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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Neither rain, wind, or mud was able to slow
down the Williams football team (4-2) in their quest for a fourth
straight win Saturday. Behind strong performances by Williams
household names like Morrissey, Lucey, and Powell, the Ephs
dismantled the Hamilton College Continentals (2-4) by a score of
34-9.
As both teams battled strong winds and steady rain all game, one
could make a case that the conditions actually favored the underdog
Continentals and their stingy run defense. But despite
Hamilton's frugal rush defense (allowing only 59.8 yards/game going
into Saturday's match-up with Williams), the Ephs were able to pick
up 36 yards on seven Brian Morrissey '09 (Winchester, MA) rushes on
their first drive of the game. Although the Ephs' came up
just short on a fourth and two try in Continental territory, the
drive set the tone for the rest of the half, as Morrissey would
rush for 113 yards on 20 carries in the first half alone.
Regarding the decision to run the ball early, Williams head
coach Mike Whalen said, "It was definitely influenced by the
weather. We felt that...the two tight end set would be a
tough set for them...and it looked like Mo' (Brian Morrissey) was
doing a good job finding seams."
After taking over on a Hamilton punt, Williams moved the ball to
the Hamilton 40 yard line on an 11-yard swing pass to Brian
Morrissey. Quarterback Pat Lucey '08 (Plymouth, MA) would
then try to go deep into double coverage to Jeff Egizi '08
(Westwood, MA), throwing what was almost an incredible pass had it
gone a foot or two further. As it was, the pass was picked
off in the end zone by free safety Matt Pitarresi, and Hamilton
would take over.
"That was my fault, not Pat's fault," said Coach Whalen.
"I predetermined who to throw it to (Egizi) and he ended up being
double-covered."
After a 31 yard completion into Eph territory and a fourth and
five completions to the Eph 18 for a first down, Hamilton would try
to go deep again, as quarterback Dan Hood lofted it up to the
corner for Frasher Kempe. With a tremendous leaping play,
cornerback John Snipes '08 (Vero Beach, FL) intercepted the pass in
the end zone to return the ball to the Ephs.
With the end of the first quarter approaching, Lucey would again
go deep to Egizi, this time finding him for 40 yards down the
sideline. Egizi would've had a sure touchdown, but his
momentum carried him out of bounds at the Hamilton 36 yard
line. Despite the 40 yard pick up, Egizi hung his head in
disgust after the play as there wasn't a soul within 10 yards of
him when he caught the ball.
At the start of the second quarter, Williams would finally get
on the board when a nice drive by the Ephs would be finished off
with a 23 yard touchdown run by Morrissey. Morrissey started
off tackle before bouncing it to the outside and scurrying inside
the pylon for six.
Hamilton would continue to struggle offensively as the Ephs
forced another punt. Shunning the inclement weather, the Ephs
would go to the air again, this time to lightning rod Ryan Powell
(Fairfax, VA) for a 39 yard completion in which Powell made an
astounding diving catch. With 9:48 remaining in the quarter,
Lucey would then find receiver Nick Caro '10 (Andover, MA) in the
end zone on a rollout to give the Ephs a 12-0 lead. After
converting the two point try, the Ephs would take a 14-0 lead.
The Williams defense was great in the first half, allowing only
131 yards (the Ephs put up 306), and of that total only nine yards
were on the ground. After forcing yet another Hamilton punt,
Williams would finish off another great drive with a Morrissey
touchdown with three minutes remaining in the half. Included
in the drive was a great play by Pat Lucey in which he completed a
14 yard pass to Egizi while being chased by multiple
Continentals.
Hamilton would march down the field for a field goal as the half
ended, and Williams would take a 21-3 lead into halftime.
Upon receiving the ball at the start of the second half,
Hamilton was able to move the ball fairly well until reaching
Williams territory. Some offensive missteps however, such as
multiple bad snaps, would lead to a turnover on downs.
The Ephs would waste no time in moving the ball the other way,
as Pat Lucey soon found his favorite target Powell for a 41 yard
gain into Hamilton territory. After driving the ball further
toward the goal line, the Ephs would look yet again to
Morrissey. This time Morrissey would break a few tackles on
his way to a 15 yard score, his third touchdown of the game.
With a comfortable 28-3 lead, Claudius Zorokong of Hamilton
would snap the Ephs back to reality on the ensuing kickoff, as he
showcased some game-changing speed in returning the kick 83 yards
for the Continentals first touchdown. After failing to
convert the two point try, Hamilton would trail 28-9.
The return seemed to rejuvenate the Continentals, as on the Ephs
subsequent possession Hamilton was able to force Williams to punt
for the first time with 7:08 left in the third quarter.
On the next possession, as has happened time and time again this
year, the Williams defense would come up with the big play when it
needed it. With Hamilton gaining some momentum in Eph
territory, Continental quarterback Dan Hood would attempt to
scramble with 4:34 left in the third quarter. After picking
up a fair gain of six or seven yards, Hood would get popped by Eph
senior tri-captain Jordan O'Reilly (York, PA), forcing a fumble
that Jon Pritchard '08 (Orchard Park, NY) would recover.
At 3:33 left in the third quarter, the steady rain that had been
falling all game would increase heavily in intensity. The
effect was immediate, as Dan Hood would drop back to pass with his
team trailing 28-9 only to have the ball slip out of his hand and
be recovered by Williams at the Hamilton 31 yard line.
With ever muddier conditions and relentless rain, Lucey's
completion to Egizi for a five yard touchdown with 13:42 left in
the fourth quarter all but sealed the deal for the Ephs, as they
went up 34-9.
Sophomore Will Cronin (Acton, MA) recorded two interceptions for
the Ephs in the final 13 minutes to preserve the Williams blow out.
For the Continentals, quarterback Dan Hood played fairly well,
finishing the day with 186 yards and only one interception, but the
early hole the Ephs put Hamilton in ended up being just too much to
overcome. Zorokong's kickoff return was probably the best
moment of the game for Hamilton, and he finished leading the
Continentals with 161 all-purpose yards.
Despite the weather, quarterback Pat Lucy finished the day with
223 yards on 14 for 25 passing and threw two touchdowns.
Coach Whalen had this to say:
"Pat Lucey can throw the ball in a typhoon. You can't say
enough about the kid. Other quarterbacks I've been around,
they say, 'oh I need a new ball, I need this, I need that';
the only thing Pat Lucey said the entire game was 'Can I get
a towel to wipe my hand off?' I mean, he's just that kind of
kid...he just goes out there and does his job, he's unbelievable."
Morrissey was even more impressive, finishing the day with 162
yards on 31 carries and three touchdowns. His production was
made even more noteworthy by the fact that by the second quarter
Weston Field was more mud than grass.
On the other side of the ball, the Ephs allowed only 46 yards
rushing the entire game and were led by senior Jon Pritchard with
nine tackles. The Ephs forced five turnovers on the game, and
have now forced an amazing 18 turnovers in the last three games.
"Defensively, we're still having success with the 'bend
but don't break' style, but we have to improve our pass defense,"
said Coach Whalen. "The next two teams we play, Wesleyan
especially, they throw the ball very, very well. But the
thing about the defensive kids is they can give up a 10 or 11 play
drive, and then they get a fumble, or they get a pick...they just
have that confidence that they're going to come up with the big
play and you can't say enough about that."
The "regular season" is now over for the Ephs as they face
Little Three opponents in their last two games. Coach Whalen
commented on the high level of confidence Williams has been playing
with:
"We didn't have a great Wednesday practice this week, and I kind
of got after the guys and told them we're not good enough to just
show up and win. Last year's team was...but this year's team
has to go to work during the week, and pay the price during the
week, and get ourselves ready to play every single week...and the
kids reacted - we stayed in full pads on Thursday and I think it
sent a message."
Williams will head to Wesleyan next week to battle the
Cardinals. Game time is set for 12:00 pm.
