Big Winning Margins in Liberty D1 This Week
Big Winning Margins in Liberty D1 This Week
Big winning margins were the hallmark of this weekend in the Liberty NCR D1 conference.
Earlier games this fall had been closer, with most of those close games involving AIC. However this week AIC beat Syracuse by 73, 83-10.
The closest game of the weekend was Fairfield beating Harvard 37-0.
It was 8-0 at halftime and Fairfield Head Coach Austin Ryan said his team was plagued by unforced errors and a bit of hero ball.
But Patrick McHale scored two tries in the second half and the other wing, Luke Rinkin, also found paydirt. Jack Garrity was an impact reserve against Iona and impressed, and that earned him a start this week and he scored a try also.
With Chris Giunta controlling field position nicely from flyhalf Fairfield did enough.
Harvard played hard and continues to build on what they have, but Fairfield, slow start or no, played strong defense.
“The biggest takeaway was the goose egg on the other side of the scoreboard,” said Ryan. “It’s always great to shut out the other team.”
Brown moved to 4-0 with an 87-0 shutout of Iona. With a points for-and-against of 307-11, Brown has dominated most of their opposition, although their opening win, 22-11 over Siena, wasn’t exactly that. Still, Brown is the top dog in the pack, but they do have Dartmouth ahead.
Ah yes, Dartmouth. The Big Green beat Fordham 71-7.
This was a nice bounceback for Dartmouth after a close loss to AIC last week.
“This whole week we just focused on us,” said Dartmouth Head Coach Kyle Sumsion. “I was really pleased and proud of the boys. We were playing in the right parts of the field and didn’t get on the wrong side of the ref.”
Last week Dartmouth made it into the Red Zone (scoring position) 10 times, but came away with tries only four times. Sumsion urged his players to be more focused in capping off scoring chances, and they did that.
Vice captain and center Abe Kamara scored three tries for Dartmouth.
“Aside from the tries, it’s his leadership and his physicality that helped us,” said Sumsion.
So Brown and AIC are 4-0. Dartmouth is now 3-1 and Fairfield 2-1. Of the 16 games played so far in the Liberty D1, four have been within a try, which is a pretty good percentage. However, three of those games were close losses to AIC. But there have also been six games over a winning margin for at least 64.
There does seem to be a clear top tier and second tier within the conference, and much of that has to do with depth, but it’s also worth noting that the teams that are in that top tier are all well supported by school and alumni. Some of the 2nd tier are, too, but either for less time (Harvard) or to a slightly lesser extent.
| Liberty D1 | W | L | T | PA | PA | PD | BL | Pts |
| Brown | 4 | 0 | 0 | 307 | 11 | 296 | 0 | 12 |
| AIC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 153 | 71 | 82 | 0 | 12 |
| Dartmouth | 3 | 1 | 0 | 203 | 54 | 149 | 1 | 9 |
| Fairfield | 2 | 1 | 0 | 115 | 19 | 96 | 1 | 5 |
| Siena | 1 | 2 | 0 | 86 | 65 | 21 | 1 | 5 |
| Fordham | 1 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 104 | -64 | 1 | 5 |
| Iona | 1 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 108 | -67 | 0 | 4 |
| Harvard | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 132 | -122 | 0 | 0 |
| Syracuse | 0 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 285 | -244 | 0 | 0 |
