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MEDFORD, MA -- The Williams College Ephs have begun the second
half of the 2010 season much in the same way that they have handled
their opposition in the first half of this year, grinding out a
gritty 35-24 come-from-behind victory against a highly physical
opponent in Tufts. The win pushes the purple and gold to a
record of 5-0, and keeps them up to speed with Amherst, who are
also unscathed through the first five weeks.
In today's contest, it was workhorse Ryan Lupo who carried
the offensive load for Williams, as he tied the program record for
rushing touchdowns with 4 on 39 carries for 180 yards. The
senior runningback joins Mark Kossick '97 (vs. Hamilton 10/29/94),
Brian Gugliotta '95 (vs. Amherst 11/12/94), and Fred Storz (vs.
Tufts 10/24/98) in the Eph record books.
"Ryan was excellent for us all day," acknowledged Eph head coach
Aaron Kelton, "but I think it was a struggle for us all day to
really establish our running game. As a team, we have to be
able to establish our ground game to be successful. We
weren't physical enough on the line of scrimmage in the first half
of the game...but when we finally settled down and we were able to
take control of the trenches and move the football on the
ground."
Ironically, it was actually rookie back Alex
Scyocurka who helped Williams snap the scoreless tie in the
first quarter on their second possession. After sophomore Darren
Hartwell's 24-yard punt return put the Ephs on the Tufts
36-yard line, Scyocurka broke through for a 19-yard dash to set up
1st-and-goal. Lupo finished the job from a yard out to give
the early advantage 7-0.
The Williams defense looked virtually impenetrable in the
opening fifteen minutes, allowing just one first down to the Jumbo
offense. However, the pass-catch tandem of senior quarterback
Anthony Fucillo and fellow classmate Billy Mahler finally cracked
the Williams shell on their first drive of the second
quarter. From within Eph territory, the duo connected for an
11-yard gain before striking again for a 28-yard touchdown that
tied the game at 7.
Four possessions later, the Ephs special teams unit suffered an
setback, as they were charged with a roughing the kicker penalty on
4th-and-15, extending a Jumbo drive that eventually resulted in a
field goal. The Williams offense would respond immediately
though, this time going to the air for large gains. Senior
quarterback Pat Moffitt found senior tight end Jon Carroll for a
sizable 26-yard reception to land the Ephs in the red zone, and
junior wide receiver Tomas Kearney
hauled in an 18-yard toss soon after for the quick six, thrusting
the Ephs back into the lead 14-10.
The two veteran quarterbacks would trade interceptions towards
the end of the quarter. First it was sophomore Ladd Hamrick who
went up and snatched Fucillo's pass attempt at the Williams 5-yard
line, effectively ending a 50-yard Jumbo drive that looked to be
heading to the endzone. With less than two minutes left in
the first half, Moffitt tried to force the action deep down the
field and had his toss picked off by Tufts sophomore Sam Diss in
Jumbo territory.
Fucillo would proceed to redeem himself for his previous
mistake, as he fired back-to-back completions to sophomore Dylan
Haas for 38 and 22 yards respectively, the latter a touchdown that
ran off the clock and put Tufts ahead again by a score of
17-14. It was the first time all season that Williams had
trailed an opponent at the half.
"In the locker room between halves, I basically told the guys to
relax and let the game come to them," recalled Kelton. "We
were trying to force the issue out there and we needed to settle
down and get back to the thing that we did well. We weren't
gaining consistent mometnum on the majority of our drives in the
first half, but in the third quarter we started to get more of a
push going on the offensive line and really were able to establish
the running game."
The game did not come as smoothly as the Ephs would have liked
to start the second half, as sophomore Austin Crittenden jarred the
ball out of Sycocurka's grasp where it was scooped up by Diss, who
returned it 35 yards into the endzone to stretch the Jumbo lead to
24-14. Up until that point, no defense had scored on the Ephs
in 2010, and it was beginning to look like a Jumbo upset was a very
real possibility.
It seemed that this return triggered the Williams offense into
action, as they would explode for three straight touchdowns on
their next three drives. On the first of these, a 12-yard
reception by J.C. Stickney kept
the chains moving on 3rd-and-10, and Lupo took care of the
remaining 30 yards on 5 carries, including a 10-yard touchdown dash
that shrunk the defecit back to down to 3.
Ater a Colin
Curzi fumble recovery and a personal foul on Tufts placed the
ball on the Jumbo 37-yard line, Lupo and the offensive line once
again shoved and churned their way to the goal line, breaking the
plane to reclaim the advantage for the purple and gold,
28-24. The final scoring drive of this touchdown trifecta
began with a 28-yard hookup from Moffitt to junior B.J. Griffin that
marched the Ephs into Tufts territory. The sequence was
punctuated on the opening play of the fourth quarter, a 1-yard
touchdown dive by Lupo that put Williams ahead for good 35-24.
The Eph defense allowed some yardage in this game, but they did
not give up the big play in the closing minutes, and the Jumbos
were unable to find the scoreboard for the remainder of
regulation. The speedy and aggressive antics of the Williams
backfield led the way, as Hamrick, junior Dan O'Mara, and
senior Pat
Barren shared the team-high in total tackles with 7.
"Our defense put forth a solid effort in this game," remarked
Kelton. "We let up a few big plays in certain moments, but we
tackled well throughout the game and we did a nice job of holding
firm when our offense finally gained momentum.
"The biggest thing is that we have to limit our mistakes,"
continued Kelton. "Week in and week out we just have too many
penalites, so we have to continue to work on being more disciplined
and executing better on both sides of the ball to limit those
miscues. Next week, we are heading up to Hamilton to take on
a tough program. I'd like to see us establish our physicality
earlier in that game while staying within ourselves and avoiding
costly penalties."
That game will be held in Clinton, NY this coming Saturday at
1:00 PM on Steuben Field, where the perfect season will once again
be on the line for the Ephs.
"Our opponent's aim at this point is going to be to take out
Williams," concluded Kelton. "We'll have to keep that present
in our minds when we take the field next weekend."
