-27.)

The fact that the two top tacklers for Middlebury were defensive backs tells us that while the Panthers won the line of scrimmage, they didn’t do it conventionally. Waves of defenders threw themselves at the point of attack on running plays without exposing any lanes for cutbacks. Trinity’s longest run in the game was 19 yards.

Matt Minno '16 hauls down one of his three touchdowns in the Panthers' victory. Courtesy of Greg Sullivan (http://www.sevenstrong.net/TrinityFootball)
Matt Minno ’16 hauls down one of his three touchdowns in the Panthers’ victory. Courtesy of Greg Sullivan (http://www.sevenstrong.net/TrinityFootball)

Not having Sonny Puzzo on the roster for Trinity hurt the Bantams because Foye is not a runner. Puzzo gave the Trinity offense a little more diversity and defenses had more difficulty keying on one player. Spencer Aukamp ’18 has the running capabilities to replicate Puzzo, but Aukamp is not as polished of a passer. Henry Foye ’15 was able to come back from a touchdown deficit last week against Bowdoin, but he is not a quarterback capable of leading a team back from the hole Trinity found themselves in early in the second half.

Meanwhile, Matt Milano ’16 played a nearly perfect game. He went 25-36 for 286 yards. Though he threw one interception, he made up for it with four touchdowns. Matt Minno ’16 reemerged from the shadows last week against Bates, and he confirmed that he is back with his best game of the season: a three touchdown, 90 yard day. Milano actually played better than Mac Foote ’14 did last year when Middlebury beat Trinity in Vermont. Throw out the debacle against Amherst, and Milano has been stellar.

The running game led by Drew Jacobs ’18 was nothing special, but it did enough to keep Trinity honest. The Bantams could not load up on 3rd and long and come after Milano, especially because the Middlebury offense is designed to get the ball out quickly.

Finally, credit should be given to the Middlebury special teams which had two big plays early in the second half. The first was a gutsy on-side kick call coming out of the half. Rather than giving Trinity the ball back with the score 13-0 Middlebury, the Panthers dialed up an onside kick that they recovered. Two plays later, Milano hit hit Minno for his third touchdown of the game. The next drive Trinity tried a fake punt on 4th and 2 from their own 43-yard line, but Middlebury was not fooled at all. Michael Budness ’15 gained only one yard and the Trinity gambled failed.

The last time Trinity lost at home was to Williams in September of 2001. Every Trinity football player starting with the class of 2006 until the class of 2014 was undefeated at home. The thing for Trinity is that their path to a NESCAC championship remains unchanged. If they can rally and beat Amherst and then Wesleyan, they will at least earn a share of the NESCAC title. With only two weeks to still go, both Connecticut schools have now lost when before the season it looked possible that both would go undefeated until they faced each other.

Stock Up

Safety Dan Pierce ’16 (Middlebury): Seems like every week we highlight another Panther defensive player that has emerged as a cog in a defense that has become the strength of Middlebury. Pierce had a great all around game totaling 12 tackles and two interceptions. He had the play of the game midway through the second quarter. With Middlebury up 7-0, the Bantams drove the ball down to the five yard line. Then Pierce picked off Henry Foye ’15 in the end zone and returned it 71 yards to the Trinity 29-yard line. Four plays later, Middlebury punched it in to go up by two touchdowns forcing Trinity out of their comfort zone. Pierce now leads the Panthers in tackles on the season and is fourth overall in the NESCAC. We know it is early, but given that players like Pierce, Tim Patricia ’16,  and Nate Leedy ’17 will all be back on defense along with Milano leading an offense that will return all of its playmakers with the exception of Rankowitz, Middlebury should be the favorite entering next year.

Wide Receiver Steven Kiesel ’15 (Williams): Saturday was just another ho-hum day for the senior receiver as he finished with five catches, 62 yards, and a touchdown that ended up being the difference in Williams’ 21-14 victory. Kiesel’s performance was notable because of how normal it has become. He has had at least five receptions in all but one of Williams’ games and now leads the NESCAC in receptions for the year. With the Ephs backed up on their own one, Austin Lommen ’16 went to his favorite target and hit Kiesel for a 32-yard gain that ended with Kiesel’s touchdown catch. The Williams running game has struggled for long stretches of this season, and Kiesel has been the most reliable source of offense for the Ephs. It might be a longshot given they are only 2-4, but Williams can salvage their season starting Saturday with a big upset over Wesleyan.

Quarterback Matt Cannone ’15 (Bates): The CBB picked up right where it left off last year in terms of excitement. The Bobcats QB returned just in time to get the Bates offense moving. He was still bothered by his ankle so that he was not much of a threat out of the pocket, but Cannone still played admirably. He went 18-32 for 203 yards and four touchdowns. His main target was Mark Riley ’16, but with the game on the line he used Riley as a diversion and went to Frank Williams ’18. On 4th and goal, Cannone found Williams for the game tying touchdown with under a minute left. Then in overtime the same connection worked again for a 25 yard touchdown and the victory. The win gives Bates the early lead in the CBB with the Bobcats visiting Bowdoin this week. Now Cannone will look to seal the CBB.

Running back LaShawn Ware ’17 (Hamilton): Sometimes, you have to admit that you’ve made a mistake. At the beginning of the season, in our Breakout Players of 2014 article, we highlighted Hamilton backs Rico Gonzalez ’16 and converted safety Jeff Hopsicker ’15. Gonzalez hasn’t been much of a factor all year, and had two carries against Williams. Hopsicker started out as the team’s primary back, but has seen his carries total dwindle ever since Week 2. When we spoke with head coach Dave Murray at the beginning of the year, he highlighted the speedy Ware as someone who could make an impact, but we just saw too much competition in the backfield. Well, Ware now leads the team in rushing yards and yards per carry, and racked up a career-high 115 yards against Williams. It looks like Murray has settled into a two-headed attack, with Ware moving the ball down the field and Amman Weaver ’18 getting the chances to punch it in near the goal line. It’s another lost season for the Continentals, but there will be weapons back in 2015.

Stock Down

Tufts Offensive Execution: A few stats from the Tufts-Amherst game: Tufts first downs – 11, Amherst first downs – 12. Tufts total yards – 249, Amherst total yards – 244. Tufts return yards – 78, Amherst return yards – 93. So how was this game 30-3 in favor of the Jeffs? As the Tufts website notes, every single Amherst scoring drive started in Tufts territory. Seventy-nine of those return yards came on interceptions for Amherst, with Chris Gow ’16 returning one Alex Snyder ’17 pass to the house. The Lord Jeff defense is very good and known for their takeaways, but this was another level. A big reason for that was because Jack Doll ’15 did not start and only threw the ball six times. It would have been extremely difficult for the Jumbos to upset Amherst at home with the Jeffs smelling a conference championship, but the offense let down a defense that played much better than the score indicated.

Bowdoin Secondary: One week after allowing Henry Foye to enjoy his best game of the season, Jesse Warren ’15 threw for five touchdowns against the Bowdoin secondary. Early in the game Bowdoin was getting pressure, but Warren converted two third downs of more than 12 yards on the first touchdown drive. For the game Wesleyan was 10-17 on third down. The Polar Bears have had problems slowing down the opposition’s passing attack all year with teams finding ways of making big plays consistently. Though Jay Fabien ’15 was slowed, Josh Hurwitz ’15 stepped up and had three touchdown catches. The Bowdoin secondary will have to rise to the occasion and stop Bates’ Riley on Saturday.

Colby’s Depth: The brutal opening schedule robbed Colby of a good deal of their players, and in an effort to get their best talent on the field, wide receivers Luke Duncklee ’15 and Nick Joseph ’15 have started playing on defense as well. Many NESCAC players went both ways in high school so they are somewhat used to it, but doing it in college is especially hard because it is much harder to take any plays off. The duo played well Saturday totaling 14 tackles between them, but it was not enough for Colby to hold off Bates. Advocates for expanding the current roster to more than 75 players might point to Colby’s issues as evidence. It is possible that the issue comes up again in conversations between coaches and administrators, but schools are unlikely to look at this one instance and consider it enough reason to change a longstanding rule.

 

Fantasy Report – Week 1

Week 1 of the NESCAC football season is in the books. There will be plenty of “real” news and analysis coming later on in the week, but let’s kick Monday off with what everyone really cares about. Fantasy football.

 

The Bantams (Meekins) vs. Foye Story (MacDonald)

 

Meekins’ two controversial early picks of “back up” running backs looked pretty good this week. Kyle Gibson wasn’t spectacular, but Nick Kelly broke away for a 42-yard TD on his way to 77 yards over nine carries, and both was his team’s leading rusher on the day. Wesleyan and Meekins got pretty much what is to be expected from Jesse Warren, who posted 20 points by throwing for 163 yards and two TD’s, and Gene Garay made good on his first round status, outscoring all other wide receivers in play besides Jay Fabien (Team Lindholm).

However, Foye Story edged The Bantams, ironically, on the strength of Chudi Iregbulem’s NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week-winning performance. Well over half of my points came from Iregbulem and Alex Scyocurka, and I’m excited for both of their potential this season. The bad news: I started the wrong Hamilton tailback (Rico Gonzalez over Jeff Hopsicker) and Middlebury wide receiver (Matt Minno over Grant Luna), but a win’s a win.

Alex Scyocurka tore up the Bowdoin defense for 128 yards and two TD's.
Alex Scyocurka tore up the Bowdoin defense for 128 yards and two TD’s.
The Bantams (Meekins) Foye Story (MacDonald)
Position Player Points Player Points
QB J. Warren 20 H. Foye 6
QB M. Caputi 5 G. Harrington 10
RB K. Gibson 6 A. Scyocurka 24
RB J. Rivers 2 C. Iregbulem 32
RB N. Kelly 8 I. Reese 1
WR G. Garay 11 M. Minno 2
WR I. Dugger 4 G. Lanzillo 0
WR C. Ragone 7 N. Joseph 10
TE B. Oliver 0 B. Harasimowicz 1
FLEX D. Von Euw 0 R. Gonzalez 0
FLEX D. Sime 2 S. Carroll 2
K P. Nwosu 1 J. Mallock 3
D/ST Trinity 16 Colby -2
TOTAL 82 89

Team Lindholm vs. Lord of the ‘CAC – The Fellowship

How ’bout those Ephs?! The Williams defense carried Team Lindholm, scoring more than everyone else in the matchup besides Panthers QB Matt Milano. Pretty amazing that Lindholm pulled off the victory despite four goose eggs on the board. Two of those are pretty glaring, as Lindholm (and the rest of us) assumed that Max Lippe and Ryan Hislop would be starting for their respective squads, but it looks like both could be looking at reserve duty unless injury or bad performance strikes. Kenny Adinkra, too, will need to step up his play after Kelly’s breakout day.

As for Team Lamont, he should be encouraged by a solid showing from Austin Lommen in his first NESCAC game, and Carl Lipani looked great in Colby’s season opener. Other than that though, Lamont got a lot of mediocre performances. The Wesleyan D/ST was good not great, and unfortunately Mike Rando didn’t accrue any points for his return duties, causing Team Lamont to pull up just short.

Matt Cannone, downed at the two here, and the triple option had little success against the Amherst defense.
Matt Cannone, downed at the two here, and the triple option had little success against the Amherst defense.
Team Lindholm Lord of the ‘CAC – The Fellowship
Position Player Points Player Points
QB M. Lippe 0 M. Cannone 10
QB M. Milano 21 A. Lommen 15
RB K. Adinkra 2 L. Drew 0
RB R. Hislop 0 T. Grant 4
RB J. Semonella 1 C. Lipani 13
WR H. Murphy 0 B. Ragone 5
WR J. Hurwitz 0 E. Drigotas 0
WR J. Fabien 14 L. Duncklee 1
TE J. Day 10 A. Way 2
FLEX M. Budness 1 D. Barone 4
FLEX Z. Trause 16 M. Rando 5
K M. Dola 2 L. Schweepers 0
D/ST Williams 19 Wesleyan 13
TOTAL 86 72

Breakout Players of 2014

One of the great things about college sports is that every season a new crop of players comes to the forefront. Some players can come in and play as freshmen while others have to wait a couple of years before they get their chance at playing time. Below are the players we expect to become big names in the NESCAC

6. Cornerback Stefan Soucy ’17 (Amherst)

Jaymie Spears is one of the top corners in the NESCAC, and Soucy will start the season at the other corner after almost never playing as a freshman. The New Hampshire native is big and rangy for a defensive back which will help him if teams try to beat him deep. The Jeffs are hoping the corner duo performs similar to how the Jets used Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie a couple years ago. Spears will lock down the top receiver and erase one side of the field while Soucy uses his athleticism to make plays because he has help over the top from his safeties. Running on the Amherst front seven will be very difficult, so teams will come after Soucy in the air.

5. Safety/Linebacker Ben Coulibaly ’17 (Bates)

The sophomore is somewhat of a hybrid for the Bobcats playing all over the field. He is capable of rushing the passer from the outside linebacker position or patrolling center field at safety. While he won’t be asked to do all those things every game, his positional flexibility will allow the Bates coaches to game plan specifically for each opponent. Coulibaly could even end up returning kickoffs. Bates has shown they are willing to be inventive in getting their 11 best players on the field as they moved Andrew Kukesh from safety to linebacker despite him never having played their before. Coulibaly might not have one position he plays every down, but he will have a major impact.

4. Running Backs Rico Gonzalez ’16 and  Jeff Hopsicker ’16 (Hamilton)

James Stanell was the man at running back for the Continentals last year, but Gonzalez and Hopsicker are ready to fill that void. Gonzalez has a Darren Sproles build at 5’7″ and will be able to make defenders look silly at times. The switch to a new offensive attack should also help Hopsicker as he makes the move back to offense. Hopsicker is the bigger of the two backs and will be responsible for gaining a lot of the tough yards on the ground. With those two running behind a line that brings back a plethora of players with experience, the Continentals will look to control the clock.

3. Quarterback Gabe Harrington ’17 (Colby)

The Mules are excited about Harrington stepping in at QB especially with all the skill players around him. Receiver Luke Duncklee ’17 said Harrington’s strength is that “he sits back there and fires the ball. He fits perfectly with our scheme.” Duncklee, Nick Joseph ’17, and Ryder Arsenault ’17 are returning starters so the Colby offense will look to have more balance than it did last year. Harrington throws a great deep ball that will allow the Mules to be one of the few NESCAC teams that can stretch a defense vertically. Harrington will not have a lot of time to adjust as he opens tomorrow against a great Trinity defense.

http://www.hudl.com/athlete/628081/highlights/19905414

2. Linebacker Branden Morin ’16 (Bowdoin)

Morin replaces departed defensive player of the year Joey Cleary ’14 at the WILL linebacker position in Bowdoin’s 4-3 defense. Do not expect the drop-off in production to be significant. While the Bridgewater-Raynham product has only seen limited snaps so far for the Polar Bears, he will pair with former junior Brendan Lawler ’16 in the middle of the defense. Morin’s strength is in run defense where he should blow up plays in the backfield, and he has worked hard to become a good coverage linebacker as well. Morin also starred at running back in high school. Could he become the NESCAC version to UCLA linebacker/running back Myles Jack?

1. Quarterback Austin Lommen ’16 (Williams)

Lommen is a transfer from Boston College who has won the starting job for the Ephs heading into the season. Transferring from D1 to the NESCAC does not automatically mean success like many might assume, but Lommen appears to be making a big difference already. From the Williams Record, “transfer quarterback Austin Lommen ’16, has emerged as a leader of the team. “He commands respect inside the huddle and off the field and I look forward to seeing him lead our offense,” Cabarle [Captain Tom Caberle ’15] said.” His senior highlight tape shows he has a quick release and has the ability to throw on the run. Most of his passes come in rhythm as the first read in the offense which could lead to some interceptions against teams capable of disguising their coverages. His ability to throw the deep ball will be tantamount for an offense that is loaded with height at the wide receiver and tight end positions.