Ready to start anew
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Jim Stout has been the heart and soul of our Northeast coverage 1998, both here and on our basketball site, D3hoops.com. But he recently let me know he would not be able to continue. He has devoted a lot of time to covering Division III football and basketball for The News-Times in Danbury, Conn., and for us and he needs some time to spend with his family, so we were glad to give him a sabbatical. We hope he comes back.
So, while I don't live in the Northeast region, I will cover the Freedom, New England and NESCAC. Somebody has to. We don't want to ignore you. I intend to file as often as I can. I'll be relying on ideas and notes from SIDs even more than our regular columnists will, so please e-mail me.
Daoust on the run from now until March
Amherst senior tri-captain Brian Daoust wouldn't know what to do with himself if he weren't playing football...or basketball...or studying...or preparing like a maniac for one or all of the above. He's not good with leisure time, because he's never really had any.
"I don't have a day off from Aug. 28 until spring break, which is a little depressing," Daoust explained, glancing helplessly at his date-minder. "But actually, I'm a better student during basketball or football season. Without that focus, I'd be kind of lost."
Since entering Amherst as a first-year student in 1997, Daoust has turned into one of the most prolific two-sport athletes in recent school history, juggling basketball and football like a master circus performer.
Entering his second season as a football tri-captain, the Dover, Mass., native and former NESCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year already cemented his place in Jeffs football lore as a sophomore, leading Amherst with a team-high six interceptions to go along with 38 tackles, earning First-Team All-ECAC plaudits along the way.
Amherst (2-0) has shut out its first two opponents on the abbreviated NESCAC schedule, with Daoust leading the team with four passes broken up while adding 14 tackles, nine solo. The defensive back hasn't seen much action as a kick returner this year, but he's returned the only kickoff of the season for 40 yards.
Last season figured to bring more success, before an early-season hamstring injury limited his production and playing time. Despite the minor setback, Daoust still managed to lead the team with three interceptions in just two games, including a pair of picks in the '99 season finale at Williams.
And then there's basketball, where Daoust is also a captain and a three-year starter at point guard, leading the NESCAC in free throw percentage as a junior at just over 93%.
"I love basketball, sometimes more than football," he said, daydreaming of long afternoon workouts on the LeFrak Gymnasium hardwood. "Football can be grueling where basketball isn't. On the football field you perform a lot of little tasks that are small parts of a larger picture. In basketball, you're just playing basketball."
"I love two-sport athletes because they're tough," Amherst basketball coach David Hixon added. "Brian comes in after football season and bumps us around until he gets used to playing basketball. His physical and mental toughness brings an added dimension to our basketball team that can only come from a kid like Brian. He leads by example, but boy does he lead!"
Daoust should be a good leader. He has extensive experience. In high school he captained his hometown Xavieran Brothers to three football state championships and a pair of berths in the Massachusetts State Basketball Tournament. As a perennial prep all-star he only knew one way to lead -- through action -- until adversity on the football field forced the older and wiser Daoust to change his perspective
"I originally pulled my hamstring in preseason and had never pulled a muscle, so I didn't really know what happened," he said. I was off it for a week and went up to Bates for the first game. It started raining, and it tightened up so I didn't play. The next week against Bowdoin, I pulled it again in the second series of the game."
Forced to the sidelines for the first time in his career, Daoust re-examined his role as team captain. No longer able to lead by example, he had to find other ways to get his point across to younger, more impressionable teammates.
"It gave me a new perspective on sports. I got to see what it's like not playing every day and I learned not to take the game for granted. I tried to relay this point to our underclassmen as often as possible."
His playing career drawing nearer to its inevitable conclusion, Daoust looks forward to life after Amherst, possibly as a financial consultant or maybe even a coach. He'll always remember his days in a Jeffs uniform, no matter which of the two uniforms he chooses to conjure up, but it won't be the trophies won or the glory earned that he'll look back on.
"I'll remember my teammates and what it's like to be part of a team, because I'll never seriously have that luxury again. The camaraderie is what I hope to find after school, something that I'm passionate about. I don't think you can find that anywhere like on the field with your teammates."
Western rolls Plymouth, heads for Springfield
Talk about teams that have no love for each other -- Western Connecticut exorcised 16 years of frustration in beating Plymouth State 56-7 on Saturday.
Sure, the Colonials also won last year's game 12-9, but lost several players to injury and needed a field goal on the last play of the game to put the Panthers away. The 49-point loss was the largest margin of defeat ever for Plymouth State and the 56 points the most they ever allowed.
One thing about the Western-Plymouth game this season didn't change, unfortunately. That was the high degree of animosity between the two teams.
In one bizarre exchange in the second half, Western offensive tackle Mike Powers told Plymouth defensive end Clint Medas that he was an outstanding player. Medas thought Powers was trying to insult him and started jawing back at him.
"I just wish all this stuff would stop," said Western guard Dave Wasiuk. "All the trash talk on the Internet during the week, all the bad feelings during the game. They have a great program and so do we. Both teams play hard and want to win. I wish everyone could put that other stuff behind and move on.''
As the one who has had to clean up the droppings left by both schools over the past year-plus on Post Patterns, I agree whole-heartedly.
Three markedly different incidents led to Western's three touchdowns in the first half. All were significant for the Colonials because their offense was having trouble getting started.
For the first score, Ben March downed Chris Rogers' 41-yard punt at the Plymouth 1 yard line. That led to a blocked punt recovery for a touchdown by Damion Sumpter.
For the second score, an interception by Keith Parmalee allowed Western to start its drive at the Plymouth 37. Parmalee made the interception despite playing with a cast on his left arm to protect a broken wrist. "I think I'll leave the cast on for good," said Parmalee.
To help make it 21-7 Western in the first quarter, the Plymouth defense was called for 25 yards in penalties on one play, moving the ball from the Panthers 41 to the 16. One of the calls was a personal foul, one of several the Panthers were tagged with.
"Plymouth lost their cool a few times and we were able to keep ours," said center Anthony Sorrentino. "It's something Coach Surace keeps emphasizing. Let the other teams make those mistakes."
Friday night's game between the No. 10 Colonials and No. 21 Springfield will be the D3football.com Game of the Week (pre-game at 6:45 EDT). We had identified this game on the schedule as a way to get a ranked team on the air on a Friday night.
We didn't know we'd be getting two ranked teams.
Springfield brings the nation's top rushing offense into the game, averaging 473.5 yards a game, 122.5 more than second-place Augustana. Bob Sedlor and Demetrius Dunn each ran for more than 100 yards in Saturday's upset of No. 15 Ithaca, with Jay Miller adding another 98. As a team the Pride averaged 6.4 yards a carry.
They are second in total offense only to Millikin, which has run up 558.5 yards per game mostly on the back of the teams they played in non-conference action, currently a combined 2-12.
Notes
It's been 104 games, and Williams head coach Dick Farley is still going strong. That's how long it's been since Farley lost two games in a row, which the Ephs were in danger of doing last Saturday against Trinity. No worries - the Ephs grounded the high-flying Trinity offense with a 23-0 shellacking, and held the Bantams to just 176 yards of total offense. ... Middlebury fell to 1-1 with a 28-21 loss at undefeated Colby (2-0) on Saturday, despite a 29-carry, 213-yard rushing performance from senior running back Bryan Sanchez. Sanchez, who also caught four passes for 23 yards, put the Panthers on the board first with a 53-yard scoring scamper with 8:56 left in the first quarter. Colby rebounded with 28 unanswered points in the first half, including a 43-yard scoring strike from sophomore quarterback Pat Conley to Danny Noyes on the White Mules' next possession. ... Junior placekicker Howie Rock kicked a 40-yard field goal with 7:31 left in the fourth quarter to left Tufts to a 12-10 victory over Bates in a rare Sunday afternoon matchup. The Tufts defense, which allowed Bates just 152 yards of offense including minus-8 rushing, had to stop a Bobcat drive late in the game to seal the win.
Contributing: Amherst SID Kevin Graber, Jim Stout