Sam Fletcher ’04 knew he was going to come down with the ball. Finding the end zone and breaking the plane was going to be the challenge. With the score tied at 35 with just over a minute remaining in regulation, Fletcher watched a pass from Zach Canter ’07 miss the hands of sophomore Blake Curry ’07 as the Cardinals tried to find the end zone on second and ten from the Tufts 23-yard line. Not ready to settle for a field goal attempt, Fletcher told Canter that he would have his man beat and that if the ball was there, he would bring it down. Streaking toward the goal line, Fletcher made his cut to the outside, and the 6’4” wide out skied over his defender, coming down with enough awareness to get a foot planted in the front right corner of the end zone.
Completing one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory, Fletcher’s touchdown reception capped off a 28-point fourth quarter for the Wesleyan football team, as the Cardinals came from 16 behind with less than nine minutes to play and defeated Hamilton College 41-35 for their second straight NESCAC win. Canter was named NESCAC offensive player of the week, as he threw for a team and NESCAC record 437 yards. He also completed a Wesleyan record 32 passes on 77 attempts, throwing for four touchdowns.
The Cardinals start was not promising, as the Continentals dominated the first half. Hamilton quarterback Brendan Holtslag ran well out of the pocket and passed effectively to lead the Continentals’ potent offense to 391 total yards and 17 first downs in the first two quarters. Things did not look good for the Red and Black heading into halftime, as the scoreboard read Wesleyan 7, Hamilton 21. But the first thirty minutes and the last thirty minutes would be two different games.
“As a team, I don’t think we came out to play in the first half,” Canter said. “Hamilton rolled in with an axe to grind, and we might have been too high on ourselves after last week. That kind of attitude will cost you. We’re a good team though, we know that, and we regained composure and turned the game our way.”
Hamilton would strike first in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 28-7 before Phil Banks ’07 capped off a 68-yard drive with a two-yard score near the end of the third quarter, brining the Cardinals to within 15 points after AJ Taucher’s ’08 point after attempt sailed wide. A series of unsuccessful drives by both teams followed before Canter took the Cards deep into Continental territory in its first possession of the fourth quarter and give the ball to Banks again. This time the sophomore ran in from three yards out, picking up his second touchdown of the day.
“ ‘TD Banks’ helped us get points on the board in the second half,” Canter said. “The way the defense was playing us, bringing a lot of blitz, he wasn’t going to get the 20-odd carries he got last week. But he stepped up and blocked for me, recognized the rush well, and just does what he does, and got in that end zone.”
With the momentum following the second Banks touchdown, Wesleyan tried to catch Hamilton on its heels and go for the two-point conversion, but a pass from Canter to the end zone was incomplete and the score remained 28-19.
The career day for Hamilton’s Holtslag continued, as he lobbed a ten yard scoring toss to receiver Joe Rinaldo to add seven more to the Hamilton lead, bringing the score to 35-19 with just 8:30 left to play. Holtslag recorded personal best totals in the air and on the ground as the Hamilton junior threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns, while picking up 179 yards and two more touchdowns running the ball out of the pocket. But late in the fourth quarter, the Wesleyan defense would shut Holtslag down.
Canter led the Cardinals on a 13-play drive that ended in a Blake Curry touchdown reception, and this was immediately followed by another Canter/Curry connection on the two-point conversion. Junior safety Adam Maxwell ’06 and the Wesleyan defense would hold Hamilton back on the ensuing drive, stuffing a fake punt attempt on fourth down and giving the ball back to the offense with 4:08 left on the clock.
“We knew we were a better team than we’d been in the first half,” Maxwell said. “We either had to step up or we’d go down. Once the offense got going and we started getting some stops, it took a big load off our shoulders. We didn’t rely on them, and they didn’t need to rely on us. It’s great when it’s all clicking.”
Canter marched the Cardinals back into scoring position in three quick plays, finding Curry for his second touchdown in as many drives. Coaches looked to stay with the hot hand, and called for Canter to find Curry in the end zone on the two-point conversion, and Curry came down with the football knotting the game at 35 apiece and scoring his 16th point in six minutes. Curry caught seven fourth quarter passes for 113 yards.
“Curry was unbelievable,” Canter said. “He was on the sidelines the whole first half, and just kept coming up to me and saying, ‘I can beat these guys. Get me a shot.’ When he got his shot, he made good on his words and walked the walk. He and Fletcher have to be the MVPs of this game.”
After a Hamilton punt, Canter led the final drive and found Fletcher down the right sideline for the deciding score with 1:08 to play. After catching 12 receptions for 175 yards and two touchdowns, Fletcher was happy the coaching staff had continued to be aggressive.
“We could’ve played safe and kicked the field goal at the end,” Fletcher said, who also acknowledged his fellow receiver’s big day. “I was glad I got to make the big play. Canter and the coaches had decided we were going to live or die by the air in the second half, and that just makes my job more fun. Blake [Curry] is going to be a great player here, and all he needed was this chance to make an impact. It was a big game for him and for our team.”
Wesleyan will travel to Maine this Saturday to take on Colby, as they hope to win their third straight game.
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