Wesleyan dropped to 3-4 on the season after Saturday’s 51-21 defeat at the hands of undefeated Williams College (7-0). Phil Banks ’07 rushed for two more touchdowns in the losing effort to boost his season total to seven on the season, putting him in fifth place in the NESCAC in scoring with 42 points. Williams’s wide receiver Jon Drenckhahn, the NESCAC leader in receptions and receiving yards per game, had 111 yards and a touchdown.

“When you let a team with such a strong offense jump out to a big lead early, it’s really hard to get back into the game,” said John Harding ’09 after the game.

Williams jumped out to an early lead on their first possession of the game. Pat Lucey ’07 found Drenckhahn for an 83-yard completion from the Ephs’ 14 yard line, which took them all the way down to the Wesleyan three yard line. Two plays later, Lucey found Ryan Powell ’09 for a four-yard touchdown pass to give the Ephs an early 7-0 lead.

Williams scored in bunches in the first quarter with another touchdown only five minutes later when Lucey found Drenckhahn open in the endzone for a 23 yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead. The scoring didn’t stop there, as the Wesleyan drive resulted with another Williams score. Cardinal quarterback Zach Librizzi ’08 had his first pass of the drive picked off and returned 43 yards by defensive back Sean Milano ’09 for a touchdown.

After a Wesleyan fumble on the drive, Lucey connected for his third touchdown pass of the game with a 20 yard strike to receiver Jim O’Leary ’07. The first quarter couldn’t have gone much worse for Wesleyan against the league’s best team; they trailed 28-0 after the first 15 minutes.

The game got out of reach early for Wesleyan, but the Cards showed good heart, hanging in the game and getting the offense going after the first quarter. After another Williams touchdown pass, this time from Sean Gleeson ’07 to O’Leary for a 17-yard touchdown, Wesleyan responded with a fumble recovery on defense that led to a one-yard touchdown run by Banks. A fourth Lucey touchdown pass, this time to receiver Brendan Fulmer ’07, made the score 42-7 at halftime.

Zach Cantor ’07 came in to the game at quarterback in the second half and found receiver Danny Granatell ’10 for a 16-yard touchdown after Williams fumbled the opening kickoff return.

Wesleyan’s final score came off another Williams fumble. Banks rushed for his second of the game, this time from four yards out making the score 51-21 in favor of Williams.

Defensively, Wesleyan was led by Quincy Francis ’06 who had nine tackles, including an assist on a tackle for a loss, as well as a forced fumble and a pass breakup, contributing to his league lead. Danny Granatell led the Wesleyan offense with 73 yards on eight catches, including a touchdown. Williams was incredibly efficient on offense, as their two quarterbacks combined for four touchdowns and 270 yards passing. Lucey completed 11 out of 14 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns, while Gleeson completed 7 of 12 for 71 yards and a score.

Wesleyan concludes their season next week at home against Trinity College (6-1) at noon and will look to finish the season at .500 for the first time in three seasons.