Austin Lommen completed 18 of 27 passes for 184 yards for Williams in his Division III debut. Williams athletics photo

Boston College transfer Austin Lommen threw for 184 yards and a touchdown to help Williams to a 36-0 thumping of Bowdoin as the Ephs enjoyed a special day with their new stadium packed with fans.

Fellow Boston College transfer Win Homer did not have the same winning experience as he got to sample the New England Small College Athletic Conference and Division III football for the first time. The 6-5, 277-pound offensive lineman and his Middlebury teammates left Youngman Stadium with a 22-14 loss to Wesleyan.

But you can be certain Homer is every bit as happy with his lot in life as is Lommen. He cherishes his new football experience.

He did not like the demands of Division I football. "It has to be that way at Division I," Homer said. But the art major wanted something else. Both of his parents are Middlebury graduates and his father Ed played football for the Panthers.

"I was only going to go to Middlebury," Homer said. "If I didn't get in I would have stayed at BC and not played football."

He likes the Division III philosophy. And he embraces the purity of the NESCAC where there is no spring football and the football teams are not permitted to advance to the playoffs.

"The NESCAC has principles about what a student athlete should be and that is what I believe it should be," Homer said.

He is grateful for his coaches at BC and what they taught him about line play. "The coaches there were really meticulous and detail oriented," he said. "There was a lot of repetition. It was grueling."

It was also different. BC had the power running game and Middlebury is an offense with  a heavy bent toward the pass. "There are a lot of new things I am learning about the passing game. I am trying to absorb as much as I can," Homer said.

But there are things he learned in Chestnut Hill that serve him well at Middlebury.

"The things I learned there about footwork and body placement help me here," Homer said.

His position coach Joe Early won't say he is in the same league with Ryan Moores, the recent Panther lineman who had NFL scouts coming around the campus. But Early does call Homer "an all league type player."

"He is just a great kid and a great athlete," head coach Bob Ritter said.

Homer wants to use his art degree in real life when he leaves Middlebury.

"That is my goal as unrealistic as it is," he said.

"I like anything with fine lines; pen and ink, charcoal, things like that."

When Austin Murphy went to Minnesota to spend a season with St. John's to write his book The Sweet Season, he rediscovered the joys of Division III football. There was the purity of kids being real students and playing the game they loved within that framework. And as he said in his introduction: "Don't let the Roman numeral fool you - there's damned good football in D-III."

You can ask Win Homer about that. He'll draw you the picture. In pen and ink or charcoal.

NESCAC opens

You can't beat the Bantams in the Barnyard. Trinity, of course, is hard to beat anywhere, but they won their national record 52nd straight game at home by beating Colby 32-7 as Chudi Iregbulem rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns.

Kyle Gibson rushed for 114 yards for Wesleyan in its win over Middlebury and Amherst edged Bates 14-6.

Alex Scyocurka was a complement to Lommen for Williams. Scyocurka had 128 yards and two touchdowns to show for his 19 carries.

Tufts got a win and that should do wonders for the Jumbos after several lean seasons. They beat Hamilton 24-17 with Zack Trause catching a TD pass and running for another score. But the big noise was made by Mike Stearns. He led the Tufts defense with 18 tackles, 16 of them solo stops. Charles Ensley had a school record 14 catches for Hamilton.

Record at Western Conn.

There was another school record tied at Western Connecticut. Will Arndt threw six touchdown passes in the 45-7 win over Plymouth to equal the mark set in 2005. David Plaza had three of those touchdown catches.

Westfield State's Mike Mercadante was held under 100 yards (he had 72) for the first time this year but the Owls edged UMass-Dartmouth 14-13.

Worcester State's Kevin Bumpus threw for 465 yards and it still was not enough as Bridgewater State won 51-27 behind Danny Higgins who threw for 308 and three touchdowns. There were standouts on defense for Bridgewater. David Console had10 solo tackles and Elvis Romero four tackles for a loss.

Mass. Maritime top admiral

Massachusetts Maritime bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to SUNY Maritime in the Chowder Bowl by beating Maine Maritime 26-20 in the 42nd Admiral's Cup.

It was an overtime thriller with John Trudel scoring the game-winner from 2 yards out.

"It was great to get the win," Mass. Maritime coach Jeremy Cameron said.

It was nearly necessary to nail down a victory as the Bucs head into MASCAC play especially because they were coming off that excruciating loss to SUNY-Maritime.

"There was so much investment by the kids the week before," Cameron said. "They played so hard for 60 minutes and this time it was for 60-plus."

The defense had a gut check and stood up.

"Maine started out going through us like Swiss cheese," Cameron said.

Cameron praised the effort of linebacker Victor Andrade, defensive back Kevin Stanton and lineman Zach Ryan in leading that defense.

Nichols gets a win

New coach Dale Olmsted got his first win as the Bison edged Becker 10-6, but most importantly the players saw their number on the right side of the scoreboard for the first time in a long time,.

"The kids have really been buying into the new staff's philosophy," Olmsted said.

Quillian Respass rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown for the Bison.

Olmsted said the team got a big lift from freshman Mike Abbruzzese. "He had a couple of catches for first downs that kept a drive alive," Olmsted said. That was important in milking the clock for a team not used to winning.

Kicking it

You can't overstate the importance of special teams. Norwich's Wes Medeiros was the ECFC Special Teams Player of the Week two weeks ago in the Cadets' 10-7 win over St. Lawrence. Medeiros did again. He kicked a 22-yard field goal with five seconds left to give Norwich a 10-7 win over WPI.

Endicott's Kyle Regan put four punts inside the 20 and made both his field goal attempts to help Endicott to a 41-28 victory over Kean.

It was not all about the foot for Endicott and Norwich. Al Georgio did a little of everything for the Cadets with 58 rushing yards and 93 receiving yards. Endicott's Drew Frenette threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns.

OT win for Husson

Husson beat Alfred State 34-28 when Joe Seccareccia went over from a couple of yards out. The Eagle quarterback also threw for 251 yards and a couple of scores. University of Maine transfer Ryan Stroud and Deon Wiggins were his hot receivers. They had eight catches apiece. Stephan Dance's interception set up the winning score.

Salve Regina lost 36-32 when William Paterson scored in the waning seconds but Seahawk quarterback Steven Wilken passed for 389 yards and three touchdowns.

The big games

Trinity at Williams looks like the most attractive game in the NESCAC with both teams winning impressively in the opener.

A big MASCAC game has Fitchburg going to Bridgewater. Fitchburg has been opening eyes by starting 2-0 and then playing Framingham tough this week before falling 29-26. But the biggest MASCAC game of all has titans Western Connecticut and Framingham tangling in Framingham. Framingham's Travis Offley rushed for 151 yards and quarterback Matt Silva threw for 212 with a couple of touchdowns in that win over Fitchburg..

Salve Regina at MIT is one to watch in the NEFC.