Wesleyan – Page 9 – Nothing But NESCAC

The Hardware That Really Matters: 2018 NESCAC Football Awards

Chipouras had a legendary career and leaves a void for the NESCAC to fill.

With the 2018 NESCAC football season officially in the rearview, all that is left to be settled are the awards. This year seemed to lack the typical depth of transcendent performers and producers, but there are still some things to straighten out. Who’s taking home some additional hardware at the end of the season?

Coach of the Year: Jeff Devanney, Trinity

Under normal circumstances, giving the Coach of the Year award to the man who just led his team to their third straight league title with a historically great team would be pretty boring. But it wasn’t just that Coach Devanney cemented the three-peat, but how he did it that wins him this award. With QB Sonny Puzzo ’18 lost to graduation, the Bantams turned to transfer QB Jordan Vazzano ’21 to take the reins. Vazzano did just that, throwing for 1326 yards and 12 touchdowns in 5 games, leading Trin to a 4-1 and start. But his 43.8% completion percentage and some additional glaring holes that Williams exposed in their one loss left more to be desired, and a change was made in favor of QB Seamus Lambert ’22. Lambert exploded as the starter, leading the offense to 48 points in each of his first 2 starts, and leading them to a 27-16 win over Amherst in the de facto Week 8 championship game, and then marching into Middletown to clinch the league on the last day against Wesleyan. It takes a lot of guts to pull off a move like that, but it certainly worked for Coach Devanney.

Honorable Mention: Jay Civetti, Tufts

Rookie of the Year: QB Seamus Lambert, Trinity

Player A: 52-76, 68.4% CP, 184.3 YPG, 9 TDs, 1 INT, 4-0 record

Player B: 141-233, 60.5% CP, 149.1 YPG, 7 TDs, 5 INTs, 3-6 record

Which of these stat lines would you choose for your rookie of the year winner? Player A is Seamus Lambert, and Player B is Colby QB Matt Hersch, the two front runners for this award. Don’t get me wrong, Hersch’s play and Colby’s 3 wins—including a CBB title—is one of the feel-good stories of the year. The Mules have an answer at QB for the foreseeable future for the first time in a while and the future is looking bright, but when it comes to performance this award belongs to Lambert, whose breakout second half of the season we just covered. Lambert outproduced Hersch and led his team to a league championship, the only thing he didn’t do was play 9 games. If he played 9 games, we’d be talking about Lambert as Offensive Rookie of the Year, not just Rookie of the Year. Hersch might get the sentimental vote from the league but I’m giving it to Lambert.

Honorable Mention: QB Matt Hersch, Colby

Defensive Player of the Year: LB/DE Andrew Yamin ’19, Amherst

Yamin takes this award for the second year in a row, the best player on the best or second-best defense in the league. Despite not being able to reach his earth-shattering junior year numbers of 13.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss, Yamin again led the league in sacks with 9.5, and was second in the league behind Wesleyan DL Taj Gooden ’21 (17.5) with 17 tackles for loss, sharing the lead with Gooden of 82 yards lost. While it obviously seems like a letdown year for Yamin, if you subtract the 5.5 sacks he had in Week 6 against Wesleyan in 2017, his week by week production was pretty much the same. His consistency every Saturday was staggering and it’s a shame neither of these seasons resulted in a ring for Yamin—but he’ll end his career as a back to back DPOY.

So many on this Amherst defense deserve recognition, but Yamin was just that much better than the rest.

Honorable Mention: DL Taj Gooden ’21, Wesleyan—9 Sacks, 35 Tackles, 17.5 TFL

Offensive Player of the Year: RB Max Chipouras ’19, Trinity

This race, of the four, is the closest in my opinion. As I wrote about earlier in the season, the quarterback play in the league was really down this year. Last season, 6 quarterbacks threw for more than 200 yards a game—this season, it was one. Last year, 4 quarterbacks threw 15 or more TDs—this season, it was one. And both of those individual stats from this season belong to Tufts QB Ryan McDonald ’19, who was outstanding all year for the 7-2 Jumbos. He was head and the shoulders the best passer all year (sorry Seamus Lambert), and that’s before you factor in the 50 rushing yards per game and 9 rushing touchdowns he added with his feet. But I’m going with Max Chipouras, who you could argue wasn’t even the best offensive player on his team alongside Lambert and WRs Jonathan Girard (1005 yards, 8 TDs) and Koby Schofer (763 yards, 11 TDs). Chipouras rushed for 1143 yards and 11 scores, both league highs. Of those 1143 yards, 203 of them came in an all-time great performance against Amherst in Week 8 to decide the NESCAC, including a 70-yard touchdown run that will live in Bantam lore forever to put the game away. And all of those numbers could’ve been even higher if Trinity wasn’t blowing everyone out so badly that they pulled the starters so early—look no further for proof than RB Spencer Lockwood ‘22’s 425 yards (7^th in the league in YPG) and 5 TDs in relief. Chipouras had a historic career, and this award is as much for all 4 years as is it is for this one. But this one was pretty darn good.

Honorable Mention: QB Ryan McDonald ’19, 1811 Passing Yards, 26 Total TDs

Forget About Parity: End of Season Power Rankings

End of Season Power Rankings

Now that the season is officially over, we can talk about how this season was a microcosm for NESCAC football in recent years. Trinity won, Amherst wasn’t far behind, and Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams, and Middlebury were all right there as well. Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, and Hamilton might as well be in a completely different league because they really don’t look anywhere near ready to compete with the top tier. Nevertheless, it was a fun year that had some very exciting moments, so take a look at the final power ranking of the 2018 football season:

(1) 1. Trinity (8-1)

It’s always sad to see the end of a career as great as that of Max Chipouras ’19

We’ve all heard this one before: the Trinity Bantams are your NESCAC football champions. There’s no doubt that they earned this one, securing the title with a horribly ugly 9-0 victory over Wesleyan in Week 9. Led by RB Max Chipouras ’19, the Bantam offense saw a quarterback change in the middle of the season and still finished first in the league in total points, total yards, passing yards, passing touchdowns, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. Their defense also finished first in points allowed, total yards, passing yards, and rushing yards. I’d call that a pretty complete team. Coach Devanney continues to prove that as long as he’s at the helm, there’s no such thing as a “down year” in Hartford. These guys are already the clear favorites to take home a 4^thconsecutive championship in 2019.

(2) 2. Amherst (8-1)

The Mammoths were right there every step of the way but a visit to the Coop in Week 8 proved to be a bit too much, so they’ll have to settle for another second place finish. The story for this team all year was defense, because they finished second in nearly every category that I mentioned where Trinity finished first. LB Andrew Yamin ’19 terrorized opposing offenses, ending the season first in the league with 9.5 sacks and second in the league with 17 tackles for a loss. The offense wasn’t quite as eye-popping as that of Trinity, but it was still in the top half of the league and was good enough to keep them in every game. The focus for Amherst at this point should be on how to beat Trinity, because the Bantams are currently the gold standard for NESCAC football. If you can beat them, there’s no reason you shouldn’t take home the title. (Sorry Williams)

(3) 3. Tufts (7-2)

Though they didn’t take home any hardware, 2018 was a good season for the Jumbos. They beat everyone except for the top two teams and battled admirably in those two losses. QB Ryan McDonald ’19 is looking like the frontrunner for offensive player of the year as the only quarterback averaging over 200 passing yards per game with a league-leading 17 passing touchdowns, while adding another 9 touchdowns and 50 yards per game on the ground. By almost every measure Tufts had the third best defense in the league, which certainly makes sense given where they finished the season. Coach Civetti continues to prove why he is one of the NESCAC’s premier coaches and as long as he’s around, Tufts will always be in the hunt. The only question now is what they’re going to do in the post-Ryan McDonald era.

(4) 4. Wesleyan (5-4)

RB Sean Penney ’21 is already excited for the 2019 season

If you take away the Cardinals’ fluke loss to Hamilton in Week 3, they actually had a pretty solid year. D-lineman Taj Gooden ’21 had an excellent second year, leading the league with 17.5 tackles for a loss and coming in second with 9 sacks. He looks like the only man challenging Andrew Yamin for DPOY at this point. QB Mark Piccirillo ’19 didn’t have the year they were hoping for as he threw for just over half the amount of yards he threw for last year, and the offense never really got going this season because of it. Wesleyan is another team that has a very big hole to fill under center next season, but aside from the quarterback position they have all the pieces in place for another strong year.

(5) 5. Middlebury (5-4)

By Middlebury standards, a 5-4 season is nothing to write home about. They started the year with a crushing 52-21 loss to Wesleyan and suffered from very poor quarterback play by senior Jack Meservy. Eventually they made the switch to sophomore Will Jernigan and their offense began to find its identity. Even with the switch they were shutout by both Trinity and Amherst, which is a very bad look from a team who is usually competing for a championship. While they might be able to build around Jernigan’s slightly more run-oriented style, they are also supposed to get a couple of transfer QBs who should keep things interesting in Vermont, perhaps creating a Jared Lebowitz 2.0. I expect a bounce back season from the Panthers in 2019.

(6) 6. Williams (5-4)

It really was the tale of two halves of the season for the Ephs who started 4-0 and handed Trinity their only loss, then followed that up by going 1-4 in their final 5 games. Injuries certainly didn’t help, as they saw stud LB TJ Rothmann ’21 and stud QB Bobby Maimaron ’21 each go down with injury late in the year. Last year’s fairytale run was a tough act to follow, and the freshman that took the league by storm last year went through a bit of a sophomore slump in year two. Fortunately for Eph fans, these sophomores will soon be juniors and Coach Raymond will bring in another outstanding recruiting class beneath them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Williams take home the crown in one of the next two years.

(8) 7. Colby (3-6)

And now we get to the bottom tier. No disrespect to Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, and Hamilton, but they’re simply not as good as the top six teams. This season honestly went about as well as it could have for the Mules. Yes, they took their lumps, but beating the bottom three teams is a huge step in the right direction for a new coach who is trying to resurrect this program. They have a promising young quarterback in Matt Hersch ’22 who looked excellent at times leading an offense that is certainly not as talented as some of the teams they were up against. It’ll be interesting to see how Colby will fare in the run game with the departure of RB Jake Schwern ’19, who had a terrific career in Waterville. The defense actually finished the year allowing the second fewest passing yards per game, but also the most rushing yards per game so they have areas of focus as they head into next season.

(7) 8. Hamilton (3-6)

I really hoped to see more out of Hamilton this year. I thought they could potentially be in the mix with Middlebury, Wesleyan, and Williams in the middle of the conference. Overall on defense they were relatively average, but their pass defense was atrocious. Nearly every team they faced could air it out at will against their secondary and they couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was disappointed with the effort put forth by QB Kenny Gray ’20 because I really thought this would be his breakout year. He has put up some big numbers in the past and he returned his top targets, but he threw for just 177 yards per game and posted a TD:INT ratio of 13:12. They have a lineup of capable players, so the Continentals just need to put everything together to see more success in the future.

(9) 9. Bowdoin (1-8)

Nate Richam ’20 is one of the most explosive running backs returning to the league next year

It’s all about progress for Bowdoin. They came into the year riding a 17-game losing streak and they finally put that streak to bed. It wasn’t an amazing year, but Bowdoin had some flashes of very strong play, like RB Nate Richam’s 288-yard outburst against Middlebury. QB Austin McCrum ’20 didn’t have the year they were hoping for and he actually led the league with 17 interceptions. He’ll have to seriously increase his level of play in order for the Polar Bears to be competitive next season. LB Joe Gowetski ’20 finished second in the NESCAC in tackles, while LB Franny Rose ’21 and DB Nick Leahy ’21 finished sixth and eighth respectively. With some individual performances to feel good about and a win under their belt, Bowdoin can feel much more confident heading into 2019 than they were in 2018.

(10) 10. Bates (0-9)

What a tough year for the Bobcats. They had been competitive in recent years and hadn’t lost the CBB outright since 2012, but this was definitely not their year. A new coach and new offense felt promising heading into the season, but the wrong personnel combined with a few poorly timed injuries made the year spiral out of control. DB Jon Lindgren ’20 followed up a strong sophomore year with an excellent junior year in which he led the conference in tackles, but aside from him there really weren’t any outstanding individual performers. Williams showed us that a new coach doesn’t always mean immediate success when they hired Coach Raymond and went 0-8, then followed that up by going 6-3. Hopefully Coach Hall will be able to work some magic because there wasn’t a whole lot of it in Lewiston this season.

Wesleyan Cardinals Basketball 2019 Season Preview

Wesleyan Cardinals

Austin Hutcherson was lock down on defense last year and won the D3hoops Northeast Rookie of the Year award. Expect big things from him in 2019.

2017-2018 record: 22-7 (overall), 7-3 (conference)

With a healthy mix of veteran experience and talented underclassmen, Wesleyan basketball proved to the rest of the NESCAC why they’re a top three team in the conference. Winning all three games against rival Amherst, including a game-winner in the playoffs against them, illustrates the Cardinals’ ability to make plays in big games. Two losses, including a playoff loss, to the other purple rival, Williams, is one of the many motivating factors for Coach Reilly and the rest of the Birds to win it all this year.

2018-2019 projected record: 22-5 (overall), 7-3 (conference)

Wesleyan is set to play this week in the Herb Kenny Tip-Off Tournament and will embark its revenge tour early against Williams this season on December 1st in a non-conference game. Any NESCAC game is normally ultra competitive, so there’s not necessarily a roll over opponent for the Cards.

Key losses:

G Jordan Sears

PTS/G: 5.8

FG %: 53.8

FT %: 60.2

REB/G: 5.2

Sears’ general stats don’t wow you, but earning the 2017-2018 NESCAC Defensive player of the year award shows how much of an impact player he was. As an avid Dirty Bird fan, I watched the six foot five guard seemingly come out of nowhere and fly to make ridiculous blocks. He will be missed in the Cardinal defense and transitional game.

F Nathan Krill

PTS/G: 12.2

FG %: 42.2

3PT %: 38.2

FT %: 73.3

REB/G: 8.6

A/G: 1.3

In an offense that possessed a venerated transition offense, Krill’s ability to dominate in the half court was fun to watch. His 12.2 point per game will surely be missed as the season goes on, but I know Coach Rielly will figure out ways to compensate for that loss.

Projected Starting Lineup:

G Austin Hutcherson ’21

PTS/G: 12.0

FG %: 41.8

3PT %: 44.3

FT %: 82.6

REB/G: 3.7

A/G: 2.7

The 6’ 6” guard took the NESCAC by storm last year, winning Rookie of the Year honors. Hutcherson never looked like a freshman on the court last year: he looked live a seasoned veteran. His rare combination of towering height, athleticism, talent, and IQ for a guard makes him a candidate for even more league honors this year. He will dominate smaller guards on both offense and defense. Look for his assists to go up as he becomes more comfortable in the offense in his second year. Simply put, he’s a fun player to watch, and will be one of the center pieces of Wesleyan basketball for years to come.

G Jordan Bonner ’19

PTS/G: 15.5

FG %: 40.6

3PT %: 34.8

FT %: 84.9

REB/G: 4.7

A/G: 1.4

Bonner had another tremendous 2017-2018 campaign as he was named to second team all-NESCAC. He’s a creative, athletic scorer with a variety of moves to get to the basket. The confidence his teammates and coaches have in him to seal the game at the free throw line shows how talented he is in more than simply scoring. I expect him to shoot a little better from three than he did last year, but like Paul Pierce, he doesn’t rely on the three since he’s a talented scorer is so many ways.

F JR Bascom ’19

PTS/G:8.4

FG %:61.4

3PT %: 0.0

FT %: 69.5

REB/G: 5.6

A/G: 1.0

Bascom is one of those guys you love to have on your team. He communication on defense, calling out screens, switches, or rebounds, is infectious. Wesleyan has been known as one of the league’s best defenses primarily because of forces like Sears, but Bascom should be put in that conversation as well. He’s lengthy and thick, but there’s no question that he can move his feet well to reasonably stay in front on any guard on a switch. With Krill’s departure, look for Bascom to feel the burden of every big man in the NESCAC. It may physically take a toll on him banging with the biggest of the big boys every play, but he has the intensity to do so.

F Jordan James ’21

PTS/G: 3.8

FG %:68.2

3PT :%-

FT %:58.8

REB/G:2.9

A/G: 0.1

Filling the shoes of Sears and Krill will be a tough task, but the two gentlemen replacing them already have a year under their belts in the Rielly system. Jordan James, with limited playing time in freshman year, will be called upon to step up in the starting line up. Standing at six foot seven with a massive wingspan, Jordan has the potential to be one of the most versatile defenders in the NESCAC. He’s very good defensively in transition, similar to Sears, and has very good basketball IQ. As a forward, however, he may have trouble hanging down low with opponents who are more filled out than he is. Krill definitely has the advantage in offensive skill and strength, but like I’ve said above, James is a different player in a good way. His wingspan will help him corral rebounds, and make it tough on smaller guards or big men to get a clean look. He’s poised to be a positive contributor in the lineup.

G Antone Walker ’21

PTS/G:7.6

FG %:34.0

3PT %:31.1

FT %:65.6

REB/G:1.2

A/G:1.3

Antone Walker is likely to be the other new addition to the starting lineup this season. The sophomore guard showed flashes of greatness last season with prolific scoring at times. The 7.6 points per game doesn’t do Walker justice with limited playing time from last season. He averaged about nineteen points per forty minutes last year. He’s a solid on ball defender as well with quick hands looking for steals. Wesleyan in recent years always put five guys on the floor with great length. Walker is an exception. Standing at six feet, Walker will have to work hard on switches, and avoid a much taller, thicker opponent utilizing the size mismatch on him.

Everything else:

Wesleyan showed last season that they’re far more than a defensive team. Even though they struggled in the half court at times, the combination of Hutcherson and Bonner provided enough scoring on the outside. That was last year, however, and the inside presence of Krill is gone. Will David Dixon be the guy to step up off the bench, and fill Krill’s shoes? It’s tough to say given the limited minutes Dixon played the past few seasons. Communication on defense has always been a strength of the Cardinals, so switches have always favored the length and IQ of the Birds. It’s going to be interesting to see how Coach Reilly will use the newcomers. The defense for Wesleyan is never really a question mark. Sears’ departure will be felt, but I believe that Wesleyan will figure out a way to make up for it.

Jordan Bonner and the Cardinals are maybe the most athletic group in the conference.

A conversation with Jordan Bonner:

Andrew Martin: Which losses from the senior class last year will be felt the most, and what additions from this year’s freshman class will offset those losses?
Jordan Bonner: Both the loss of Jordan Sears and Nathan Krill will be felt the most this year. Their defensive presence and intensity were a huge part of our identity and they will be missed this season. With that said, I think the freshman and rest of the team have stepped up tremendously in the pre-season and know that we have big shoes to fill. This does not mean that we are trying to replicate our success or players from last year because that will guarantee that we are not successful but we do understand that we all need to step up. The freshman are extremely talented and I think that they all can help us win.
AM: Is there one particular game that you guys have circled on your calendar?
JB: Nope. Our preparation will be the same regardless of who we play. I’m excited to play whoever steps on the other side of the court.
AM: How will Wesleyan go from one of the best teams in the conference to the best one in the NESCAC?
JB: The best teams treat every game the same. While it is true that some games are perceived as being bigger than others, at the end of the day we have 40 minutes every night to get a W against a really good team. The elite teams approach every game the same and focus solely on dominating and so I believe that this will take Wesleyan to the next level in being the best team in the NESCAC.
AM: Any message to the Cards in the crowd who will be rooting for you guys all year long?
JB: I think that we will be really fun to watch. We have size, athleticism, quickness and grittiness and I think that that will make watching our games entertaining. I think that it will be a great and successful season. I know that we play better when we have a large crowd cheering us on and so we want to thank everyone for their support in advance.

Destiny Awaits: Week 9 Weekend Preview

Well, NESCAC fans, it’s been a fun season with a surprising amount of upsets, full of talented new faces and the continued dominance of veterans. We have one last ride together this season, and this preview should help cap it off. We still have some championship implications alive here as Trinity needs to beat Wesleyan on the road to secure their third straight NESCAC championship, and I’m sure that Mark Piccirillo won’t want to head off into the sunset of his football career on a low note. Expect some fireworks there. If Trinity loses and Amherst wins, then the Mammoths will retake the NESCAC crown, although they have no cake walk either with a game against a volatile Williams squad. I’m excited thinking about it and you should be too. Cold weather football is the best and it’s finally here.

Hamilton @ Bates 12:00

I can’t really imagine how deflating that loss to Bowdoin must’ve felt for Bates last week, but I would imagine it hurt. Bates officially lost its chances to retain part of the CBB for the first time in 5 years and were on the receiving end of Bowdoin’s first win in 24 tries. All they have left now is playing to avoid a winless season, but it doesn’t look like they have a quarterback to do it, losing their first two stringers and leaving WR/DB Kevin Claflin ‘19 to take snaps under center. Plus, it feels like the type of day where the good Kenny Gray ‘20 shows up for Hamilton. Look for the Continentals to end the season on a high, and the Bobcats on the lowest of lows.

Final Score: Hamilton 34, Bates 6

Trinity @ Wesleyan 12:00

The Bantams take their shot at a three-peat in Middletown on Saturday while the Cardinals look to play spoiler and pull off what feels like an improbable 6-3 season, coming off their big win over Williams. The Cardinals defense can play with anyone, but they’re going to get their money’s worth against this Trinity offense. The other problem too is that Wesleyan simply can’t hang in a shootout with Trin. QB Mark Piccirillo ‘19 was 9-17 for 151 yds and 1 TD against Williams and 75 of those yards came on one pass. Those numbers don’t equate to much success against this Trinity D. A dynasty will he cemented on Saturday.

Final Score: Trinity 38, Wesleyan 14

Williams @ Amherst

On paper this game seems like a forgone conclusion with Williams QB Bobby Maimaron ‘21 missing the Biggest Little Game in America with a knee injury. They haven’t had the offensive success they thought they’d have this year with Maimaron under center so why would QB Jackson Bischoping ‘22 have any luck against this fearsome Amherst defense? Well Bischoping in his brief time as Eph understudy has shown an uncanny ability to find WR Frank Stola ‘21, and this Williams defense is humming along lately as well as they have since they were fully healthy. Upset on the cards? Not quite, this Amherst team will just be better on Saturday, but this game has always been close lately and this one will be no different.

John Callahan is an under appreciated stud for the Amherst defense.

Final Score Amherst 24 Williams 20

Tufts @ Middlebury 12:30

Two teams without much to play for except bragging rights and being able to go out with a W. At this point we have no idea what Middlebury team is going to show up, and this Tufts team has done nothing but come to play every weekend, only dropping two respectable contests to the two best teams in the league, Amherst and Trinity (both away). QB Ryan McDonald ‘19 has been spectacular all year (as some of us said he would be) and still has an outside shot at winning Player of the Year, especially if they finish 7-2. Middlebury’s offense has never been able to replicate the rhythm they found in Williamstown, and Will Jernigan ‘21 has been the most inconsistent quarterback in the league not named Kenny Gray. Theoretically this could be a great game but in actuality Tufts has been better on both sides of the ball all season and it isn’t going to change Saturday.

Final Score Tufts 27, Middlebury 10

Looks Like a Threepeat: Week 8 Power Rankings

Week 8 Power Rankings

Week 8 brought us some of the most excitement we’ve had this season with Trinity defeating Amherst in the quasi-championship game, Wesleyan taking down Williams, and Bowdoin getting their first win since 2015. Unfortunately, Trinity looks like they’re going to take home the crown again. Although I’m not sure that Amherst winning would have been that much better. Either way it was an exciting week, so take a look at where everyone falls heading into the final games of the season:

(2) 1. Trinity (7-1)

You don’t want to miss an opportunity to see this guy

Here we are again. The Bantams find themselves in the driver’s seat for the league championship after taking down Amherst, 27-16. QB Seamus Lambert ’22 had a fine game under center, but the story of this game was the effort by RB Max Chipouras ’19. The (soon to be) four-time all-NESCAC honoree carried the ball 24 times for 203 yards and 2 touchdowns. This performance also came against a defense that was holding opponents to fewer than 70 rushing yards per game, which was the best in the league. What an effort. If Trinity can put away Wesleyan in their final game, Chipouras will finish his career with 3 NESCAC championships (with one runner-up) and 4 all-NESCAC appearances (3 first team), while simultaneously becoming the conference’s all-time leader with 40 (and counting) rushing touchdowns, shattering the previous record of 27. He also currently has 3,565 career rushing yards, just 263 behind Evan Bunker (Trinity ’14) for the all-time NESCAC record. Needless to say, this kid is pretty special. I would highly suggest tuning in to their matchup with Wesleyan this weekend for one last chance to see one of the most decorated players in NESCAC football history before it’s too late.

(1) 2. Amherst (7-1)

The Mammoths are surely disappointed after their first loss that will likely prevent them from taking home the championship, but this one didn’t come down to one play or one drive. Don’t get me wrong it was a tight game the whole way, but Trinity was simply the better team on Saturday. RB Jack Hickey ’19 wasn’t able to match the performance of his counterpart on the other sideline as he rushed 14 times for a mere 54 yards. Due to the lack of a run game, QB Ollie Eberth ’20 had to attempt a season-high 35 passes and only completed 17 of them. WR Bo Berluti ’19 caught 9 of these passes for 142 yards and added another 23 yards on two carries, but he accounted for about half of Amherst’s offense. It’s not that they couldn’t move the ball up the field, it’s that they couldn’t finish drives. A few costly turnovers in Bantam territory ended up really hurting them, and the defense that we’ve raved about for weeks wasn’t able to force a turnover of their own. Amherst is still in a great position to win the Little Three when they take on Williams this weekend, and if Wesleyan pulls off the upset against Trinity, they have a chance to be crowned champions.

(3) 3. Tufts (6-2)

Tufts put together a very impressive effort against Colby in Week 8. The Mules aren’t the most talented team, but they had won two in a row and were looking like they were putting things together. QB Ryan McDonald ’19 was a very efficient 19 of 23 or 223 yards and 2 touchdowns, and the team rushed for total of 265 yards. Scoring 48 points is a very legit performance, but the defense may have actually had the more impressive feat. Shutouts in football are few and far between, and Colby’s offense had been on the rise in recent weeks. LB Greg Holt ’20 continued his impressive junior campaign by adding a team-high 8 tackles (7 solo) and lineman Nmesoma Nwafor snagged the team’s lone interception. After a few bumps in the road this unit has hit their stride again, giving the Jumbos a good chance to finish off their strong season on a positive note. They’ll head to Vermont to take on a solid Middlebury squad in Week 9.

(5) 4. Wesleyan (5-3)

It’s been an up and down year, but Mark Piccirillo ’19 finds his team in a decent position heading into Week 9

The Cardinals took home potentially their biggest win of the season in a really ugly game against Williams. Neither team eclipsed 300 yards of total offense, and Wesleyan QB Mark Piccirillo ’19 (who we’ve given a lot of praise over the years) only threw for 151 yards on 9 completions. With an even closer look you’ll see that 75 of those passing yards came on one touchdown pass early in the 4^thquarter. Take out this pass and Piccirillo was 8-16 for 76 yards. Yikes. The good thing for Coach DiCenzo’s team is that wins come in all shapes and sizes so while this one may not have been pretty, it still counts the same in the standings. It also ensures that Williams will have to wait at least one more year to have a shot at a Little Three championship, which has to make Cardinal fans happy. Wesleyan could potentially make things really interesting if they were able to defeat Trinity in their final game, but do they want to give rival Amherst a chance at a NESCAC title? I have to believe there’s a moral dilemma going on in Middletown right now…

(6) 5. Middlebury (5-3)

I had no idea what Middlebury was going to bring against Hamilton given how hot and cold they’ve been over the course of the year, but the result pretty much ended up how we probably would have expected. The offense looked very well rounded and despite throwing 2 picks, QB Will Jernigan had one of his best games as the starting signal-caller, completing 21 of 36 passes for 246 yards and 4 touchdowns. Linebacker Pete Huggins ’21 and defensive end Ian Blow ’19 had big games for the Panthers, pacing the team with 7 and 6 tackles respectively while each adding an interception. Hamilton relies heavily on the arm of Kenny Gray and Middlebury has struggled a bit against the pass this year, so the fact that the Panther secondary held him to 19-40 for 180 yards is a promising sign. Facing Ryan McDonald in Week 9 will be an even more challenging task, so it’s good news for Midd fans that they’re trending in the right direction. A win over Tufts could potentially put the Panthers in third place to end the season.

(4) 6. Williams (5-3)

It’s been a bit of a fall from grace for the Ephs who at one point were 4-0, had beaten Trinity, and even found themselves at the top of our power rankings. Since then they’ve gone 1-3 with losses to Middlebury, Tufts, and now Wesleyan. I know these are good teams that they lost to, but if you beat Trinity then the expectations are going to be a little bit higher. To make matters even worse, Williams suffered the loss of starting QB Bobby Maimaron ’21 who went down with an injury. Jackson Bischoping ’22 did a decent job, but Maimaron is a very tough guy to replace. WR Frank Stola ’21 had a big game, snagging 9 passes for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns, accounting for nearly half of the team’s total offense. We talk a lot about how good TJ Rothmann is and rightfully so, but LB Jarrett Wesner ’21 is quietly putting together a potential all-NESCAC season, leading the team and sitting at 4^thin the conference with 64 total tackles, including 5 for a loss. He’s been a stud for a unit that is going to continue to develop and get better with all the youth they have. Williams will try to take down Amherst for the second straight year in the 2018 Biggest Little Game.

(8) 7. Hamilton (2-6)

Well here we are at the end of the season saying the same thing we pretty much always say about Hamilton. They’re not quite good enough to compete with the top teams, but they’re a little better than the worst teams. Granted they lost to Colby this year, but they also beat Wesleyan so we’ll call it a wash. QB Kenny Gray ’20 isn’t having the year that I thought he would have and because they rely so heavily on him, the whole offense has suffered. RB Joe Park ’22 has found a role as the lead runner out of the backfield despite Mitch Bierman ’21 being initially in line for the job. They played a decent game against Middlebury and only trailed by 4 at halftime, but they just aren’t quite ready to really compete with the best teams in the league. They have a very favorable matchup against a Bates team that is not trending in the right direction for the last game of the season, so a 3-6 finish is definitely within reach.

(7) 8. Colby (2-6)

I know, Colby and Hamilton have the same record and the Mules won the head-to-head matchup, so how could they possibly be ranked lower? A 48-0 loss to Tufts is how. Colby played a terrible game against the Jumbos and paid the full price. Their defense had absolutely no success against Ryan McDonald and Matt Hersch had his worst game under center since he became the starter. RB Jake Schwern ’19 couldn’t really get anything going to follow his outstanding performance last week against Bates, so it really was an all-around disappointing effort for the Mules. They’ll take on Bowdoin in their final game for a chance to bring home their first CBB title since 2005.

(10) 9. Bowdoin (1-7)

Bowdoin fans celebrate the end of the 24-game losing streak

The Polar Bears finally grabbed their first win in almost 3 calendar years with a 31-14 victory over Bates. It wasn’t very pretty, but behind the strong effort of RB Nate Richam ’20 who finally returned from injury they were able to get it done. Richam ran for 130 yards on 32 carries and found the end zone twice and basically ran the entire offense because QB Austin McCrum ’20 only threw for 93 yards and added two interceptions. The defense actually looked pretty solid for once, albeit against Bates’ second and third string quarterbacks. The Polar Bears have every reason to be excited now given that they, too, have a chance to win their first CBB championship since 2010. They’ll make the short trip up to Waterville on Saturday to try to get things done.

(9) 10. Bates (0-8)

It has been a nightmarish end of the season for the Bobcats. They lost starting quarterback Brendan Costa ’21 to injury against Colby, and backup quarterback Jack Bryant ’22 left the game with an apparent concussion in the third quarter after getting hit with a brutal cheap shot by a Bowdoin defender. Since they only had two quarterbacks on the roster, this left them with WR/DB Kevin Claflin ’19 under center and he understandably struggled to mesh with the offense. Really the only highlight for the Bobcats was that safeties Anthony Costa ’21 and Jon Lindgren ’20 continued their stellar seasons in the secondary, each of them with 7 tackles and Costa adding an interception. It doesn’t look good heading into the final weekend for Bates, but they’ll hope to make something crazy happen when Hamilton comes to town.

Top of the Podium: Week 8 Stock Report

Week 8 Stock Report

Stock Up

Dynastic Control: The Bantams have won again and as their parents pointed out after we predicted them to be 6-3 in our season preview article, they really don’t lose often. Not only are they on the up and up, getting better year to year relative to the rest of the NESCAC competition, but even their holes, which we thought would be at QB this year, are ridiculously easily filled. They have had not one but two elite QBs under center this year in Jordan Vazzano and Seamus Lambert and clearly will have the reigns on the NESCAC for the near future. The other contenders of Amherst and Tufts were no match in their head to head with Trinity and Williams, who kind of seems to own the Bantams, cannot reach any level of consistency to bring the title home to Williamstown.

Ellie Greenberg after scoring the winner in the NESCAC championship.

Predictive Power: I am giving credit where credit is due today. Matt Karpowicz hit the nail on the head with his game preview of Amherst at Trinity last weekend. Max Chipouras blitzed the Amherst defense and had a career game, nearly capping off his incredible run at Trinity with a clutch 203 yard, two TD performance. He averaged a nasty 8.5 yards per carry and showed that the league’s best D isn’t so unstoppable. Or maybe the Bantams are just that good. Either way, we got one right, we finally got one. Actually, we got two. Ryan Moralejo deserves a shoutout too for his prediction in the women’s soccer NESCAC championship game, calling the Midd over Williams upset, that, quite frankly, nobody saw coming. I will say I have no idea how he ever thought that the score would be 2-1 with each team having such a stellar back line, but I’ll cut him some slack. Roll Pants.

Stock Down

Eph Leadership: This week’s 21-14 loss to Wesleyan is a tough one to swallow for the Williams team as they were riding in off a recovery win against Hamilton into their senior day and final home game of the season. They played against a Cardinal team that has looked unprepared all season and couldn’t get anything done once Bobby Maimaron left the game with an injury. They got destroyed by Middlebury, who has looked different week to week, only after TJ Rothmann exited the contest. The change of play after losing their leaders is what separates this still talented team from a program like Trinity. For the Bantams, when one guy goes down another takes his place, for Williams those spaces continue to be vacant.

Jackson Bischoping has promise, but he allowed two fatal turnovers against Wesleyan.

Mule Muster: I titled last weekend’s preview article “Trap City,” and it turned out that we were right, although not regarding the game that I imagined. Wesleyan beat Williams 21-14 and Bowdoin got their first win by knocking off Bates 31-14, but I thought Colby would at least give Tufts a slight run for their money coming off two good weekends of football. I couldn’t have been more wrong about that one. The Colby team put up a real dud to say the least, falling 48-0, managing just 124 yards of total offense. Their defense was useless in this game as the Mules offense only turned the ball over one time! that means that the defense was responsible for each of the five rushing and two passing TDs allowed.

Trap City: Week 8 Weekend Preview

Week 8 Preview:

Middlebury (4-3) @ Hamilton (2-5)

Midd wasn’t expected to roll into Hartford and beat Trinity, but losing 48-0 was not a good showing for the program. Only 73 yards of offense? How does that even happen? I know Trinity is a really good team but an over .500 team like MIddlebury should have at least put up some sort of fight. Along with their non-existent offense the Panthers also surrendered over 500 yards of offense to Trinity, showing that they didn’t have it together on either front. Midd needs to be careful this weekend against a Hamilton team that has shown that they can steal a win against a better opponent. A 5-3 record looks much better than 4-4 heading into the final week of the season so Midd will need to have a short memory and bring their A game, or even their B game honestly, in order to take down this Continental squad.

The Panthers need their offensive weapons to put up some numbers this weekend.

Hamilton had a pretty decent showing against a very good Williams team last weekend in their 27-17 loss. QB Kenny Gray continued to be a consistent piece for the Continentals, racking up 2 TDs and 256 yards of total offense. What I forgot to mention about Gray though is that he got picked off 4 times. When you give the ball away as freely as he did last weekend, it’s essentially an automatic loss. It is more than obvious at this point in the season that Hamilton relies heavily, and perhaps too heavily, on Gray’s arm for their offense. Their running game is lackluster and it more often than not is Gray leading the team in rushes with less than 50 yards. This one dimensional offense can cause problems for Hamilton as other teams are well aware that their is not much of a threat on the ground and can therefore focus on pass defense. The defense has a solid game, picking off QB Bobby Mamarion once and recovering a fumble, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep their offence in the game. One thing that the Continentals should keep in mind is after being thrashed last weekend Midd’s spirits may be low and Hamilton could try and take advantage of this out of the gate and come guns blazing at them. This is a winnable game for Hamilton but certainly not guaranteed.

Score Prediction: Midd 27 Hamilton 21

Colby (2-5) @ Tufts (5-2)

The Colby Mules have won two games in a row since who knows when. Coach Cosgrove really seems to be doing the best with what was given to him in his first year in charge and is oh so close to capturing the CBB title that hasn’t been in Waterville for quite a few years. The Mules were able to beat Bates last weekend with ease, jumping out to a 21-6 halftime lead and maintaining that score until the end of the 4th quarter. Against Bates they didn’t have an offense, they had Jake Schwern. Schwern ran for 226 yards and all 3 of Colby’s TDs, earning his NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. On a cold, slippery, snowy day it was tough for freshman QB Matt Hersch to get anything going in the air so they elected to force feed Schwern the ball and it payed off. Defensively they clearly overmatched Bates, one Brendan Costa TD run being their only blemish. While they were easily able to the down the Bobcats, the Jumbos are a completely different ballgame. Schwern has proved much less effective against better NESCAC teams so I would be surprised to see him get anywhere near his numbers last weekend. The best chance the Mules have is to hope for nicer weather and hope that QB Matt Hersch can solidify his name in Rookie of the Year talks by orchestrating the upset of the season.

Tufts had their chance last weekend to remain in title contention in their game against Amherst but nearly missed out in their 19-13 loss. Amherst seemed to be a step ahead all game, just has they’ve been a step ahead of the league this entire season. QB Ryan McDonald’s 2 interceptions played a crucial part in how the Jumbos were quite able to keep up with Amherst. When you’re playing an undefeated team with unmatched confidence, giving away the ball will kill you. Tufts relied heavily on McDonald but he was only able to throw for 137 yards on 34 attempts. It was going to be a tough matchup for the Jumbos no matter what, nobody has dethroned Amherst yet and Tufts just didn’t have what it takes to effectively break down Amherst’s defense. Defensively Tufts fared pretty well, allowing Amherst less than 300 yards of total offense. It’s a harsh reality for Jumbo fans but Amherst was simply a better team than Tufts and deserved to take home the win last weekend. What matters now is going forwards and trying to become the best of the rest. After playing the Mammoths last weekend Colby will be a welcomed foe in Medford. This should be a fairly easy win for the Jumbos barring some serious mental errors and lack of concentration.

Score Prediction: Tufts 30 Colby 13

Wesleyan (4-3) @ Williams (5-2)

Wesleyan didn’t even break a sweat last weekend, taking down the still winless Bowdoin 24-0. It should’ve been an easy victory for the Cardinals and it was. QB Mark Piccirillo threw for 2 of Wesleyan’s TDs while RB Glen Smith has a day of it, going for over 100 yards and snagging a TD of his own. This game was another example of one opponent out classing the other out of the gate. It seemed as if Bowdoin never had a shot a winning from the kickoff. The Cardinal defense held the Polar Bears to exactly 100 yards of total offense, making getting into Wesleyan territory an accomplishment. Although Wesleyan was able to take care of Bowdoin with ease, Williams will almost certainly be a much more interesting contest. Wesleyan has a chance to surpass Williams in the standing this weekend if they play their cards (pun intended) right.

Time for Piccirillo to show us what he’s made of.

Williams took the long trek to Clinton last weekend and came back home with a dub. QB Bobby Mamarion had a solid overall game, tossing 2 much needed TDs for the Mammoths. RB Cartel Begel piled on with over 100 yards and a TD of his own to put an exclamation point on the game. This was a game that Williams should have, could have and did win. Their defense managed to pick off Hamilton QB Kenny Gray not once, not twice, not three times but four times! Luke Apuzzi was able to snag 2 of those interceptions which swung the momentum very favorable for the Ephs. K Andrew Schreibs was knocking down his extra point attempts as well as his 2 field goals with ease, which actually managed to make a solid difference in the contest. It was a huge team effort overall by the Ephs and the will need that again this weekend as the face a potentially underrated Wesleyan team.

Score Prediction: Williams 24 Wesleyan 21

Bates (0-7) @ Bowdoin (0-7)

The Bobcats may have been hyped for their snowy home game (https://twitter.com/Bates_Football/status/1056228141037948928) but they are yet to find the win column.

It’s CBB time once again. You have to love the CBB, it’s the only contest where you can lose almost 80% of your games and still have the chance to take home a trophy. That is what the Bobcats will do this weekend as they head into Brunswick to face Bowdoin. The biggest story of the game last weekend for Bates was the exit of their QB, Alex Costa, due to injury. Costa has been the biggest piece, arguably the only piece, of offense that Bates has had this season. With Costa I would say that Bates should have no business losing to Bowdoin but now it is anyone’s ballgame. QB Jack Bryant took over for Costa after he left but was a non-factor as both teams were just running the ball up the gut the entire game. If the weather favors a little better this weekend and the passing game comes more into play, Bryant will need to show that he is an equally effective distributor to Costa and keep Bate’s CBB hopes alive for another week.

Bowdoin’s season had been bad. Their offense and defense both rank last in many major categories and they have not showed signs of improvement throughout the year. Golden arm QB Austin McCrum has done essentially nothing since joining the Polar Bears and had another lackluster game last weekend, racking up only 80 yards and a pick. That being said, this is Bowdoin’s opportunity to right the ship. A win against Bates will be all the momentum they need to carry into the next weekend against Colby to potentially steal a CBB ‘ship out of absolutely nowhere. Now do I think that they can actually do this or is this just a description of die hard Polar Bear fans’ dreams, you tell me. It all starts and could potentially end this weekend for the Polar Bears so why not throw it all out on the line and try some new things. I’m not, and never will be, a football coach but I can tell you that business as usual has not and will not work for Bowdoin.

Score Prediction: Bates 17 Bowdoin 6

Why Throw the Ball? Week 7 Power Rankings

Week 7 Power Rankings

Week 7 wasn’t the most exciting of weeks, but it helped set up an unofficial league championship game in Week 8 between undefeated Amherst and one-loss Trinity. If Amherst wins, then their final game against Williams is solely for Little Three purposes, as the Mammoths will have already clinched the NESCAC championship. If Trinity wins, they’ll also have to secure a win in their final game against Wesleyan in order to remain at one loss and keep the tiebreaker over Amherst. A lot is at stake at the top of the league, but we’re also getting some excitement at the bottom, too, as Hamilton and the Maine schools are finally getting to play each other to decided which team is the best of the rest. Take a look at where each team falls as we head into the deciding weeks:

(1) 1. Amherst (7-0)

At this point LB Andrew Yamin ’19 is looking like a shoe-in for defensive player of the year

Defense led the way on Saturday, as the Mammoths were able to secure their biggest win of the year. Andrew Yamin & company did a great job keeping the Jumbos offense off the field for the majority of the game. In fact, Tufts possessed the ball for just 21 minutes the entire game. 21 minutes!! No wonder they only scored 13 points…they only had the ball for a third of the game. QB Ollie Eberth ’20 barely even had to do anything (14-26, 150 yards) because the defense did such an outstanding job,including leading tackler John Callahan and Andrew Sommer. There really wasn’t a ton of offense in this game on either side, but Amherst’s rushing attack kept the clock moving and provided just enough scoring to win the game. This sets up what will essentially be the league championship game at Trinity in Week 8. Keep an eye out for our game of the week preview for this matchup later in the week.

(2) 2. Trinity (6-1)

Trinity put on about as dominant a performance you’ll see with a 48-0 annihilation of Middlebury. They sent out freshman QB Seamus Lambert ’22 for his second consecutive start and he was an incredibly efficient 9-11 for 179 yards and 4 touchdowns. In an effort to follow his predecessor’s model, he completed 8 of his 9 passes to either Koby Schofer ’20 or Jonathan Girard ’21 and they each had two TD catches. The primary offensive attack in this one was actually on the ground for the Bantams, where RB Max Chipouras ’19 and RB Spencer Lockwood ’22 combined for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns on 48 total carries. I’m not sure what the game plan was for the Panthers, but the Bantam secondary held them to 36 passing yards on just 4 completions. What an effort by the defense. Trinity has been on fire lately, and we’ll find out just how good they are when they host the league’s top team on Saturday with a chance to step back into first place.

(3) 3. Tufts (5-2)

The Jumbos had a chance to make things really interesting at the top of the standings, but they fell just short. They battled, though, and actually held Amherst to their lowest point total of the season (19 – tied with Week 1 at Bates). The defense did an excellent job keeping dual-threat QB Ollie Eberth in check both through the air and on the ground, but the offense could only muster 13 points. QB Ryan McDonald threw for just 137 yards while adding 2 interceptions, and 25 of his 33 rushing yards came on one touchdown run. I guess this is our way of finding out just how good the Amherst defense really is. It’s been an exciting year for this Tufts team that I would argue has already exceeded expectations, and they’re left playing for pride in their last two matchups with Colby and Middlebury in the final weeks.

(4) 4. Williams (5-2)

A 27-17 win over Hamilton wasn’t their most impressive performance of the season, but a win is a win. The offense has had better games, but they did just enough to win behind an 11 for 24, 2-touchdown effort from QB Bobby Maimaron ’21. LB TJ Rothmann ’21 led the team in tackles despite playing with a sprained jaw, making a bid for NESCAC’s gutsiest player in 2018. Defense led the way as the Ephs picked off Hamilton QB Kenny Gray 4 times and allowed him to complete just 13 of his 37 pass attempts. Freshman RB Carter Begel ’22 did a decent enough job in the absence of RB TJ Dozier ’21, averaging 3.2 yards per carry and running for 108 yards and a touchdown. Despite being out of title contention, the Ephs still have a great chance to take home their first Little Three championship since 2010. It starts this weekend when they host Wesleyan.

(6) 5. Wesleyan (4-3)

RB Glenn Smith ’21 did a terrific job out of the backfield against Bowdoin

Wesleyan continued their streaky 2018 season with a 24-0 rout of Bowdoin. Due to the poor weather there wasn’t much offense around the league this weekend, but a special note should be made for the Cardinals’ defensive performance. They held the Polar Bears to 100 yards of total offense (80 passing, 20 rushing) and only 6 first downs the entire game. In fact, Bowdoin didn’t get the ball over midfield until less than 4 minutes were left to play in the 4^thquarter, then proceeded to turn it over on downs four plays later. RB Glenn Smith ’21 had his best game of the season, carrying 20 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. QB Mark Piccirillo ’19 just had to serve as the Ollie Eberth-type game facilitator, mostly handing the ball off to keep the clock moving and only throwing when he needed it. This was a dominant performance by Wesleyan (albeit against a very weak team) and they will look to replicate it in their matchup with Williams in Week 8.

(5) 6. Middlebury (4-3)

It’s never fun to be on the wrong side of a 48-0 blowout, but when looking at the box score you have to wonder what happened to the Panthers. They were by no means the favorite on the road against one of the league’s elite, but 48-0?? Two weeks after they took down a Williams team who had been playing some of their best football? I don’t know exactly what’s going on over there, but something isn’t right. This is a team that usually has their sights set on a league championship, and they couldn’t muster up more than 73 yards of offense in a game where their opponent put up more than 500? The Panthers have Hamilton and Tufts left on the schedule, and they’ve got to get it together or they’re in danger of finishing below .500 for the first time since 2005.

(8) 7. Colby (2-5)

The Mules rattled off their second consecutive victory in convincing fashion over Bates in Week 7. Colby (the writer, not the school) touched on this last week, but the Mules have a strong case for being the second best team in the league after beating Hamilton who beat Wesleyan who beat Middlebury who beat Williams who beat Trinity. If that’s not enough of a reason, I don’t know what is. All jokes aside, Colby (the school, not the writer) looked seriously impressive against the Bobcats this past weekend and it didn’t take a multi-faceted offense to beat them. RB Jake Schwern ’19 carried the ball 40 times for 226 yards and 3 touchdowns, accounting for over 70% of Colby’s total offense. The defense did their part and the Mules took home their first CBB victory and their first over Bates in 5 years. They’ll travel to Tufts this weekend before they host Bowdoin in their final game of the season.

(7) 8. Hamilton (2-5)

Hamilton didn’t play a terrible game against Williams, but the way this game ended up they could’ve had a real shot at winning. QB Kenny Gray ’20 threw interceptions in 4 of the team’s last 5 possessions sealing the win for the Ephs. Prior to this string of consecutive interceptions, the game was still very much within reach. The Continentals simply weren’t able to put together a few strong drives when they needed it, and they were handed the loss. A noteworthy performance came from DB Colby Jones ’19 who had 13 tackles including one for a loss, and added the team’s lone interception. Hamilton hosts Middlebury this weekend, and given how streaky these teams have been anything could happen so keep an eye on the score from upstate New York on Saturday.

(9) 9. Bates (0-7)

RB Liam Spillane ’21 accounted for nearly half of the Bobcats’ total yards

Things went from bad to worse for the Bobcats as they not only lost to Colby 21-6, but starting QB Brendan Costa ’21 left the game in the 2^ndquarter with an injury. The severity of this injury is unclear, but this would be a huge blow for Bates given that Costa has been responsible for nearly all of the team’s offense this season. Playing in the snow doesn’t lend itself to throwing the ball very much, so it’s a bit disappointing that the Bobcats weren’t able to stop or even slow down the one-man rushing attack of the Mules given that they pretty much knew it would be a run play every time. You’d think they’d know what was coming since 45 of Colby’s 62 offensive plays were run plays, but what do I know? Bates takes on a Bowdoin team next week that just lost their 24^thstraight game, so the Bobcats need to get their act together quickly to avoid ending up on the wrong side of history.

(10) 10. Bowdoin (0-7)

There really isn’t much left to say about Bowdoin at this point. Every week they go out there against teams that are better than them and, predictably, they lose. QB Austin McCrum ’21 has been a disappointment this year and the defense is last in about every category. The Polar Bears haven’t won a game since November 14^th, 2015 and at this point you have to wonder if the streak is somewhat flukey. I mean, how long can this go on? I don’t know what the longest losing streak in NESCAC history is, but I have to imagine they’re getting close. Coach Wells and his squad have their best chances at taking home a win against Bates and Colby in the final two weeks, but if not then the streak will live on another year.

Two Teams Left: Week 7 Stock Report

Stock Up:

NESCAC Championship Game: With the incoming game this weekend featuring Amherst and Trinity, we have just about as close to a league championship game that we will ever get. While the Bantams do have one loss, incurred at the hands of the streaky Williams team, with a win over the Mammoths, they would jump up into first place and would have control of their own fate, while Amherst would remain undefeated with a win and would clinch the NESCAC championship.

Coach Cosgrove and the Mules: The Colby Mules just keep doing it. They knocked off Bates easily this past weekend, reaching two wins and capturing an early lead in the CBB race. Freshman QB Matt Hersch has had flashes of potential throughout the season, but RB Jake Schwern really had himself a day this past weekend. He rushed for an absurd 226 yards and three touchdowns, accounting for all of the Colby points and nearly all of their yards. The secondary also shut the Bobcats passing game down stone cold and denied any attempt to make an impact from their talented QB who had his stock rated upwards last week. Costa threw for just eight yards before being lifted from the contest and Colby racked up over 100 more offensive yards than their opponent. Patrick Yale and the secondary are going to put up their best fight against the Jumbos this weekend, although I’m not going so far as to say they will win in Medford. They might keep it close, but their eye should really be on week nine’s game against Bowdoin to capture the CBB crown.

Ben Weisel ’21 and the rest of the Mules have to by hyped by their two consecutive wins. One more and its a streak.

The Power of the Undefeated: Amherst football is alone at the top and the favorite to win the crown, regardless of Trinity’s convincing win over Middlebury. Their defense is nearly unstoppable and their 13 points allowed this past weekend are a season high if you can believe that. Andrew Sommer and Andrew Yamin are a terrifying duo for any offense to stare down, and whichever QB Trinity uses this weekend will be in for a rude welcoming into their first game against the Mammoths.

Sock Down:

Panther Pride: There isn’t a whole lot of good to say here, Midd fans. Nobody could get any offense going. QB Will Jernigan may have a thumb injury, the offense couldn’t get the ball to their playmaker Conrado Banky who didn’t have a catch for the first time basically ever, and nobody averaged more than 2.5 yards per carry on the ground. The Midd team had about half of the snaps on offense that they usually do and didn’t even make it to 100 total yards of offense compared to over 500 from Trinity. While they were an underdog in this game, it’s safe to say that they didn’t come close to covering the spread on this 48 point loss.

For the love of god, please, somebody, get the ball to Conrad Banky.

The Race for the Crown: Although we have an awesome matchup between Trinity and Amherst on the way this weekend, the other games in the conference mean little else other than for pride. After Tufts and Middlebury fell to Amherst and Trinity, respectively, it basically narrowed the race to two teams. Williams gave us all hope for a multiple horse race in the beginning of the year when they knocked off the Bantams, but injuries and inconsistent play have dragged them down throughout the season in their losses to Midd and Tufts—both upsets. Tufts has over performed but just didn’t quite have the depth on defense to hold off Amherst. It would be amazing if the NESCAC had playoffs like a normal conference to eliminate the drastic effect of one outlier performance, but I digress.

Scrapping to Stay Alive: Week 7 Weekend Preview

Weekend Preview

With each passing week the conference standings are getting clearer and clearer. With only 3 games remaining, 3 true contenders remain. Our other 6 are left to fight for the scraps—some for regional pride, some for the sake of nothing but wins and losses, and a few in hopes of a Week 9 Miracle. This week doesn’t appear to have huge implications outside of Amherst and Tufts, but it has implications nonetheless.

Bowdoin @ Wesleyan

Neither of these teams is going to come into this game feeling very good about themselves. Bowdoin, besides the 23 obvious reasons, was served a 48-6 pasting by Trinity, while Wesleyan was downright embarrassed by their Little Three rival Amherst 33-3, on their own turf. Wesleyan obviously hasn’t had the year it was hoping for, unable to account for WR Mike Breuler ‘18’s departure, but I don’t think they’ve dipped to ‘lose to Bowdoin’ levels of bad. Their defense is strong but for Bowdoin it continues to be all about quarterback play. Austin McCrum ’21 just hasn’t been able to get anything going, most notably in last week’s 17-38, 99 yards, and 4 INT performance. You could make an argument to go back to Griff Stalcup ’21, but he’s been their best WR since switching positions. It’s a lose-lose for Bowdoin and as long as these struggles continue, their chances of winning outside of the state of Maine will be stagnant. Wesleyan shouldn’t feel confident enough in themselves to focus all of their energy on their Week 8 visit to Williams, but they can channel that energy into running up the score on Bowdoin in hopes of building some momentum. QB Mark Piccirillo ’19 will look like a better version of himself this week, and the Cardinals will roll.

Final Score: Wesleyan 38, Bowdoin 9

Colby @ Bates

The Bobcats are going to come in hot looking to lay the hammer like Mac Jackson used to, but Colby is the only team with a win in this matchup!

Finally some CBB! Love me some CBB. Two of the three rivals in Maine square off this week as they open up the annual battle for bragging rights and an extra edge in in-state recruiting. Bates is still winless, and Colby grabbed their first win last week behind the increasingly emerging arm of QB Matt Hersch ’22, who is ever so quietly beginning to pop up in the Rookie of the Year conversation. Hersch threw for 288 yards and 1 TD and 1 INT on 27-39 in their 23-21 win over Hamilton, his third straight week of 200+ yards and a score. Colby’s offensive line continues to be porous, allowing another 5 sacks last week. They need to protect Hersch to win this game. It would be easy to take the hot hand and the team that finally won a game, but despite this I’m taking Bates. The Bobcats have owned this rivalry and the CBB as a whole, as last year they became the first team since Colby in 1988-1992 to win it four years in a row. It’s a home game, and these seniors are not going to be the class that ends this streak. I’m not really sure how, but they’re going to find a way to win this game.

Final Score: Bates 27, Colby 20

Middlebury @ Trinity

Midd will look to bring pressure to whatever QB suits up for Trinity this weekend.

This could be a fun one. Middlebury has really turned it around the last few weeks, although a one point win against Bates might not show it. The Will Jernigan ’21 train has left the station, and their spread offense has clicked. Jernigan had his best collegiate game as a passer last week, going 17-26 for 266 yards 3 TDs and 1 INT. But opposing them in Hartford is Trinity and the home of the best offense in the league so far. Trinity switched it up under center last week, opting for QB Seamus Lambert instead of Jordan Vazzano ’21, and it worked as well as they could have hoped, with Lambert going 22-29 for 280 yards and 3 TDs. WRs Koby Schofer and Jonathan Girard reeled in a combined 14 of those balls for over 200 of those yards, announcing that they clearly don’t care who’s throwing it to them. I would imagine Lambert’s accuracy is what got him the starting job and it’s going to keep him there. It’s going to be tough to pick a team that allowed 34 points to Bates, and while Midd has turned things around, they’re not going to beat the Bantams in a shootout.

Final Score: Trinity 42, Middlebury 24

Williams @ Hamilton

Hamilton has been wildly inconsistent in 2018, so can they peak this weekend against Williams?

Is this a trap game for the Ephs? It’s hard to imagine losing two games in a row and still overlooking your next opponent, but after their trip to Clinton, Williams will only have arch rivals Wesleyan and Amherst remaining on the schedule, and their first Little 3 title in almost a decade is all they have left to play for, barring a miracle (I went through all the outcomes in my head and it doesn’t look good). What’s left of this defense is a far cry from the group that held Trinity to 16 points, a feat that is looking more and more impressive by the week. Star LB TJ Rothmann ’21 continues to be on the injury report with a sprained jaw, and they’ve lost DE/LB Austin Thomas ’19 for the season with a concussion. They need some pieces to come together if they want to beat Wesleyan and shock Amherst, but they still have too much talent not to take care of Hamilton, who can’t be feeling great coming off a loss to Colby. Until we know which Kenny Gray ’20 is going to show up for the Continentals, I won’t feel comfortable picking them.

Final Score: Williams 35, Hamilton 10