Tag: Little Three

Wesleyan Needs to Win and Wait to Claim a Share of the NESCAC Title

Trinity (5-2) at Wesleyan (6-1)

Editor’s note: This article was a team effort by the listed author, Sean Meekins, and Carson Kenney

Well, as most of you know, Trinity lost a heartbreaker last weekend at Amherst. This weekend Trinity will head up to Middletown to try to play spoiler on any hopes that Wesleyan has of a repeat of a NESCAC championship. Because of the late start in Amherst on Saturday, all eyes will be on this game. If Trinity leaves with a win, Amherst’s outright title will be secured, but if the Cardinals are victorious, they will be glued to their television sets all afternoon, rooting for the Ephs. Trinity had the same record at this time last year and embarrassed Wesleyan at The Coop with a stunning 40-10 victory, stealing the Cardinals’ outright crown. There is definitely no love lost between both teams, as the Connecticut rivalry will provide fans with a hard-nosed game.

Mike Weatherby '14 Pressures Jesse Warren '15 in last years game (Courtesy of Greg Sullivan http://www.sevenstrong.net/)
Mike Weatherby ’14 Pressures Jesse Warren ’15 in last year’s game (Courtesy of Greg Sullivan http://www.sevenstrong.net/)

Wesleyan:

Wesleyan will come at Trinity with a well-balanced offensive attack. Jesse Warren ’15 is the anchor behind center putting together some very impressive statistics. Warren has thrown for 14 touchdowns this season and averages over 186 yards a game through the air. The Trinity defense will have to force Warren to make mistakes because he has only turned the ball over twice in seven games. Wesleyan also looks to come at Trinity with a strong running attack. Lou Stevens ’17 has taken over as the feature back for the Cardinals, tallying 78 carries and 393 yards (5.04 yards per carry) over the last three weeks. Stevens’ productive running opens up windows for Warren to throw to his big-time receivers, Jay Fabien ’15 and Josh Hurwitz ’15. They have combined for nine touchdowns this season, with Fabien at second in the league with 61.7 yards per game. The Cardinals’ offense was slightly better statistically in 2013, but compared to the rest of the league, the Wesleyan offense has been far more impressive, averaging 5.8 more points per game than second-ranked Middlebury.

Once again, Wesleyan’s defense has been elite, allowing more than 21 points only once this season. In the last two games the Cardinals have outscored their opponents 57-0, albeit against the league’s seventh and tenth-ranked offenses. Wesleyan is now on top of the league in yards allowed per game. Trinity’s offense has struggled mightily in their last few games, and if Wesleyan’s defense continues to step up to the challenge another shutout could be possible.

On another note, Wesleyan is also playing for a share or potential outright title of the Little Three crown. Having already lost to Amherst a few weeks back, the Cardinals will need a win and an Amherst loss to steal the Little Three crown while also nabbing a share of the NESCAC title.

Trinity:

What will Trinity have to do to win this game? They will need to rely on the defense, best against the run in the NESCAC, to stop Stevens. If there was ever a bigger time for the Trinity defense to step up and prove a point, it will be now.  Led by the three big senior linebackers Mike Weatherby ’15, Tom Symanski ’15 and Rob Gau ’15, Trinity’s defense is going to have to dominate on that side of the ball. Amherst could not get it going at any point during the Bantams’ last game, but neither could the Bantams’ offense. With QB Henry Foye ’15 sidelined last week due to a neck injury during the Middlebury game, the Bantams attempted just nine passes, throwing as many interceptions as completions. What’s more, since Chudi Iregbulem ’15 missed Week 5 due to a leg injury, he has yet to score a rushing TD and has seen his yards per carry drop from 5.46 to 2.71. Last week Iregbulem still saw the ball plenty with 29 carries, but Darrien Myers ’17, normally a WR/KR, and Spencer Aukamp ’18, who came into 2014 as a quarterback, were much more effective running the ball.

Prediction: Trinity 13 – Wesleyan 6

Trinity still struggles offensively, but even though the Cardinals’ offense has been proficient, the Bantams showed last season that they have the guts and talent to stop the Weselyan attack.

Wesleyan Team Preview – Same Team, Greater Expectations

2013 Record: 7-1

Returning Starters: 19 (eight offense, 10 defense, one specialist)

Offensive Overview:

You won’t find a more complete team on either side of the ball in the NESCAC. Eight All-NESCAC honorees return to the Cardinal lineup, four on offense. The Cardinals will lean heavily on the run, as they rushed 353 times last year compared to just 174 pass attempts. LaDarius Drew ’15 ran for 94.5 yards per game last year, and his “back-up,” if it’s fair to call it that, Kyle Gibson ’15 earned Second Team honors by rushing for 73.4 yards per game. If miraculously either of those two workhorses stumble, Lou Stevens ’17 averaged 5.9 yards per carry over his 40 touches. Quarterback Jesse Warren ’15 wasn’t an All-NESCAC recipient, but he had the highest completion percentage and yards per attempt in the league and was second to Mac Foote in TD passes. His only three interceptions came in the season finale at Trinity. Josh Hurwitz ’15 and Jay Fabien ’15 are both in their fourth years as starting receivers. Tight end Jonathan Day ’15 is another All-NESCAC honoree. He serves primarily as a run blocker but was fourth on the squad in receptions last year. The offensive line is stacked as well. Pat DiMase ’15 (Second Team) and Blake Cunningham ’16 line up at tackle, while there is some competition for starting time on the interior, although Taylor Bishop ’15, Shane Scannell ’15 and Austin Frank ’15 are the frontrunners and each has game experience.

Defensive Overview:

The returning depth on the defensive side might even be more impressive than that of the offense. Linebacker Myers Beaird graduated, but starters are back everywhere else. Furthermore, the Cardinals like to rotate players on defense and keep legs fresh, so players up and down the roster have in-game experience. Nik Powers ’15 and grad student Jordan Otis line up at defensive end. Ibraheem Khadar ’15 and Mitch Godfrey ’15 will be on the interior. A host of others will rotate through the defensive line, including Alex Sakhno ’15, Greg Blaize ’16 and Jordan Stone ’17. The linebacking corps is a strength, with leading tackler Alex Daversa-Russo ’16 and Gregg Kelley ’15 back. The third spot will be filled by Jake Siciliano ’15, who opened 2013 as the starter but it was then discovered that he had a stomach tumor. Siciliano’s injury made room for Daversa-Russo in the line up, and having both on the field in 2014 will make the Wesleyan defense that much scarier. In the defensive backfield, grad student Jake Bussani will make a run for his fourth straight All-NESCAC First Team award. Vincent Davis ’15 will be the opposite corner. At safety, two-sport stud Donnie Cimino ’15 returns and is joined by Justin Sanchez ’17 who started in 2013. Lastly, Devon Carrillo ’17 will be on the field as a safety-linebacker hybrid. Carrillo was the team’s second-leading tackler, and was awarded All-NESCAC honors as a return man for his 25.7 yard average on kickoffs. In reality, the defense has more than 10 starters returning. Add Siciliano and Carrillo to the tally, and there are 12 players back who could be considered starters.

Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics
Clockwise from top left: Donnie Cimino; Jonathan Day; Jay Fabien; Jake Bussani – Courtesy of Wesleyan Athletics

Three Big Questions

1. Can Wesleyan Win the Big One?

After rolling through the first half of the season, outscoring its opponents 163-22, Wesleyan saw some stiffer competition in the final four weeks, and squeaked out victories over its Little Three rivals by a total of eight points. Then disaster struck, Warren failed to take care of the ball as he had all season, the defense imploded, and Trinity closed out its season with a 40-10 beat down of the would-be outright champs. The Cardinals are out to prove that they have become the preeminent program in the NESCAC, and that they can beat big brother down the road in Hartford.

2. Will the Little Three Crown Stay in Middletown?

After a 43-year drought, Wesleyan finally defeated Amherst and Williams in the same season, earning the Little Three championship. Though as mentioned above, the victories were slim. Amherst essentially threw away that matchup with three interceptions and a fumble lost, allowing the Cardinals to get out of Amherst with a 20-14 win, while a late field goal was the difference in Wesleyan’s 16-14 defeat of Williams. Wesleyan will be the favorite in both games but victories will not come easily.

3. Who Steps in for Departed Placekicker Sebastian Aguirre?

Aguirre was arguably the best placekicker in the NESCAC last year, and indeed made the All-NESCAC Second Team for his efforts, and as noted above he kicked the game winner that sealed the Little Three title for the Cardinals. Options to replace Aguirre include backup QB Ike Fuchs ’16, who came into camp atop the depth chart, Corey Phillips ’17 and newcomer John Henry-Carey ’18.

Team MVP: LaDarius Drew. You know that the Cardinals are going to pound opponents with the run game, and Drew will be the team’s workhorse. Expect both him and Gibson to be at the top of the leaderboards in every rushing category. Oh by the way, if healthy Drew will easily become the school’s all-time leader in rushes, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

Biggest Game of the Year: Nov. 8 against Trinity

Is there any doubt? These are probably the two best teams in the conference, they are a 25-minute drive up 91 apart from one another, and Wesleyan still has a sour taste in its mouth from last year when the Bantams took the Cardinals’ NESCAC title and divided it into three parts. It’s not impossible that both teams could be undefeated heading into this game.

Best Tweet of the Offseason: The Wesleyan Football Twitter account (@Wes_Football) kept its followers up to date on what a lot of the Cardinals were doing this summer. Kyle Gibson interned at JPMorgan and was offered a full-time job upon graduation, Josh Hurwitz worked with the Celtics organization and Mitch Godfrey was with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League. But our favorite has to be this series of tweets about how LaDarius Drew spent his summer.

The Cardinals are locked and loaded. Anything short of a NESCAC title will be a disappointment for Wesleyan.

Weekend Roundup

The final full weekend of NESCAC play was disrupted by the weather, but ultimately it was able to answer all of the questions that we had entering Friday. Wesleyan showed they are the best in the West while Bates continued their strong play to clinch the final playoff spot. The stock report will be up tomorrow morning, but for now here is a quick look around the league.

After a win in the first game of the series behind another great start by Brad Reynolds ’14, Bates dropped the middle game to Colby before Chris Fusco ’14 came up huge on the mound. His start and Sam Warren’s ’16 home run were the difference in the 6-2 victory that clinched a playoff berth for Bates. It is the first ever berth for the Bobcats.

In the other East Division series, Tufts dropped the first game before sweeping the Sunday doubleheader against Bowdoin. As usual, great pitching performances by Christian Sbily ’15 and Tim Superko ’17 were the difference along with the offense going off in the second game.  With the losses, Bowdoin drops out of the playoff race.

Out west Williams and Hamilton played an enjoyable weekend series without any playoff implications. Williams swept the doubleheader today as their pitching looked as good as it has all season. Williams now sits at 6-5 and will look to finish above .500 in conference when the teams meet a final time on May 9.

Screen Shot 2014-04-27 at 9.08.28 PM

(Courtesy of Williams Sports Information)

And then in the most anticipated matchup, Wesleyan jumped all over Amherst winning the first two games of the series to clinch the West title.   Sam Goodwin-Boyd ’15 was the star for the offense while the Wesleyan pitching completed their turnaround by shutting down the vaunted Jeffs offense. The teams could meet again next weekend as both teams had already sewn up playoff spots.

With the playoffs set you can read up on the Championship weekend schedule here. Congrats to Tufts, Bates, Wesleyan, and Amherst for making the playoffs, and keep coming back this week for the best preview of the upcoming action.