The Wesleyan football team, hot off of two wins, faced off against perennial powerhouse Amherst this past weekend in Massachusetts. The Cardinals fought hard against the Lord Jeff, but came up short against their Little Three rival. Amherst remains undefeated in the NESCAC, as is Trinity, both at 5-0. Wesleyan and Williams are currently tied for third place with records of 3-2.
The Cardinals had some difficulty generating offense against the Lord Jeffs, as Wesleyan only managed to put 10 points on the board. Amherst won the coin toss to start the game and opted to defend first. The Cardinals failed to advance the ball in their first drive and were forced to punt. Amherst opened up the scoring on their first drive of the day. The Lord Jeffs advanced the ball from their own 47 yard line to the Wesleyan 26 on four plays before Amherst running back, Eric Bunker, made a 26-yard dash into the endzone. The Cardinals would respond after the kickoff as they advanced into field goal position on a 10-play drive. Sebastian Aguirre ’14 made the 35-yard field goal with 3:08 left in the first quarter. The kick was a personal best for Aguirre. Wesleyan was not able to keep the pressure on and the Lord Jeffs returned with back-to-back touchdowns before the second half; one on a nine-play, 67 yard march, and the other on an interception that was returned all the way to the endzone. Amherst held a commanding 21-3 lead after the first half.
The second half saw less offense as both teams failed to score in the third quarter. Wesleyan earned their first touchdown of the day with 7:30 remaining in the game off a two-yard plunge by LaDarius Drew ’15. Drew rushed for 107 yards on the day, which marks his fourth consecutive game running for 100+ yards. The scoring wasn’t done just yet as Amherst received the ball one more time. The Lord Jeff were able to reach field goal position and the Amherst kicker, Matt Rawson booted a 45-yard field goal to put three more on the board. Final score, 24-10 Amherst.
Wesleyan had two interceptions on the day by Colin Hartwig ’12 and Jake Busani ’14. The Lord Jeffs accrued 366 yards of total offense on just 63 plays while the Cardinals managed 225 yards on 80 plays. The Cardinals also held the ball considerably longer than the Lord Jeffs, totaling 36 minutes to Amherst’s 24 minutes. The Cardinals next face the Bowdoin Polar Bears in Brunswick, ME this Saturday at 12:30.