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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA--It was a tale of two halves for the Williams
football team (1-0) on Saturday, as the hometown Ephs rebounded
from a scoreless first half to defeat the Mules of Colby (0-1) by a
score of 28-0. Neither offense was able to find a groove
until Eph senior RB Brian Morrissey carried a second-and-goal swing
pass in for the first score of the game with 4:30 to go in the
third quarter - over 40 minutes into the game.
If the first half revealed anything, though, it was that the
Williams defense might not be playing second-fiddle to the offense
this year. Despite the scoring explosion in the second half,
it was the Williams defense that proved most dominant on the day.
Said Eph Coach Mike Whalen regarding the defense:
"Unbelievable. Great effort. Our defense did an unbelievable
job of putting them in 3rd and long situations. When you hold
them on first and second down and put a young quarterback in third
and long situations, that's an awkward position to be in as a coach
because the defense knows you have to throw the ball."
Whalen's praise was no embellishment: there was purple everywhere
whenever Colby had the ball. Williams held the Mules to just
133 yards of total offense and just 8 first downs. They made
big plays too, as defensive end E.J. Toppin and DB Sean Milano
registered interceptions on the day.
"The other thing we did well today is we were able to get pressure
on them with a four-man rush," said Whalen, "If we don't have to
blitz to get pressure on the quarterback that's great because our
secondary is very good in zone coverage."
There weren't many positives for the Mules on offense, who seemed
to be struggling with Williams defensive speed. Running back
Dan Prunier led the team with 49 yards rushing on 14 carries, but
without being able to mount any sort of air attack the Mules'
options were limited. If anything, the hero for the Mules in
the first half was probably senior punter Victor Gagne. He
may have been the most important player for Colby in the early
going, as he kept Colby ahead in the field position battle by
registering an absurd 216 yards on 5 punts in the first half (an
average of 43.2) as well as potentially saving an Eph score when,
in the second quarter, he salvaged a terrible snap and avoided the
Eph onslaught to boot a 55 yard punt that Williams return-man Tommy
Tysse was forced to watch downed at the Williams 15 yard line.
The Colby defense, however, was another story. Said
Whalen:
"Colby's defensive front was a good test, those four kids are
veteran kids; they're big, they're physical. The fact that
they played us, in our trip-tight end set, they played us with four
down lineman and we didn't run the ball right down their throat?
I mean, we ran the ball effectively, but they were playing us
with four D-lineman and we had six offensive lineman...we had five
lineman and two tight ends and they played us with four down
kids-those kids played hard."
Leading the defensive attack for the Mules was Chris Copeland, who
recorded 8 tackles and intercepted an errant Moffitt pass in the
first half.
The second half opened with a 52 yard kick return by Eph senior
Elijah Weeks, however Williams was still unable to come away with a
score. After holding Colby on the following series, the Ephs
finally marched down the field for a score. One of the big
plays of the drive was an 18 yard pass by sophomore quarterback Pat
Moffitt to Caro (who had a huge game, catching 9 passes for 131
yards and a TD) to finally get Williams inside the ten-yard line.
From there a usual suspect for the Ephs would take over, as
Morrissey carried a swing-pass into the end zone for the first
score of the game.
From there the Williams offense seemed to loosen up a bit, and
they struck again for another score just a few minutes later, as
Moffitt would connect with Caro again on a 54 yard touchdown pass.
Despite having a tough act to follow in taking over for Pat
Lucey under center, Moffitt played well in his first college start.
After a shaky first half, Moffitt seemed to settle down and
take control of his offense, connecting on 19 of 28 passes for 244
yards and two scores.
"I was definitely a little nervous the first time I dropped back
to pass," said Moffitt, "but after that I think I got more
comfortable. The coaches really didn't say much at halftime
because we were moving the ball pretty well even in the first half
we just weren't finishing."
Said Whalen: "Obviously he made a few mistakes, and he's gotta
work on those things, and get better. It was a good start
though, and as long as he's making fewer mistakes next week, we'll
be a better football team."
Because of his consistency over the years, Brian Morrissey's 116
yards and two TD's on 35 carries was almost an afterthought.
"Obviously Mo' is a senior," said Whalen, "and he's only got 7
games left and he wants the ball more - he probably won't get out
of bed tonight but he wants the ball as many times as we're gonna
give it to him so we're gonna ride him."
Williams would score twice more in the game, on a 4-yard run by
Morrissey and a 64-yard pass completion to Tysse from freshman
Matthew Coyne who got some reps late in the game once the Ephs had
essentially sealed the deal.
Williams will now focus its attention on perennial NESCAC
powerhouse Trinity, who comes to Weston Field next weekend for a
1:00 pm showdown. Williams will look forward to the return of
All-NESCAC receiver Ryan Powell who sat out most of the game with
an illness.
