WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Williams College escaped Farley-Lamb Field with a 24-17 victory on Saturday afternoon in a back-and-forth battle with the Middlebury Panthers. The Ephs overcame a slow start to take a lead into halftime, and then staved off the Panthers' final effort to preserve a hard-earned win.
The outcome came down to a Middlebury 4th-and-11 from the Williams 11-yard line, with 41 seconds left. The Panthers had one last chance to cap off a furious drive with a touchdown that would have tied the game at 24.Â
As the play unfolded, Middlebury quarterback Brian Moran's receivers were blanketed in coverage by the Ephs, and his desperation loft to Robert Votruba was incomplete, allowing Williams to take the ball back with just over thirty second left and kneel out the clock.
"I was just proud of the team, the way they hung in there," Coach Raymond said. "They played great in the critical situations. The red zone stops on defense were the thing for us; they stepped up when it really mattered."
The team's offensive play of the day came four minutes prior, with the score knotted at 17. The Ephs had just taken over the ball at their own 30-yard line following a missed field goal by the Panthers' Tony Wang. Owen Johansen took the snap on 1st-and-10, and waited patiently in the pocket for Zach Falls to streak open over the middle. Johansen took a hit, but he still threw a perfect strike to Falls at the Williams logo, and Falls outran his pursuing cornerback down the left sideline for a 70-yard, go-ahead touchdown with 4:25 to play.
Falls' big moment capped a monster day for the sophomore wideout, as he finished with five catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Falls has led the Ephs in receiving for the last three games, and has four touchdowns in that span. Today, he was complemented nicely by Jon Oris, who finished with 17 rushes for 81 yards and a touchdown.
The win marks the Ephs' first against the Panthers since 2021, and is especially sweet coming off of a 32-29 overtime loss last year.
At the game's outset, however, a victory did not seem inevitable. The Ephs picked up just one first down in three drives in the first quarter, and allowed Middlebury to steadily move down the field for a touchdown on the Panthers' first possession.
Middlebury took over in the second quarter where they had left off, driving down the field with a successful run game. But, after his two picks last week, George Papadopoulos again showed off his ball-hawking ability and intercepted a Moran pass in the end zone, shutting down the Panthers' momentum and giving the ball back to the Ephs with under 9 minutes left in the second quarter.
The Ephs quickly capitalized on the momentum-changing turnover. On a 3rd-and-5, Johansen lofted a ball down the sideline to Falls, just out of the reach of a diving interception attempt by a Middlebury cornerback. Falls came down with the catch and, with no one between him and the end zone, raced untouched down the right sideline for an 84-yard touchdown to draw the score to 7-7 with 8:00 to go in the half.Â
The Falls touchdown brought the Farley-Lamb crowd to life, and the Ephs' defense maintained the energy with two sacks – first, Ben Yedid blew around the right edge to corral Moran for a loss of five, and then, Anthony Scala bulldozed him for an eleven-yard sack on third down to force a punt.
Oris led the way on the ensuing Ephs drive with multiple solid gains, before blasting through the middle for a five-yard touchdown to put the Ephs on top, 14-7, with 2:48 left in the first half. A late Middlebury field goal would make the halftime score 14-10.
Both defenses forced a string of punts to open the third quarter, before the Ephs broke the deadlock with 4:04 to go. Matt Bott bounced off of a tackler at the line of scrimmage and raced down the right side for a gain of 46 to set up a 28-yard Leo Maiuolo field goal to make it 17-10.
Middlebury responded with a four-play touchdown drive to draw even with 2:13 to play in the third. The Ephs then rolled down the field with a number of steady runs before Johansen was shaken up on a scramble and had to briefly exit the game. Despite coming back in, Johansen couldn't find the end zone on a QB draw from the 4-yard line, and Maiuolo's field goal was blocked by Middlebury to keep the score level with 10:27 left in the game.
It was then Middlebury's turn to drive downfield and stall. Wang came out for a 40-yard field goal effort with 4:40 to play, but pushed his kick wide right. Next came the lightning-strike, ultimately game-winning touchdown from Johansen to Falls.Â
Middlebury would punt on its next drive from midfield, and then got the ball back with just 1:42 left and one timeout. The Ephs' defense bent but did not break, allowing the Panthers to hit on a 40-yard, fourth down pass to extend the game, but then shutting them down inside the ten-yard line. Four straight incompletions sealed the intense 24-17 win for Williams.
Next week, the Ephs hope to continue the winning streak against Bates. The game will be on the road, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.
