Late Comeback by Williams Not Enough To Beat Hamilton

WILIAMSTOWN, MASS. -- The Hamilton Continentals (2-3) traveled east to Williamstownto take on the Ephs (1-4) on a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon. Hamilton edged Williams 15-13 in a low scoring affair with lots of short possessions and punts. 

The game featured three touchdowns, two field goals, a safety, and a blocked extra point. 

Freshman Jack Wallace started the game for Williams at quarterback in his first collegiate start. 

On Hamilton's second drive of the game, they scored on fourth and goal from the one-inch line on a quarterback sneak around the left guard by #4 Matt Banbury. The ensuing point after attempt was blocked by the Williams defensive line, and returned to half field by senior Alex Dehmel. 6-0 Hamilton. 

After a couple of punts, the Williams offense capitalized on a short field after starting their fourth possession on Hamilton's 35 yard line. Sophomore kicker Ivan Shuran drilled a 42-yard field goal to narrow the deficit to 6-3. 



Right before the half, former high school quarterback and Williams all-around athlete, senior and captain Dan Vaughn came in to lead the offensive charge. He and senior running back Joel Nicholas put together an impressive drive of 60 yards down the field into field goal range, following a series of rushing first downs. 

Ivan Shuran was able to capitalize on the efforts, knocking in a 31 yard field goal as the first half wound down to even the score at 6 heading into halftime. 

After a series of punts to start the half for both squads, Hamilton punter Tighe Hoey pinned the Williams offense down to the inch marker. The following play Williams was safetied by a gang of Hamilton defensive lineman, giving Hamilton an 8-6 lead. This was a huge momentum swing for Hamilton, and propelled them into a position to score again on offense.

After receiving the ensuing safety-kickoff, Hamilton got the ball back on their own 40 and quickly got a first down rush to keep the momentum going. A few plays later, they capitalized and scored with a touchdown pass from Banbury to Lucas Perez-Segnini on a pass over the middle to the left side of the end zone. The following extra point was good, extending the Hamilton lead 15-6. 

Banbury ended the game completing 9 passes on 19 attempts for 101 yards and 1 touchdown. 

However, the Ephs were unwilling to go away, and followed up with a huge momentum swing of their own. After a squib kick from Hamilton on the following kickoff, Dan Vaughn and the Williams offense put together an impressive advance through the air. On the first play, Vaughn connected with Sophomore Cam Lee over the middle for a long first down. 

A few plays later, Vaughn connected with Nicholas for a 45 yard touchdown pass down the seam to narrow the Hamilton lead 15-13 following a successful PAT from Shuran. This seemed to many like a huge momentum shift. 

The Ephs defense stood strong following the score, and forced a short Hamilton punt to give Williams a chance to drive down the field and win the game. However, the Hamilton defense thwarted the Williams advance and ran down the clock. 

Williams was given one more chance to drive the field, starting at their own 25 with 00:20 left on the clock. After a long run by Vaughn, the clock expired after a last second hail mary attempt. 

Dan Vaughn went 4-9 for 65 yards and 1 touchdown passing. He also totaled 72 total rushing yards on 14 attempts, second only to Joel Nicholas with 75 yards on 21 rushes. Vaughn ended the game with 127 all purpose yards. Hamilton running back Kamou Hopewell led all players with 90 rushing yards on 29 attempts. 

Vaughn said after the game, "We felt confident after a couple drives, but unfortunately it didn't play out the way we wanted. We are going to take a lot away from this game after watching the film to prepare next week for Trinity." 

The final score of the game was 15-13. Hamilton improved their record to (2-3), while Williams fell to (1-4) on the year. Williams will travel next week to Hartford, Conn. to take on Trinity next Saturday.