Ephs stay hot, defeat Tufts 30-7
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams College
Ephs (4-1) knew that this afternoon’s contest against the
Jumbos of Tufts University (2-3) was going to be a physical battle,
and the erratic fits of rain throughout the day made it that much
more of a challenge. But the purple and gold seemed to grow
stronger and more focused as the game went on, as they overwhelmed
the Jumbos offense and met the intensity of Tuft’s powerful
defensive line en route to a 30-7 win.
Since the disappointing loss in the 4th quarter at Trinity,
Williams has strung together 3 victories, outscoring their
opponents 98-41. They are now in sole possession of third place in
the NESCAC standings behind undefeated Trinity and Amherst.
“I think this was our best effort to date because of the
physical challenge that Tufts presented,” determined Eph head
coach Mike Whalen. “They definitely have the best defensive
line we’ve faced this season and we still had excellent pass
protection all game. We also ran the ball well, even when they knew
it was coming. That was a big indicator of the kind of ability we
have and the physical level we’re playing at right
now.”
The Williams quarterback tandem of junior Pat Moffitt and
sophomore Matt Coyne put that pass protection to good use,
combining for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns against a Jumbo defense
that was leading the NESCAC in pass yards allowed per game. Junior
Ryan Lupo, who earned NESCAC offensive player of the week honors
last Saturday and was leading the NESCAC in yards per game, netted
100 yards on 32 carries. Freshman back Tom Wohlwender also got into
the mix today, filling in more than adequately for Lupo in the
fourth quarter with 56 yards on 7 carries, as well as the
game’s final touchdown.
“Every week it seems we have different guys stepping up on
this team,” beamed Whalen, “and today Tommy Wohlwender
came up big for us. At that point in the game, they knew we were
gonna run it, and he still marched us down the field…made
some nice moves out there too. He’s done it in practice and
in the JV games so it was great to finally have him out there
establishing himself as a physical runner…getting some
confidence for later in the season.”
Both teams stumbled out of the gate a bit, as the offenses
adjusted to the slippery field. The Ephs got rolling on their
second drive however, as Moffitt found senior tri-captain Nick Caro
and junior Bryce Bennett 20 and 15 yards connections, respectively.
But a holding penalty threw Williams out of their rhythm and they
settled for three on senior Scott Sobolewski’s 27-yard boot
to take the early lead.
“We were a little slow offensively at the start of the game
and the guys were telling me they were struggling with their
footing and couldn’t hold the blocks as long…so we
went to a more blast-oriented running plays and Lupo did a good job
of dragging some guys with him for that extra yard. Our offensive
line was really outstanding today and more than rose to the
occasion.”
The Eph defense was stubborn in the first half to say the least,
sacking Jumbo quarterback Tom McManna twice and dropping
runningback Pat Bailey in the backfield several times. Overall,
Tufts could not gain any positive yardage in the first thirty
minutes.
“It was another great defensive performance by our
guys,” praised Whalen. “We were giving ourselves great
field position almost every drive and Will Cronin had some great
punts to pin them deep. Our offense is too good not to score when
we’re given outstanding field position like we were in this
game.”
Indeed, Williams found the end zone twice in the first half thanks
in large part to incredible field position. A late first-quarter
drive that started at the Tufts 32-yard line was kept alive by a
Coyne-Bennett slant connection, and was polished off by another 4th
down conversion by Coyne, who hammered it in at the goal line to
give the Ephs a 10-0 lead. Later, a personal foul on the punt
return set up Williams at midfield with less than two minutes to
the half. After Moffitt found sophomore wide-out J.C. Stickney at
the sideline for 17 yards, Coyne found Bennett in the corner of the
end zone for the score.
Freshman Chris Cameron earned his team-leading fourth sack on the
year on the final play of the half. He had two in the game, and
sophomore Dylan Schultz complimented that nicely with a
team-leading 9 total tackles. Junior Tim Kiely also earned his
second sack of the season.
Druing halftime, Williams received their 13th Directors’ Cup
emblematic of athletic supremacy in NCAA Division III. The 2008-09
academic year marked the 11th consecutive year the Ephs won the
Directors’ Cup and the 13th time in the 14 years it has been
presented.
The secind half began with much of the same, as Tufts gained a
combined -7yards on their first two drives.
However, the Jumbos did find the end zone in that quarter for
their only score. Tailback Michael Durkin led the charge, rushing
for 43 yards on the opening five plays of the series including a
27-yard burst to bring his team into the red zone. That yardage was
promptly nullified however, by back-to-back Jumbo penalties, and
just when it seemed that Williams had stymied them again, an Eph
holding call and a 31-yard reception by a wide-open Steve Cusano
brought Tufts to the goal line. Bailey dashed in for the score on a
sweep play to bring the Williams lead back to ten, 17-7.
The Ephs wasted no time countering with a touchdown drive of their
own, sparked by Bennett’s 31-yard kick return down the Jumbo
sideline. With 50-yards to go for the score, the offense handed
matters over to Lupo and the offensive line, and they fought and
pushed their way into the Tufts red zone. Coyne and Bennett
continued their magical 4th-down ways, as Bennett wrestled
Coyne’s pass away from a Jumbo defensive back for his second
touchdown reception of the game to make it a 24-7 ballgame.
Tufts wasn’t going out easily though, as McManama led the
Jumbos to the Eph goal line courtesy of back-to-back completions to
Cusano and Billy Mahler for 22 and 14 yards. But the Ephs made sure
to close this one out, as they bore down to prevent the touchdown
and force a missed field goal. Wohlwender and his shifty feet
sealed the victory on the next drive, as Williams took the win
30-7.
Next week, the squad hosts Hamilton in a 1:00 PM contest. Whalen
emphasized the need to maintain the same level of intensity and
physicality that the team displayed this afternoon for the week
leading up to the game, as well as for the rest of the year. The
action will begin at 1:00PM.
