Ephs fall, 41-20, to Tufts

MEDFORD, Mass. - A slow start and an explosive Tufts' offense ultimately proved too much for Williams to overcome in an away matchup on Saturday afternoon. After Williams almost drew level before halftime, the Jumbos pulled away in the second half en route to a 41-20 win.
 
Zach Falls proved to be a bright spot in the loss, as the standout receiver finished with eight catches for 143 yards and one TD. On his TD, quarterback Owen Johansen dropped back and fired a beautiful deep ball to a streaking Falls, who made the catch just past multiple Tufts' defenders and raced into the end zone for a 52-yard score.
 
For Falls, the game added to his already impressive totals on the season. The sophomore now has over 700 receiving yards and eight TDs in seven games, both tops in the NESCAC.
 
"Zach had a great game today," said head coach Mark Raymond. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to make enough stops defensively to give our offense a chance today, that's the disappointing part about it."

Like last week, the Ephs were forced to respond after a sluggish opening quarter. Tufts scored TDs on each of its first two possessions, while the Ephs punted on each of their first three.
 
The Williams' defense perked up in the second quarter, as George Papadopoulos batted down a fourth-down pass to stymie a Tufts' drive that had moved into Williams' territory.
 
The offense took advantage of the defensive stop, as Johansen hit Falls for a 17-yard gain up the sideline, then made a strong throw on the run on third-and-7 to a sliding Daven Bailey to pick up another 17 yards.
 
After Jon Oris picked up another first down by bouncing a run outside for 10 yards, Matt Bott capped off the drive by sprinting through a hole on the left into the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown. While Leonardo Maiuolo's PAT was blocked by the Jumbos, the 11-play drive turned the game's momentum and made the score 14-6 with 7:09 to play in the second half.
 
The ensuing Tufts' drive ended in a punt, after a huge first-down tackle for loss by Luke Mangini set the Jumbos behind the sticks.
 
On the first play of the next Ephs' possession, Johansen found Falls deep for the TD that closed the gap to 14-13 with 4:43 to play in the second quarter, and momentum seemed firmly on the Ephs' side.
 
The Jumbos responded with a solid TD drive, but muffed their extra-point attempt to keep the score at 20-13 with 35 seconds left in the half.
 
The Ephs weren't done yet in the first half. Papadopoulos returned the Tufts' kickoff to the Williams' 37, and then Johansen executed an exceptional two-minute drive with four straight completions to Falls, Henry Machnik, Bott and Sam Jaffe to set Williams up for a long field goal try. Despite having plenty of leg, Will Kramer's kick cruelly caromed off of the right upright and Williams settled for a 20-13 deficit heading into the half.
 
Tufts came out firing with another TD on the opening drive of the second half, but the Ephs immediately responded. Oris picked up a key fourth-and-1 on the ground, and on the following two plays, Johansen found Falls on an out route for 12 yards and a leaping Bailey over the middle for 20.
 
To cap off the drive, on third-and-3, Johansen rolled out on a play action, saw a huge opening on the right side, streaked right and fended off a desperation tackle attempt inside the 10 to punch home a 21-yard TD. The score cut the gap to 27-20 with 6:09 still to play in the third quarter.
 
Johansen had another explosive day at quarterback, finishing with 256 passing yards and a TD, as well as his 25 yards and a TD on the ground.
 
After the Johansen rushing score, Tufts put another TD on the board. And this time, the Ephs couldn't respond. An excellent drive deep into Tufts' territory, highlighted by a chunk run by Bott and a 25-yard dart from Johansen to Falls, ended when a Johansen pass was intercepted in the end zone with 12:30 to play in the game.
 
Another Tufts' interception a few minutes later sealed the eventual 41-20 loss for the Ephs, who now drop to 5-2 on the season. 
 
Next week, the Ephs look to get back into the win column in a Homecoming matchup against the Wesleyan Cardinals. The Cardinals are also 5-2, and are coming off of a 31-21 win over Amherst.