FB: New England Small College Athletic Conference

[NescacOutsider]

Wesleyan leads 13-10 at half.  Two Trinity turnovers (stuffed fake punt, fumble) at midfield led to 10 consecutive Wes points to end the half.

Going to be fun second halves in Trinity and Williamstown.  Buckle up.

20-10 Wesleyan with 4:10 left in 3rd. 17 unanswered points from Wesleyan.

Amherst leading 10-7 at start of 4th. 

20-10 Wesleyan at end of 3rd quarter. Trinity facing 3rd and 11 on Wes 16 to start the 4th. 

Amherst leading 10-7 with 11:00 left and driving at Williams 23.

And as soon as I hit send Trinity throws an endzone INT. 

Fitzsimmons carrying the Wesleyan offense on one leg. 27-10 Wesleyan with 8:40 left.  23 unanswered for Wesleyan since the Trinity fake. punt. 

QB change for Trinity and two plays later it's a 65 yard TD pass.  27-17 Wesleyan.  7:40 left.

[jmh21]

Holden Gering had the ball in his chest on the ground and it somehow ends up as an Amherst touchdown. Questionable refereeing in williamstown to say the least

[SpringSt7]

I don't know the rule well enough but that isn't exactly what happened. Gering had the ball first and appeared to be in control as he hit the ground but he certainly had not established possession and Moore wrestled it away from him while they were on the turf. He never had clear possession in my opinion but it was a really bad break on a bad throw by Hill

[nescac1]

Yeah to me that's a bad call for sure. Gehring clearly had control of the ball, Moore had an arm on it for sure, but he was also behind Gehring on the play, then after they landed he wrestled it away, what happens after you hit the ground with possession doesn't really matter.  If you want to say he didn't have total control (I think he obviously did) and call it incomplete, fine, I think that would be bizarre too, but it's certainly not an Amherst reception.  Who knows what would have happened as for the second straight year Williams came into this game running with a fourth string QB and without its best offensive weapon, and the offense could just do absolutely nothing (unsurprisingly) against a very strong defense, but hate to see it go down like that.  Just atrocious and robbed the fans of a potential dramatic ending to this one.   

Kudos to the Williams D and especially Luke Mangini who played a tremendous game but got zero help whatsoever from the offense or the refs (there was also a totally cryptic unsportsmanlike call on Williams in a key situation down the stretch, too). 

[SpringSt7]

Williams comes up short in the Biggest Little Game in America, 16-7. The undermanned Ephs fought hard and potentially could've had the ball down 10-7 needing to drive 80 yards and tie or win the game, but the TD call was the nail in the coffin. A lot of credit to the Williams defense and also to Drew Manzella for giving his best effort at QB but the better team won. More on the Williams season another time, now flipping over to the end of the Sportsmanship Bowl in Hartford

[SpringSt7]

Amherst's celebrations, or lack thereof, seem like a team that does not think they have clinched a share of the NESCAC championship and a potential postseason bid.

[NescacOutsider]

Some terrible officiating in Hartford....

[SpringSt7]

Mills just said both "we are excited to get to play a little bit more football" but also "if Wesleyan wins, we at least have a one in three chance"

[jmh21]

I was in the south end zone. Gering definitely had possession. Also a very questionable one handed catch on third down earlier in the drive where he looked out of bounds. Oh well, Ephs offense wasn't nearly good enough to win the game

[SpringSt7]

I was in the south end zone. Gering definitely had possession. Also a very questionable one handed catch on third down earlier in the drive where he looked out of bounds. Oh well, Ephs offense wasn't nearly good enough to win the game

Every replay they showed it looked like and less conclusive to me. Haven't felt this way often but wish they had challenges and a ref expert on the broadcast! And never seen Raymond that fired up before either, which is worth something

[NescacOutsider]

Wes holds on for a 27-20 win in Hartford despite some (very) questionable officiating in the last two minutes.  Missed a Trinity QB fumble on a sack, stopped clock on a 3rd down play before the Trinity FG, and questionable spot after the onsides kick following the unsportsmanlike penalty. 

Regardless, congrats to the co-champs Amherst, Trinity, and Wesleyan. Hope all make the tourney and show the rest of D-III what they've been missing for the last few decades.

[SpringSt7]

I have no idea what they are gonna do with the 3 way champs. To me, it is noteworthy that Wesleyan and Trinity both picked up their key win on the road. Wesleyan losing at Amherst but winning at Trinity, to me they are the clear best team in the league. Not by a wide margin but if someone asked me in 5 years who was the best NESCAC team in 2026 I would say Wesleyan. But I don't think that is how NPI works and I don't think that is how the tiebreaking procedures work either. Unless Amherst wins the coin flip I think they are going to be the ones that get hosed come selection time.

[SpringSt7]

Getting caught up as I candidly did not look into the selection process at all. Is it correct that there are 11 at large bids? D3datacast has Amherst ranked at 9th in the at large rankings going into this week and Wesleyan at 14th. I don't know how much Wesleyan would jump but I imagine a win against #12 Trinity at Trinity has to make a pretty big difference in a 9 game sample size.

Amherst is already listed at 8-1 on the website so they appear like they will do enough to stay in the top 11 but I don't know bid thieves, other games, etc.

All I can say is thank god the computers run this because if there were human beings there is a 0.0% chance they would pick 2 NESCAC teams to make the tournament in their first year of eligibility

[NescacOutsider]

I have no idea what they are gonna do with the 3 way champs. To me, it is noteworthy that Wesleyan and Trinity both picked up their key win on the road. Wesleyan losing at Amherst but winning at Trinity, to me they are the clear best team in the league. Not by a wide margin but if someone asked me in 5 years who was the best NESCAC team in 2026 I would say Wesleyan. But I don't think that is how NPI works and I don't think that is how the tiebreaking procedures work either. Unless Amherst wins the coin flip I think they are going to be the ones that get hosed come selection time.

Not sure "hosed" is the correct term based on everything else you stated.  As I understand it, NPI puts heavier emphasis on road wins. Wesleyan went into The Coop and beat Trinity.  Trinity went into Amherst and won there.  Amherst won at home against Wesleyan.  One of these things is not like the other...

All that said, I would concur that Amherst is likley most in need of the coin flip of the three and in the most precarious situation

[SpringSt7]

NPI has updated and nationally it is Wesleyan 25th, Trinity 28th, and Amherst 30th. Wesleyan is listed as earning the AQ, presumably that is because they have the higher NPI and does not take into consideration the NESCAC tiebreaking procedure (NPI would be a good tiebreaker going forward IMO considering it is how the NCAA determines their field). Wesleyan is between the 7th and 8th at larges, Trinity is 9th, and Amherst is 10th. I don't know who has conference championship games, what games need to be played, etc etc. But as of right now all 3 are dancing.