WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. – Williams (4-0) won the coin toss and deferred. On Colby's first possession the Mules (1-3) went three and out and punted to the Ephs. Williams took over on their 41 yard line and it took the Ephs just three plays to score. After consecutive seven yard runs by running back
Joel Nicholas and quarterback
Bobby Maimaron, Maimaron lofted a perfect pass 45 yards down the center of the field to a diving
Frank Stola who landed in the end zone.
Ivan Shuran booted the PAT and with just under three minutes played Williams led 7-0.
Maimaron stated, "I think when you have a receiver like Frank, which is not very often, you can just lay the ball up there and more times than not he is going to come down with it. Frank makes my life really easy." Stola responded, "When I'm confident Bob's going to give me the ball we can make some magic happen."
Colby's second offensive possession found the Mules making gains through the air. A 30 yard pass from Hersch to wide receiver Brendan Sawyer gave the Mules a first down on the Ephs' 28.
On third down with yard to go for the first down the Ephs stopped a Colby run for no gain. Hersch's fourth down pass over the middle was dropped and the Ephs took possession.
Colby moved the ball to the Williams 19 yard line with 7:29 left in first quarter and the Ephs called a timeout as Colby broke their huddle and then stopped a Colby rush for no yards.
Hersch's fourth down pass was dropped and Williams took over on downs.
On third an 8 from their 32 yard line Williams was victimized by Colby's Javon Williams who picked off a Maimaron pass at the Williams 48.
The Mules could only muster nine yards in their first three plays. Colby then lined up on fourth down looking as if they would go for a first down, but when Hersch received the direct snap from center he punted the ball and it rolled into and out of the end zone for a touchback.
Mixing in runs and short passes the Ephs drove the ball to 80 yards and Maimaron scored on a one yard run. Shruan's PAT boosted the Eph lead to 14-0.
Williams took control of the game at this point and added three more touchdowns in the second quarter all on runs to take a 35-0 lead at the break.
Dan Vaughan ran five yards for a TD,
Joel Nicholas scored from one yard out, and running back Mario Feschetti ran 17 yards to pay dirt.
The lone TD in the second half came on an 11 yard run by Nicholas.
Eph head coach
Mark Raymond commented after the win, "We wanted to come out sharp and make a statement today and I thought the kids did a good job with that and everyone got a chance to play."
Eph defensive coordinator
Mark McDonough was pleased with what he saw today from his charges. "I'm very proud of them. This is the best they've played. They worked hard this week and prepared well and it showed."
On the day Williams rolled up 489 yards in total offense to the Mules' 183. Colby's Hersch completed 11 of 25 passes for 120 yards, while the Ephs' Maimaron was 11-16 for 177 yards with one interception and one touchdown pass.
The Ephs' Mario Feschetti led all rushers with 113 yards and he scored one TD. Keon Smart was the Mules' top rusher with 42 yards.
Defensively Colby was led by Will Nipon who recorded nine tackles (7 solos) while
Edward Manzella led the Ephs with six solos that featured two tackles for a loss. "This week we really hammered home the idea that everyone just needed to focus on doing their job and not trying to do more and I thought we did that," noted Manzella. "When we play that way I think we have a chance to put something together here and make a special run and that is what we are looking to do."
Williams will be on the road next Saturday as they will travel to Clinton, N.Y. to face the Hamilton College Continentals at 1:30 PM.
