Keith McMillan and I often plan these things out — in fact, last year he spent some space in his column talking about doubleheaders you could create with a little bit of drive time.
Now, I’ll be honest, I miss my family (they’re in D.C. getting the house ready to sell while I’m in Connecticut working at my new job). So as long as I’m not home, I might as well keep myself busy, and this weekend I’m planning to do it by seeing three Division III football games.
Unfortunately, because of geography, I’ll only see two ranked teams, and both of them are in the same game, but it should be fun anyway. I am based in Norwalk, Conn., now and I have Friday off, so I’ll drive up to Worcester, Mass., to see Worcester State host Nichols. Take the drive west and spend the night somewhere along the way so I can see No. 12 Delaware Valley at No. 19 Wilkes, kickoff at 1 p.m. Then I’ll take the relatively short trip to Reading to see Susquehanna at Albright, 7 p.m.
I might regret this when all is said and done, because I’ll be pretty exhausted, but should be an experience.
Then I just have to get home and get some sleep so I can be ready for the Sunday Night Football shift at work.
Just drive safely–that second game really wipes you out, or at least it does me! You should be able to procure a Whoopie Pie in Reading, though, to get you through the drive home. 🙂
So I got to Worcester, Mass., just fine. Got a tour of WPI from Sports Information Director Rusty Eggen, then followed him to Worcester State, where he nearly lost me in traffic.
He says, “My driving’s going to end up being a blog, isn’t it?”
Uhm, yeah. Only had to run two red lights to keep up. And it’s a short trip. 🙂
Spent the first quarter and a half on the sidelines shooting, before it got too dark. While I was down there, two Worcester State coaches talking:
Coach 1: They said No. 22’s limping.
Coach 2: Who’s No. 22?
Coach 1: The tailback!
Limping or not, 22 (whose name is Chris Patterson) rips off a 35-yard gain on a screen pass on the ensuing snap. Sets up a Nichols touchdown.
Nichols goes for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3 with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter and does not convert. (Consensus up in the booth before the time out was that Nichols should kick a field goal.)
Pat – Be careful on the trip tonight…The weather radar shows varying levels of rain (and if NYC was any indication today, a lot of wind) from southern MA to northern NJ right now. Rest early instead of late if you have any choice in the matter. Thanks for the coverage.
It’s a comical night. Worcester State’s veteran PA announcer has worked every Lancers varsity game in the program’s history except one. (He just pointed out, for example, that the ECAC officiating crew marked off 20 yards on a Worcester State personal foul instead of 15. They noticed just in time.)
It’s an all-Worcester area press box crew tonight, with Worcester State SID John Meany, Worcester Polytech SID Rusty Eggen and Framingham State assistant AD Carey Eggen.
Tenor of the game has changed a little bit. Nichols quarterback Michael Carven has connected twice on deep sideline balls, once down to the 3-yard line (setting up that failed fourth down) and again just now for a 47-yard touchdown to Nicholas Kane. Nichols went for two and brought out a play I couldn’t even describe and it failed.
Thanks, I’ll do my best. It’s still nice and dry here in Worcester, somehow.
Nichols snapped the ball out the back of the end zone for a safety. Worcester at midfield off the free kick and in the kneel-down.
Worcester 16-13 final. We’ll see you folks later.
Alright, well, I couldn’t get on the Net in the press box until the game was over, but it was a thriller, with Wilkes winning 14-7 in OT. More later.
Two games in the books, and I think this one probably ends up the highlight of the weekend, with Wilkes winning in overtime. Certainly a different Wilkes offense than Gordon Mann and I saw two weeks ago, with a less-productive offense (no first downs inthe first half, for example). Gordon asked me at halftime what I thought of the two All-American receivers for Delaware Valley (David Carmon and Don Marshall, who have each been All-Am selections for us, though not at the same time, and only Carmon was a postseason All-American). I told him and his listeners I’d have to reserve judgment on them. I grade the Del Val offense right now as an incomplete. It seems like they have not given freshman quarterback Mike Isgro much of the playbook to work with here in the early going and that affects the receivers, obviously. However, each made a tremendous catch, going high to bring down balls. Marshall’s resulted in the Aggies’ only touchdown of the game, while Carmon’s was key in keeping a potential scoring drive alive. (The drive ended on a blocked field goal in the final minutes of regulation.)
Have arrived at Albright. Needless to say, the stadium is a lot different than the last time I saw it. 🙂
Susquehanna defense leveled Albright players twice on one drive here in the second quarter, enough so that one parent standing on the sidelines has been yelling about SportsCenter and Albright getting JACKED UP!
I got it the first four times, but he’s still saying it. Sheesh. 🙂
The name HEINTZELMAN is ringing in everyone’s ears here at Albright as hey rolled up big run after big run on the first drive of the second half. Albright went 77 yards in eight plays, and Heintzelman, Jason had 69 yards of the drive.
He had just five carries for 22 yards in the first half. Cuts Susquy’s lead to 17-14.
In all, 660 miles of driving, approximately 12 hours, and not quite nine hours of football. When the weekend started, I felt positive that I was going to get rained on at all three games, but it held off and only rained while I was driving.
And only in Connecticut. Seriously, it cleared up shortly after I crossed into Massachusetts on 84 and started up again on my way back down. What is it with this state?
Best story of the weekend: Worcester State coach Brien Cullen talks about a couple of lineup adjustments the team made before and during the game, saying, “This kid here, No. 63, came in at center and did a nice job for us, Doug Gallant.”
Worcester Telegram & Gazette reporter: “He played the whole game?”
Cullen: “He came in … Dougy, when did you come in?”
Gallant: “Last drive of the first quarter.”
Reporter: “At center”
Cullen: “Yeah. We’d worked him all week and we thought we wanted to get a look. He’s only a freshman and he did a real nice job.”
Reporter: “He’s that big being only a freshman?”
(It’s not Robert Gallery we’re talking about, Gallant is listed at 6-2, 290.)
Best press box food: Albright, without a doubt. Though that’s because the school’s president was there with guests in his box, so the food was of a higher caliber. And unlike Adrian’s president’s box, no wet bar that I could see. (And that’s fine, I think this is more in keeping with NCAA philosophy anyway.)
Best stadium: Albright, again. Next question.
Most underrated team: Nichols. They’re better than the 231st we ranked them, at least a little.
Most overrated team: Frankly, I let both Delaware Valley and Wilkes slide on my ballot this week. Not blown away by either.
Best press box banter: Worcester State. Still waiting for Rusty to eat that last hot dog.
Best pregame music: Wilkes. I knew it was going to be a good day for the Wolverines when Hail to the Victors was playing as I got out of the car. (My dad worked at Michigan for four years, so I got the full Ann Arbor indoctrination in grade school.)
Best media presence: Wilkes, without a doubt. Two TV crews on the sidelines.
Worst fans: Wilkes. My goodness. You’ll see a photo in the gallery of a Wilkes student who berated the Delaware Valley punter five ways from Sunday, calling him a f—ing f-g—t over and over at the top of his lungs. What part of “Profanity, racial or sexist comments or other intimidating actions directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches or team representatives are grounds for removal from the site of competition” do people not understand? Security, of course, nowhere to be seen, despite a crowd of about 100 people in the end zone at that time, midway through the game.
Years ago a MAC coach (thankfully since departed) had the gall to blame our Web site for lack of sportsmanship among fans in the league. Uhm, no sir. It’s endemic to the league itself, and schools should not tolerate it.
I only wish I had a tape recorder on the sidelines. Paying lip service to sportsmanship should not be accepted.