Sporting events don’t always conclude with a storybook ending. This past Saturday, 20 seniors played their final home football game and were left with a bitter taste in their mouths as the Williams College Ephs upended the Cardinals for the fourth straight year, this time by the score of 26-2. Williams will remain the only opponent that this group of outgoing seniors never defeated in their time at Wesleyan.
Although Little Three games are always demanding, the schedule does not get any easier for the Cardinals who close out their season next Saturday in Hartford against the undefeated Trinity Bantams (7-0).
Wesleyan is 4-3 on the year.
While Saturday was not a statement game for the Cardinal offense, there are not enough good things one can say about the way the defense performed under pressure. In the first half, the defense single handedly kept Wesleyan in the game with its ability to force turnovers and prevent Williams from making big plays.
Williams found the end-zone twice in the first 30 minutes, both direct results of Cardinal turnovers. The first Ephs touchdown came off a 22-yard interception return for a touchdown by Williams linebacker Graham Goldwasser. The second score came from six-yards out on a Jeff Reardon touchdown pass, one play after Cardinals’ quarterback Brennan Carney ’04 was picked for the second time.
For the game, the Cardinals defense only allowed the Ephs two drives over 50 yards and utilized “a bend but don’t break” approach to keep the Ephs running game in tow most of the afternoon.
Defensively, the Cardinals were led by linebacker Joel Pratt’07, who had a team high thirteen tackles. But he wasn’t the only Cardinal posting double-digit tackling numbers, as defensive back John Charters ’04 finished with twelve, linebacker Adam Faris ’04 had eleven, and the team’s season leading tackler Tom Moran ’03 picked up ten. Defensive back Jeff McLaren ’06 also grabbed his seventh interception of the season and still remains in the hunt for the NESCAC season lead.
On the offensive side of the ball the Cardinals could never get anything going. Once again, the team was plagued by turnover after turnover. From the end of the first quarter towards the latter half of the second, Wesleyan turned the ball over four times on five drives. The Card’s gave up three interceptions, one fumble, and one turnover on downs.
Although the turnovers obviously did not help the offense’s quest to find the end zone, Wesleyan seemed poised to pull themselves back in the game late in the first half. They drove up the field and were within a few plays of cutting the Williams lead to seven until Carney under-threw a corner fade pattern intended for wide receiver Pat Moffet ’04. The ball was intercepted, quelling any talk of a possible comeback. Other than one 66-yard march that ended on downs, the Cardinals never seemed to find any continuity on offense in the entire second half as the group could only produce 115 total yards in the final 30 minutes.
For the game, the Cardinals mustered fourteen first downs en route to amassing 187 total yards. Wesleyan, however, could not develop any threat of a ground game as the team gained a paltry 18 yards on 27 carries. Passing wise, Carney finished the day 15 of 36 for 169 yards with four interceptions and found himself the victim of six Williams sacks. On the receiving end, the Cardinals were led by Moffet’s 80 yards on four receptions while wide receivers Mshangwe Crawford ’04 and Blake Curry ’07 each had three receptions apiece.
Entering this weekend’s game at Trinity, Carney is on the verge of several team and conference records. He is averaging over 260 yards passing per game this season, and has accumulated 1,822 on the season, pushing his career total to 6,416.
Carney can break the Wesleyan single season mark of 1,987 if he throws for 168 yards next Saturday against Trinity. He can break the NESCAC single-season record of 2,024 if he throws for 203 yards, and the all-time Wesleyan record of 6,657 if he throws for 242 yards. None of this will come easy though, as Trinity ranks number one in NESCAC and all of Division III with total defense. Perhaps most importantly, they rate third in pass efficiency defense.
With only one game to play, the Cardinals still have a chance to end Trinity’s hopes of their first undefeated season since ’93, but it will take a near perfect effort to upend the Bantams. Wesleyan would like nothing more than to end their season with a tremendous upset of their geographical league rivals. Trinity enters this Saturday’s contest off an emotional comeback victory over Amherst, so if the Cardinals can get on top early, the upset bug may be in the air. Saturday’s game is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Trinity.
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