It could have been the rain, the mud or Colby. But no matter what the reason, the Cardinals lost their game on Saturday to the Colby White Mules, 28-14. After keeping the game close for the whole first half, untimely turnovers eventually ended the Cardinal’s hopes of knocking off perennial powerhouse Colby.

Wesleyan was unable to capitalize on an early interception by Steve Secundo ’07 deep in their own territory. After a punt on the ensuing drive, the Mules drove the ball 59 yards in 11 plays in 4:30 for the first touchdown of the game. The drive was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Aaron Stepka ’06. The ensuing kickoff led to more trouble for the Cardinals. Kevin Leamy ’09 fumbled the ball and Colby recovered at the Wesleyan 19 yard line. Three plays later the Mules reached the end zone again on a 15-yard touchdown pass from John Bateman ’06 to Roddy Ames ’06.

Down 14-0, the Cardinals needed a boost from their offense, and that was exactly what they got. They moved the ball 94 yards on 17 plays in response to Colby’s early scores. The drive was fueled by several completions from quarterback Zach Librizzi ’07 to Mark Noonan ’07. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Librizzi to wide receiver Andrew Brooker ’06 capped the drive. Following a missed extra point by AJ Taucher ’07, the Cardinals trailed the Mules 14-6.

After another Colby touchdown later in the second quarter, the Cardinals needed another solid offensive drive before the half. Once again, the offense responded. They drove 57 yards in 3:07 to get right back in the game. Librizzi spread the ball around to many of his receivers and ended the drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Blake Curry ’07. To make up for the missed extra point on their prior scoring drive, the Cardinals went for the two-point conversion, and converted with a pass from Librizzi to Curry once again. After a missed field goal by Colby, the first half ended with the heavily favored Mules leading 21-14.

The beginning of the second half was looking very good for the Cardinals. After both teams exchanged a series of punts, Wesleyan drove from their own 36-yard line all the way down to the Colby 7. However, after a 53-yard drive, Librizzi fumbled the football and Colby recovered it. That was the end of the Wesleyan offense for the day. The third quarter resulted with no points, and Colby College remained in the lead 21-14.

On their first drive of the fourth quarter, Librizzi had a pass intercepted by Greg Enos ’08 and returned 76 yards for the Mules’ fourth touchdown of the game. Neither team scored after that, and the rain-drenched game ended with the Colby College Mules beating the Wesleyan Cardinals 28-14.

In a game soaked by rain, the Cardinals played well enough to win. However, four interceptions and losing four of their seven fumbles made it impossible for Wesleyan to beat the highly ranked Colby squad. Offensively, the Cardinals moved the ball beautifully. Librizzi completed 26 of 47 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 69 yards on 24 carries. Mark Noonan ’08, recently converted from quarterback to wide receiver, caught eight passes to increase his team lead to 16 receptions on the season. Blake Curry ’07 also caught eight balls, including one for a touchdown.

After the game, assistant coach and defensive coordinator John Raba said he has confidence in his team’s ability.

“We could be 3-0 right now if we stop making the same mistakes and stop turning the ball over,” Raba said. “We had enough opportunities to win but we never capitalized.  If we can put it all together we can be a good football team.”

The Cardinals will look to build on this respectable performance against a top tier team when they take on Bates College (0-3) next Saturday, Oct. 15 on Andrus Field. Both teams are hungry for their first win and the Cardinal faithful will just have to hope the Cards are hungrier.