44th Meeting

Williams College Ephs (4-1)

vs.

Hamilton College Continentals (1-4)

1:00 pm

Saturday, October 31

Weston Field

Williamstown, MA

SERIES: Began in 1900. Williams leads 36-7 in the overall. The Ephs have claimed victory in the last 12 matchups with the Continentals, and have boasted a 19-2 mark in the 21 contests since 1988. Hamilton has been shutout in 12 out of the 43 games that comprise the series.

Last year, these two opponents grinded it out in the midst of a torrential downpour at a muddy, slippery Steuben Field. Play came down to the final quarter, as a late touchdown run by former Eph star Brian Morrissey and a forced fumble on the subsequent drive catapulted Williams to a 14-7 road win. Morrissey set an all-time school record for most carries in a single game with 42 for 201 yards.

Hamilton’s most recent victory came in 1996, as they edged Williams 16-13 in Clinton. A more convincing 41-20 Eph defeat in 1986 was the last time the Continentals have won at Weston Field.

COACHES: Mike Whalen (36-9) is in his sixth year as Eph head coach this season. During his stint, Williams has never finished worse than 6-2. Whalen was the head coach of the Williams wrestling program from 1996 to 2003, during which time he also served as the Ephs offensive line coach. He held the title of offensive coordinator in his last three years as an assistant coach.

Whalen led the 2006 Ephs to the sixth perfect season in Williams history, extending the Eph win streak at the time to 14 and earning NESCAC Coach of the Year honors. He was also the only New England coach to finish in the top 25 in Liberty Mutual's Coach of the Year program among coaches in all divisions.

Whalen graduated from Little Three rival Wesleyan in 1983, where he was captain of both the football and wrestling squads. He earned All-New England and All-American honors three times in his athletic career, and has coached football at Springfield, Penn, Lafayette, and Colgate.

Whalen has led Williams to four consecutive Little Three titles. He is 5-0 in his head coaching career against Tufts.

Steve Stetson (15-32-1) is in the fourth year of his second stint as head coach of Hamilton. During his first tenure from 1982 to 1984 the team went 9-14-1, but they went 6-1-1 in the ’84 season, the program’s first winning record since 1967. That campaign merited him the Div. III Coach of the Year award in New England, as well as a head coaching position at Boston University’s Div. I-AA program the following year.

After three seasons there, Stetson left for Hartwick College, where he resurrected a football program that had been dormant for 42 years. From 1991-2001, he lead the Hawks to eight winning seasons and earned three conference championships. Stetson made one last stop in his native state of New Hampshire to join the University of New Hampshire program as an assistant coach for four seasons, before returning to Clinton in 2006.

Stetson is 1-3 overall in his head coaching career against the Ephs.

RADIO - INTERNET: The Williams College student station, WCFM (91.9 FM) will air the game live locally and on the Internet. To hear the game on the Internet on WCFM go to wcfm.williams.edu and click on the Listen Live link.

W-A-T-C-H or LISTEN on TEAMLINE: TEAMLINE is a pay-to-view and a pay-to-listen service for this contest. You can access TEAMLINE on the Internet by clicking here.

TELEPHONE: Dial TEAMLINE at 1-800-846-4700 and follow the prompts. The Eph access code is 0126.

LIVE STATS: CLICK HERE

STREAKS: Since the loss in week 2 at Trinity, Williams has defeated three consecutive opponents (Bates, Middlebury, and Tufts), and have outscored them 98-41 during that streak.

Coach Whalen thought last week’s 30-7 victory over Tufts was the team’s best effort all season, as the Ephs looked dominant on both sides of the ball against a #1 conference-ranked Tufts defense, despite unfavorable playing field conditions.

The Purple Cows will have a 12-game series winning streak, as well as an 11-game streak in Williamstown on the line against the Hamilton this Saturday. Since defeating Wesleyan at home in week 2, the Continentals have dropped their last three, including a 16-0 home loss to Colby last week.

AWARDS: Eph senior punter/defensive back Will Cronin nabbed NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for his impressive display at Weston Field in last Saturday’s win over Tufts. The dual position veteran averaged 37.2 yards over four punts with a long of 42, and managed to pin the Jumbos behind in their own 20-yard line at a crucial moment of the game. Cronin also recorded one solo tackle on the day. With fellow senior specialist Scott Sobolewski’s performance at Middlebury, the Williams kickers have now earned back-to-back Special Teams Player of the Week awards.

BY THE NUMBERS…

28.4/10.6… Points per game Ephs (3rd in NESCAC)/Continentals (tied-last in NESCAC)

17.2/22.0… Points allowed per game Ephs/Continentals

194.2/195.4… Passing yards per game Ephs/Continentals

188.6/244.6… Passing yards allowed per game Ephs (2nd in NESCAC)/Continentals

180.6/29.2… Rushing yards per game Ephs (1st in NESCAC)/Continentals (last in NESCAC)

73.0/103.4… Rushing yards allowed per game Ephs/Continentals

105.0… Rushing yards per game for Ephs’ first-year starter Ryan Lupo (leads NESCAC)

57… Total tackles (34 solo) for Continentals’ John Lawrence (2nd in NESCAC)

163.0/155.0… Passing yards per game for Ephs’ Pat Moffitt/Continentals’ Lance Wilson

77.2/61.4… Receiving yards per game for Ephs’ Nick Caro/Continentals’ Max Foster

112/2… All-Purpose yards/touchdowns last week for Ephs’ Bryce Bennett

5/2… Total tackles/sacks last week for Ephs’ rookie Chris Cameron

6/8… Total tackles in last year’s matchup for Ephs’ Pat Barren/Continentals’ Will Finan

238/75… Total offensive yards in last year’s matchup Ephs/Continentals

261.6/224.6… Ephs’ total defense per game (1st in NESCAC)/Continentals total offense per game (last in NESCAC)


STARTING LINEUPS

Williams College Ephs

Offense

TE -- Jon Carroll -- #86
T -- Steve Denza -- #58
G -- Simon Kloeckner -- #65
C -- Tim Bishop -- #54
G -- Kevin Rose -- #73
T -- Graham McCulloch -- #72
RB -- Ryan Lupo -- #23
QB -- Patrick Moffitt -- #5
WR -- Nick Caro -- #22
WR -- Bryce Bennett -- #8
WR -- J.C. Stickney -- #11

Defense

DE -- Tim Kiely -- #30
DT -- Colin Curzi -- #97
DT -- Ben Halbower -- #99
DE -- Dan Canina -- #92
LB -- Chris Cameron -- #42
LB -- Dylan Schultz -- #55
LB -- Eric Anderson -- #43
DB -- Ben Oliva -- #12
DB -- Dan O'Mara -- #21
DB -- Will Cronin -- #9
DB -- Matt Zanedis -- #27

K -- Chris Cleary -- #14
PK -- Scott Sobolewski -- #94
P -- Will Cronin -- #9

Hamilton College Continentals

Offense

T -- Linus Walton -- #52
G -- Randall Lee -- #64
C -- Jon Michel -- #57
G -- Sam Peabody -- #77
T -- Ted Mimnaugh -- #74
RB -- Mark Snickenberger -- #8
RB -- Ryan Jorrey -- #31
QB -- Dan Peters -- #14
WR -- Max Foster -- #81
WR -- Ryan Cray -- #19
WR -- Ben Tomaszewski -- #6

Defense

DE -- Landry Mack -- #56
DT -- Burke St. John -- #44
DT -- Ed Padilla -- #92
DE -- Jim Forrey -- #82
LB -- Brian O’Malley -- #39
LB -- Mike MacDonald -- #58
LB -- John Lawrence -- #42
LB -- Jacob Sheetz-Willard -- #33
DB -- Ted Finan -- #28
DB -- Will Finan -- #4
DB -- Jared Kochenash -- #21

P/K -- George Taylor -- #18