The football team won their first game of the season this past Saturday, defeating Bates College, 35-8. This moves the Cardinals record to 1-3 at the halfway point in their season. Bates, on the other hand, is stuck in the cellar of the NESCAC at 0-4.
The weekend began on a potentially ominous note, when the team’s defensive bus rear-ended their offensive bus while traveling to Lewiston on Friday afternoon. The team had planned to stop in Exeter, N.H. to get a practice in before the game on Saturday. The accident forced them to stop off at a church in Littleton, Mass. and practice on a nearby soccer field.
Whatever one wanted to read into these unusual pre-game events, however, things turned out just fine for the Cards once they hit the field. The Wes offense jolted into gear, amassing a remarkable 329 yards of total offense, while the defense held the Bobcats to just 207. The Cards had the game in hand by halftime, leading 28-0.
On the first two scoring drives, quarterback Blake DuBois ’12 first led the team 81 yards and broke the plane with a 10 yard pass to Kevin Leamy ’09. He followed this up with an 85-yard drive, breaking the plane himself with a one-yard touchdown run. Lacking significant aerial dynamics, the Cards relied on the ground attack.
“The offense moved the ball well and was able to establish the run game,” said Brett Valentine ’09.
The team totaled a season high 199 yards on the ground. Leading the Cardinal ground game was the running back tandem of Vince “Traps” Miller ’12 and Greg McDonough ’12. Miller rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, while McDonough tallied 38 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns.
After the early offensive fireworks, the Cardinal defense finally forced a turnover. Derrick Williams ’12 forced a fumble in Bates territory, which was recovered by Bo Brown ’10. Taking advantage of the shortened field position, the Wes offense went to work. Four plays later, McDonough crashed into the end zone from three yards out.
Next time out the Cardinal defense created another turnover, this time by means of an interception by safety Cameron Davila ’12. This was Wesleyan’s second forced turnover of the game and only the second of the season.
“The defense did a great job getting the ball back to the offense with good field position and the offense made Bates pay,” Pete Overman ’09 said.
Although Wesleyan did not convert on the possession following the pick, the defense thwarted the next Bates offensive series. This time, Wesleyan stopped them deep in their territory where the Bobcats had a weak punt, giving the Cards the ball back on the Bates 39-yard line. Again, the offense found the end zone, as Miller scampered through the line and legged it in for the score from 23 yards out.
After an impressive first half, the Cardinals tacked on one more score on 10 play, 59-yard drive. With 10:46 left in the third, the Cardinals had the choke hold on the Bobcats 35-0.
Beyond the impressive running game and defensive turnovers, Chris Helsel ’09 helped the team with phenomenal special teams’ play. Elected as NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week, Helsel was five for five on extra points, had a punt average of 46.7 yards, with two punts downed inside the Bates 10-yard line, and kicked six kickoffs that left Bates starting each of their drives on average from their own 12-yard line.
Looking ahead, Wesleyan will take on the Lord Jeffs of Amherst College this Saturday in the highly anticipated Homecoming Weekend game. Amherst is 2-2 and is coming off a big win against Colby College. Amherst put up 409 yards of offense this past week and had two picks, six sacks and twelve tackles for a loss. Wesleyan will need to have a big day defensively to slow down the Lord Jeffs’ balanced rushing and passing attacks. Furthermore, the veteran Cardinal offensive line must contain the rush of the Amherst defense. This, coupled with Wesleyan’s newly formed rushing attack and aggressive defense, should give the Cards a chance to upset the Lord Jeffs. When asked about their chances against Amherst, Valentine emphasized the importance of maintaining the momentum from the win against Bates.
“This weekend’s win is a big stepping stone for our Little Three game against Amherst,” Valentine said. “We finally realize how we are capable of playing and the win is a confidence booster. If we play like we did against Bates we will come out on top this weekend.”
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