After three weeks of offensive stagnation, the football team got a lift from quarterback Zach Librizzi ’08 Saturday, as the first time starter led the team to a 25-21 come-from-behind victory over Bowdoin. After throwing for 308 yards and four touchdown passes with no interceptions, Librizzi earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors. The young quarterback was the centerpiece of a balanced offensive attack that used all its weapons to get a much needed win.
“The coaches had a good game plan heading into the match up,” Librizzi said. “[Bowdoin] played to our expectations, and all [the players] had to do was execute. We did the job.”
Trailing 25-21 late in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals drove 20 yards to the Bowdoin 40-yard line, when Librizzi found Blake Curry ’07 on two consecutive plays, first hitting him on a second-look slant route for 33 yards, and then on a 7-yard out to the end zone.
“We try to get teams to focus on one thing, one player, and then play to the areas of the field they’re not covering,” Curry said. “Once we got the offense rolling in the second half, we were able to do that more and more.”
After the extra point from AJ Taucher ’08, Wesleyan held a slim four-point lead, 25-21. Coming up with the defensive gem of the game was Matt Barnum ’06, a wide receiver who was brought on in a third down pass situation as Bowdoin was driving for the end zone. Bowdoin QB Mike Ferrante dropped back to pass and threw high over the middle. Barnum came up with a huge interception, shutting down Ferrante just as he was starting to get hot.
“That play was unbelievable,” Curry said. “That was the dagger. The ball was like eight feet in the air and he was almost horizontal on the way down. Unbelievable play. I stopped sweating on the sidelines after that.”
Wesleyan’s desire to fight was apparent from the opening kickoff. In the first quarter, Jeff McLaren ’06 stuffed Bowdoin’s first drive at the goal line when he crossed in front of a Ferrante pass, picking off the first of four interceptions the Polar Bears’ quarterback would throw on the day. The Cardinals seized the momentum with the pick, and responded with some ball movement of their own, as Librizzi marched the squad 75 yards to the Bowdoin 10 -yard line on the ensuing drive. The momentum was shattered, however, when an 11-yard touchdown run from Phil Banks ’07 was called back on a holding penalty. Faced with a first and 20 situation, the Cardinals’ offense could not get into the end zone. The drive ended without a score when kicker Taucher booted his 38-yard field goal attempt wide right.
Bowdoin got out in front 7-0 behind some efficient running from Rob Patchett following Wesleyan’s failed scoring drive, and the Bears ended the first frame on top by a touchdown. The home squad was in dangerous territory for the fourth straight week when Ferrante passed for his only touchdown of the day, connecting with Brian Durant from 23 yards out, making the score 14-0 with less than two minutes to play in the second quarter.
With 1:51 left in the half and the Bears still on top by a pair of touchdowns, Taucher came on to punt after a quick three and out series from the offense. Durant attempted to field the punt for the Polar Bears, but was unable to hang on to the football and Brett Mullen ’07 fell on the ball at the Bowdoin 41-yard line. Librizzi ran and fired for the Cardinal offense with only a minute and a half on the clock, rushing twice for 11 yards and completing five of five pass attempts, his last over the middle to Sam Fletcher ’04 for the first Wesleyan score. Taucher was unable to convert the PAT, but the Cardinals had ended a three-week streak of scoreless first halves, a burden nobody wanted to carry any more.
“It was huge for us to have Fletcher come down with that pass,” Curry said. “That score was a morale builder for the team. This bad pattern had been killing us for a couple weeks, and it was important to break the trend.”
With the score standing at 14-6 to open the second half, Librizzi connected with Fletcher on the opening drive for the tandem’s second touchdown of the day, giving the Cardinal’s 12 to the Polar Bears’ 14 after a failed two-point conversion.
On the Bears’ next possession, Ross Coates ’08 recovered a fumble, on the 19 yard line. It took Librizzi four plays and 50 seconds to find James Wallace ’05 on a 12-yard out for the score. Continuing attempts to make up for missed PATs failed, as Librizzi’s pass to the end zone was high, leaving the score at 18-14 in favor of Wesleyan. The Polar Bears struck first in the fourth quarter, capping off a 17-play 70-yard drive to take the lead 21-18. The Bears, mired in a losing streak against the Cardinals that began in 1996, needed to hold Wesleyan scoreless for almost 15 minutes to end the streak. Instead, Bowdoin had only set the stage for another dramatic Wesleyan comeback led by Curry, who also figured prominently in the 41-35 come back victory against Hamilton in the team’s second game this season.
After the heroics of Librizzi and Curry, the Cardinals ran down the clock for the win to end their three-game skid and even their record at 3-3 on the season. Fletcher finished with nine catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns, while Curry and Wallace had 44 and 66 yards respectively and one touchdown a piece. Banks also ran well for the Cards, picking up 87 yards on 16 carries, and busting loose for a game-long 37-yard rush.
Wesleyan’s next game will be at Williams (5-1) this Saturday.
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