Middlebury caps first outright NESCAC title
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A frenzied gathering was viewed on ESPN during the network's GameDay show before Williams went out and defeated Amherst 20-0 in the 122nd meeting of the rivals with the game televised live on NESN.
Middlebury held off Tufts 21-19 to complete a 7-1 season and ride back to Vermont with the championship.
Bob Ritter felt before the season that his seventh year at the helm could be a special one. He was returning the bulk of an outstanding defense. He did have some questions on offense, notably at quarterback where a freshman would win the job.
It was on Oct. 27 when the Panthers defeated Trinity at home that Ritter realized just how good his team was and that it had realistic shot at winning the crown.
"The Trinity game was a watershed game for us," Ritter said upon returning home from Tufts this weekend. "It was the way the guys hung in there against a great Trinity game with the lightning strikes (delays) and just the demeanor they showed.
"Trinity was an excellent football team and the way our players approached the game showed a lot about them. They loved playing in that game and being in that situation. It was a turning point in our season in a lot of ways."
It also galvanized the Middlebury fandom. There is a large alumni concentration in the Boston area and they cane to Tufts to see the title clinching.
"We have a great alumni base in that area. It was like a home game," Ritter said.
And the nice thing for those fans is that they have a lot to look forward to with Donald McKillop being at the controls another three years.
"He did a great job of running the offense and picked up some big first downs running and throwing," Ritter said.
"The sky is the limit for him. He is very, very far along for a freshman. He understands the offense and the thing that is impressive about him is his poise and composure. He is so efficient. We would have been impressed with those things if he had been a junior."
Not far away from where Middlebury was winning its title, Curry College was beating Coast Guard 10-7 in the New England Football Conference championship game, a fifth consecutive NEFC title for the Colonels. It gives the Colonels a game in the NCAA Division III playoffs against Hartwick.
No such reward is attached to Middlebury's accomplishment as the NESCAC champion does not go on to the NCAA tournament.
But Ritter said he heard no talk on the ride home from the Panthers about not being able to go on and measure themselves in the national playoffs. "I didn't hear any of that specifically," Ritter said. "I am sure as an athlete, you always wonder about what you could do.
"But our guys know it is that way when they come in.
"It's unfortunate in some respects, but in some ways it makes each of our individual games even more important."
Still, I was struck by the words of Middlebury soccer standout Alex Elias after he came off the field that same day in the wake of his team's 5-0 victory over Wheaton (Mass.) in the second round of their NCAA playoffs.
"We wanted to win so we could play together one more week," Elias said. "We didn't want this to end."
So on a weekend when the Middlebury men's soccer team marched on in their playoffs and the Panthers punched their ticket to the NCAA Division III Final Four in field hockey, the football Panthers put up the uniforms after a tremendous accomplishment, the program's first outright NESCAC championship.
"It was very fulfilling," Ritter said.
McKillop was superb and finished the season by completing 129 of 228 passes for 1,379 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Erik Woodring was again a wrecking crew for the Panthers on defense. He had 106 tackles in the eight games, including 14.5 for a loss.
Woodring and McKillop earned weekly NESCAC honors. McKillop was Rookie of the Week and Woodring Defensive Player of the Week. Woodring, a senior linebacker from Cos Cob, Conn., finishes as the program's all-time leading tackler with 307.
The big game
The beat goes on for Skip Bandini's Curry Colonels. They got their fifth straight NEFC crown and now will try to take the step they missed on last year by beating Hartwick in the first round of the playoffs.
David Vincent's 19-yard field goal helped provide the difference, but he was also a weapon punting, booming one 60 yards and mailing two inside the 20. Vincent on the season is 14-of-18 in his field goal attempts and is 7-of-7 inside the 30.
It's an intriguing matchup with a Hartwick team that won the Empire 8's automatic qualifier this weekend with an incredible 72-70 quadruple overtime victory over Utica. Hartwick is averaging 437.4 yards per game.
But Curry has its own offensive fireworks with quarterback Ryan Van De Giesen leading the way. He has an eye-popping touchdown-to-interception ratio of 27-8. Brian Taylor and Felix Borukhov have done most of the work on the other end. Taylor has 56 catches for 876 yards and nine touchdowns; Borukhov 54 grabs for 770 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Lucey in the sky
Williams quarterback Pat Lucey broke school season records for both completions and attempts in front of about 12,000 people in the win over Amherst. He was 19-of-32 for 235 yards and a touchdown, hiking his season totals to 167-of-272 for 16 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
Feeling Librizzi
Wesleyan's Zach Librizzi concluded an outstanding four-year career as the Cardinals' quarterback in a 32-14 loss to Trinity. His 258.1 yards of total offense per game leads the NESCAC.
Jumbo performance
Tufts senior Matt Russo has set program records with 145 completions and 261 passing attempts. He put an exclamation point on his career with three TD passes against Middlebury.
Bearish on Bowdoin
The Bowdoin Polar Bears won their second consecutive CBB Trophy by beating Colby 20-17 as Bowdoin's Oliver Kell earned the NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week accolade by completing 20 of his 30 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for the Bears' other score.
Going out in style
Colby senior Justin Candon has to be wishing his career was just beginning. He finished up by catching 26 passes in the final three games.