The football team suffered a loss to Little Three rival Williams this past weekend in a tightly contested game that saw the Ephs prevail 19-17 over the Cardinals. The loss is Wesleyan’s third in a row, and puts the team back to a 3-4 record, the first time the Cardinals have been under .500 all season.
The Ephs came out of the gate hot, scoring a touchdown just over three minutes into the game. Williams received the ball first and found the end zone on six plays, which included two passing plays for over 24 yards each. Wesleyan failed to respond on its first offensive opportunity, advancing the ball just six yards on three downs. The Cardinals were forced to punt, putting the Ephs on their own 40-yard line.
The Cardinal defense held the Ephs from reaching the endzone again, but Williams was able to advance the ball to the Wesleyan 16. On fourth-and-three, the Ephs struck again on a field goal attempt that split the uprights to make the score 10-0 Williams. The Cardinals did not respond on the next possession, but with an outstanding punt by Jesse Warren ’15, Wesleyan put Williams in tough field position, downing the ball at the Williams 2-yard line.
The Cardinals finally struck halfway through the second quarter when quarterback Matt Coyne ’12 found Jay Fabien ’15 downfield for a 41-yard pass completion for a touchdown. Fabien completed the spectacular catch while falling to the ground in the endzone. However, Williams responded on their next possession, scoring a touchdown on a 21-yard pass into the endzone, capping another six play drive with a score.
Williams’ extra-point attempt was blocked however, as they took the lead 16-7. Wesleyan stormed back with a six-play drive of its own for a touchdown. LaDarius Drew ’15 returned the kick off 35 yards to the Wesleyan 48 and then ran Coyne another nine yards on the first play of the drive. Coyne would go to the air for the remaining plays, including a 20-yard pass to Jonathan Day ’15 to give Wesleyan its second touchdown of the day with 1:23 remaining in the first half.
Williams failed to score for the entire third quarter, and Wesleyan capitalized. The Cardinals were able getting in field goal position for Sebastian Aguirre ’14 who made the 18-yard attempt to give Wesleyan its first lead of the day 17-16. Williams refused to quit however, and while trailing in the fourth quarter, was able to strip the ball near midfield from Coyne. The Ephs were able to march downfield into field goal position where they completed a 40-yard attempt to take the lead 19-17 with 4:48 remaining. The Cardinals failed to score in the final minutes of the game. The Cardinals now stand at 3-4 with one game left in the season against the second place Bantams from Trinity. Trinity has one loss on the season and will face off against Wesleyan next Saturday, November 12th, in Hartford, CT.