Conference champions complete repeat
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Curry does it again
Curry will once again representing the NEFC in the NCAA Tournament. The Colonels halted Fitchburg’s nine-game winning streak in order to claim a second NEFC Title and an extension to the 2004 season.
As has been the case all season long, Curry was led by its outstanding defense. The Colonels held the Falcons to just 4 yards rushing on the afternoon. Sophomore linebacker Sean Crowley earned game MVP honors in recognition of his 11 tackles and one sack. Falcon QB Corey Hetherman was sacked six times on the afternoon.
Jarrad Jordan opened up the scoring for the Colonels midway through the first quarter with a 30-yard touchdown scamper. Curry doubled its lead just before halftime when Denis Hill hooked up with Brad Dick on a 12-yard scoring strike.
However, the Falcon offense, which had been struggling against Curry all afternoon, found new life in the third quarter as Hetherman completed a 54-yard touchdown pass to Justin Sleeper — whose fumble earlier in the first quarter had set up Curry’s first touchdown — to make the score 14-7.
A few possessions later, the Falcons seemed on the verge of knotting the score at 14 apiece. Carmy Cesaire hauled in a 39-yard reception to bring Fitchburg inside the Curry 15. But the Colonels recovered a wayward shotgun snap thereafter to put an end to Fitchburg’s last serious scoring drive.
Curry followed up the Falcon turnover with a 33-yard field goal to put the game away.
Fitchburg’s last loss came on Sept. 11. There too, the Falcons were defeated by Curry.
Despite the loss, Fitchburg completed a very impressive campaign in 2004. The Falcons went a perfect 6-0 in Bogan Division play this year and set a school record for wins in a season (8) en route to the school’s first-ever NEFC Championship game appearance.
Curry’s season, meanwhile, continues on. The Colonels seek to become the first NEFC team to win a NCAA Tournament game. Coach Steve Nelson and company came up just short (34-20) against RPI in last year’s first round. Curry will look for a better result this Saturday against Hobart.
Robitaille, Kavey garner honors
Curry linebacker Brian Robitaille was selected as NEFC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, while Bridgewater State tailback Brenden Kavey earned distinction as Offensive Player of the Year. Kavey led the conference in rushing yards per game with 145.
Fittingly, Curry was rewarded for its championship season with 11 Colonels selected to either the first or second All-Conference team.
Curry coach Steve Nelson was tabbed as Coach of the Year.
22 and counting
Trinity accomplished quite a bit on Saturday. In soundly defeating Wesleyan, 40-6, the Bantams completed a second undefeated season, won a third consecutive NESCAC title (Trinity actually shared that honor with Williams in 2002), and extended its best-in-the-nation winning streak to 22 games.
3-5 Wesleyan never really figured to have much of a chance in this game against a Trinity team that has steamrolled the entire conference, but the Cardinals more than held their own in the first quarter. Wesleyan capitalized on the first Bantam interception of the season, and their subsequent 32-yard drive was punctuated by a one-yard touchdown run by freshman tailback Garth Mitchell. The extra point was blocked, but the Cardinals still maintained a 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Trinity is not used to playing catch-up — the Bantams had trailed in only two previous games over the past two seasons — but Chuck Priore’s team responded in championship fashion. The Bantams scored the game’s final 40 points.
Trinity, known more as a run-oriented offense, did not let its first interception of the year discourage them from throwing the football. Indeed, the Bantams threw for three touchdown passes in the second quarter — Bill Schweitzer threw two of them, and Chandler Barnard the other.
Up 19-6 at intermission, Trinity closed the deal by tacking on another 21 points in the fourth quarter.
I have tried often, in previous columns, to give readers a feel for Trinity’s complete domination of the NESCAC this season, so I will not belabor the point here. Suffice it to say, in addition to compiling a perfect 8-0 record, the Bantams generated an unbelievable 310 points on the season (Amherst was second in the conference with 192) and allowed only 52 (Colby was second with 65). Hartford, Connecticut was home to the NESCAC’s best offense, defense, and special teams. Congratulations to Chuck Priore, his staff, and his players for another fine season of football.
The Biggest Little Game in America
While the contest had no bearing on the NESCAC title hunt, the 119th edition of “The Biggest Little Game in America” between Amherst and Williams was still the marquee football game in New England on Saturday. This point could easily be evidenced by the 11,000-plus family and friends who packed Pratt Field for the annual Homecoming showdown and the NESN crew that broadcast the game to countless more people in New England and across the country.
And, as is usually the case when these two fierce rivals meet, the game was well worth watching. Amherst ultimately got the best of a back-and-forth fourth quarter, and claimed its first outright Little III Championship since 2000 with a 13-10 victory. The home team has now one six consecutive games in this storied rivalry.
Heading into the contest, it was clear that both offenses would depend heavily on their respective running backs. As mentioned last week, Amherst’s Fletcher Ladd came into the game as the NESCAC’s leading rusher, averaging 136.9 yards per game, and Williams’ Tim Crawley was right on his heels with 128.3 rushing yards per game. Ordinarily, such running backs tend to slow down towards the end of the year, as a season’s worth of hard hits starts to catch up with them. But with the two seniors playing in their last collegiate game against a hated rival, there was no question that Ladd and Crawley would figure prominently in their respective team’s game plan. However, I don’t think anyone expected these two fine student-athletes to be as dominant as they were on Saturday.
Ladd carried the ball a staggering 34 times for 179 yards and a touchdown for the Lord Jeffs. Not to be outdone, Crawley had 39 carries and 179 yards of his own. Unfortunately for Williams, it was Crawley’s disastrous 39th carry of the game that ultimately decided the game in Amherst’s favor.
Trailing by three points with under a minute to play in regulation, Williams was driving and making the Homecoming crowd a little nervous. Having just stuffed Fletcher Ladd on fourth-and-inches, Williams seemed to have the momentum. But as Crawley was fighting for extra yards around the Amherst 43-yard line, Jeff cornerback Rob Walsh popped the ball loose, and safety Chris Scarpelli alertly pounced on the ball before it rolled out of bounds to dash Williams’ hopes of a come-from-behind victory.
The play capped an exhilarating second half. Ladd provided Amherst’s first score of the day with a five-yard touchdown late in the third quarter. Ladd’s success was set up largely by Jay Wagstaff, who returned a punt 19 yards to the Eph-26 and then caught a 21-yard Marsh Moseley offering.
But two consecutive special teams lapses by Amherst kept Williams in the game. First, Amherst pushed its extra point wide left, to keep the score 6-3. Then, on the ensuing kickoff, Crawley advanced the ball all the way to midfield. Four plays later, and less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, the sizable Williams crowd was celebrating a 10-yard Cory Catelli touchdown that allowed Williams to reclaim a 10-6 advantage.
However, the play of the game came on the next possession. After four consecutive Ladd runs put the Jeffs in midfield, offensive coordinator Don Faulstick wisely decided to call a play action pass. Jeff quarterback Marsh Moseley had struggled all day (at this point in the game he had completed two passes and thrown two interceptions), but the Williams secondary bit on the fake, and Moseley threw a perfect, 39-yard touchdown pass to Justin Macione to put Amherst up 13-10.
Williams’ best chance to tie the score came on its penultimate possession. Facing a fourth-and-two on the Amherst 20-yard line, coach Mike Whalen sent his kicker, Matt Gustafson, on the field to attempt a potential game-tying field goal. But Whalen actually called a fake field goal, which was snuffed out by senior linebacker Dave Borgonzi, who mauled Gustafson for a 2-yard loss on the play.
Whalen deserves credit for not coaching timidly in his first Amherst-Williams game as a head coach. During the game, Whalen called a flea-flicker, double reverse, and a fake field goal.
Amherst and Williams both finish the season with 6-2 records. The two schools join Colby in a three-way tie for second place in the NESCAC.
The “Biggest Little Game in America” also provided plenty of entertainment off the field. In addition to the many sly T-shirts sported by each student-body — one Amherst shirt read “Eph: It’s what’s for dinner” (there were other shirts with slogans perhaps not suitable for publication — some enterprising Williams seniors hired a plan to fly by Pratt Field during halftime with a sign that read “Amherst — #1 Safety School — XOXO Ephs 05.”
New England Game of the Week
Curry at Hobart, Saturday, 12 p.m.: There is only one team in New England whose season isn’t over, aside from those in the ECAC bowl games. With a win, Curry can become the first NEFC team to advance in the NCAA Tournament. As always, the Colonels will rely on Brian Robitaille and their stellar defense to pull this one out.