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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - The Williams College Ephs needed a
championship performance this afternoon if they were going to take
partial ownership of the NESCAC title away from the undefeated Lord
Jeffs of Amherst, but the purple and gold came just a few yards
short of the upset as the archrivals took home the league crown and
the Little Three title with a 26-21 victory at Weston Field.
An anxious crowd of Eph and Jeff supporters alike held their
collective breath on the game's deciding play, a
4th-and-3 pass in the flat from Eph junior quarterback
Pat Moffitt to junior tight end Jon Carroll that was stopped less
than a yard short of conversion. Amherst ran the last few
seconds off the clock, then stormed the field with fans to
celebrate their 3rd undefeated season in program
history, as well as their first NESCAC title since 2000 and their
first Little Three since 2004.
The stat line read relatively close, which was to be expected of
the matchup between these two top-flight foes. First downs
went to Williams, 18 to 14. Total yards went to Amherst, 368
to 335. Possession time was split almost evenly at
31:48-28:12 for Williams. They even tied for fumbles lost at
1 each. The determination and the effort was there on both
sidelines, but as Eph head coach Mike Whalen recognized after the
game, the difference was that Amherst made more big plays to claim
the huge road victory.
"I took note of about fifteen to twenty plays during the course
of the game that if they went another way probably would have
changed the outcome," commented Whalen. "Our effort was
tremendous and we had opportunities...but you can't be pretty good
against a team like Amherst, you have to be very good.
They're an extremely well-coached and talented group and I give
them a lot of credit for coming into our place and performing like
they did....
"Obviously, the bar is set very high for our program.
[Hall of Famer] Coach Farley set it there...and we try and reach it
every year. When we don't win the NESCAC and the Little Three
it's always disappointing...but I'm proud of the effort our men put
forth today and I'm proud of the leadership the seniors displayed
on the field this afternoon and all year long."
During regulation, the atmosphere was consistently intense, as a
healthy crowd turned out for both schools. Amherst got things
going right from the kickoff with junior quarterback Alex Vetras
and senior running back Aaron Rauh leading the charge in the air
and on the ground respectively for three consecutive first
downs. But timely tackles in the backfield by Eph defensive
backs Dan O'Mara ('12) and Matt Zanedis ('10), and defensive
lineman Ben Halbower ('12) forced a long 3rd-and-14 for
the Jeffs who had to settle for a field goal and an early 3-0 lead.
Williams responded with even more offensive intensity on their
opening series, as first year starter Ryan Lupo, who stood atop the
NESCAC as the leading rusher for almost the entire season, rumbled
into Amherst territory with both carries and catches. Moffitt
took control from there, finding dynamic sophomore wide receiver
Bryce Bennett for 14 yards and B.J. Griffin, also a sophomore, two
plays later for a 24-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown grab to give
the Ephs a 7-3 advantage in the first quarter.
After a three-and-out for the Jeffs, it looked like Moffitt and
the Ephs were heading down the field for another score, as he
delivered strikes to Bennet and Griffin again, this time for 18 and
20 yards respectively to move the chains out to Amherst's 34-yard
line. But a third deep attempt by Moffitt was read well by
Jeff junior defender Nick Edwards, who intercepted it in the red
zone.
The ensuing drive went nowhere once again for Amherst, thanks to
the concentrated efforts of an Eph defense that forced another
three-and-out, and caused problems for a Jeff offense that had a
single-game high of 23 points this season. Two more solid
carries by Lupo, and some fancy footwork by Moffitt brought
Williams within striking distance for a third straight drive.
The Williams crowd reeled with startled gasps when quarterback Matt
Coyne fumbled the ball and nearly rendered another strong series
useless with a turnover; but the sophomore stayed with it and
recovered possession for the Ephs. Moffitt showed his
appreciation for his compliment's composure with a 28-yard
touchdown toss to Bennett to launch the Ephs out to an 11-point
lead.
"I'm almost disappointed we jumped out to an early lead," said
Whalen. "It seemed liked they did the same thing to us last
year and we came back to win.... The team that goes down
early in this rivalry always hangs around and strikes when it
counts, and we knew they weren't going away easily in this
one...and of course they did eventually strike again...we just
didn't respond as well as they did."
The first of said "responses" came at 10:14 in the second
quarter, when Vetras hooked up with sophomore Andrew Reed for a
70-yard touchdown on the second play of the drive to shrink the
lead to 14-10. Another score came just four minutes later
when a punt snap on a 4th-and-long was botched by the Ephs and
recovered by Jeff junior defensive back Nick Edwards, who ran it
back 30-yards for another quick six in Amherst's favor. The
17-14 edge held steady into halftime.
As in the first half, Williams came out firing in the third
quarter, as both Lupo and Griffin added to their yardage totals
with big gains and Williams marched into the red zone once
more. But a misfire in the trenches left Lupo with nowhere to
go but into a wall of Amherst tacklers, and the Ephs were stopped
again inside the Jeff 20-yard line. Williams returned the
favor by forcing a 3rd Jeff three-and-out on the
subsequent series, although they couldn't turn out the same result
on the next drive. Vetras struck big again, this time a
39-yard pass to sophomore Kevin Heller, who followed that up with
another reception on 3rd down to move the chains inside
the Eph red zone. The cows were able to stop the bleeding
right there though, and the Jeffs could only tack on a field goal,
stretching the lead to 20-14.
Sophomore kicker Matt Rawson was not as fortunate on his next
kick, a try from 39 yards out that sailed wide left at the tail end
of the third quarter. The final fifteen minutes were plagued
by turnovers, the majority going against Williams, starting with a
pick by senior defensive back Chris Govey at midfield on another
long throw by Moffitt. Vetras wasted no time in the following
series, and on 3rd-and-15 he heaved up another lofty
toss, this one landing in the arms of junior Andre Gary for a
54-yard completion to make it 1st-and-goal Jeffs.
Fellow junior wide receiver Brian Murphy took care of the rest on
the next play to open up a 26-14 advantage with 13:41 on the clock.
In urgent need of a counter-score, the purple and gold brought a
stunned Williams audience right back into the game with a clutch
drive, capped off by an easy 4-yard touchdown run for
Moffitt. The Eph crowd was roaring once again as their team
had fought their way back to within five. After both sides
failed to put anything together on back-to-back drives, Williams
finally caused a turnover, and it couldn't have come at a better
time. With 3:44 left in regulation, Dan Johnson dove on the
loose ball at the Amherst 43-yard line.
With the championship and the season on the line, the offense
entrusted their league-leading running back Lupo to keep the
comeback alive. The gutsy first-year starter battled fatigue
and a messy field to bring the spot to the Amherst 23-yard
line. The season-deciding 4th-and-3 play elicited
timeouts by both coaching staffs, and a jittery stadium stood on
edge waiting for the snap of the ball. When the ball was
hiked, tight end Carroll received the short pass, but he could not
get around the tackle of the Jeff cornerback. The game ended
26-21, and Amherst celebrated a perfect season on the muddy
gridiron.
"There was no quitting by any one of our guys today and that's
what I'm most proud of," said an emotional Whalen. "Games
like these never come down to one play or player...it is a
collective loss, a disappointing loss especially for our seniors
who have been such great leaders all year. We'll need a lot
of guys to step up next season, as they did this year...but we have
a solid core of players coming back so I think we're going to be
fine down the road."
In many regards, the 2009 season proved to be one the most
dominant campaigns in the history of the program, a complete team
performance that surely made hall-of-famer Dick Farley proud.
If it weren't for a few unfortunate bounces at critical moments, it
might have been a different story for this gutsy crew, but as it
stands, the purple cows will have to dust off and try to do it
again next season, a season that promises to be another strong one
for Williams.
-- Daniel Pesquera, Staff Assistant and Contributor
