WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Caden Lawlor drilled a go-ahead 37-yard field goal with just over half a minute left in regulation as the Tufts Jumbos defeated Williams, 24-21, in an exciting affair on Saturday afternoon at Farley-Lamb Field. Ephs running back Jack Fabiano shined in defeat, rushing for 134 yards and three touchdowns.

The game wasn't over until the final snap, however. After Lawlor's field goal, Williams took over on its own 23 with half a minute left and no timeouts. First-year Drew Weiler was sacked on the first play, then spiked the ball to stop the clock. Weiler found junior Zach Falls over the middle, and he sprinted upfield for a 41-yard gain to set up an unlikely Hail Mary try. But Weiler's deep ball was batted down harmlessly shy of the goal line, giving Tufts the tight win. With the result, Williams drops to 4-2, while Tufts improves to 4-2.

"It was a tough loss," Coach Mark Raymond said. "We didn't make enough plays in the fourth quarter to win it, and Tufts did."

Despite the loss, the Ephs controlled the game in the first half. Although the two teams went into halftime deadlocked at 7-7, Williams outgained Tufts 149-63, while holding the Jumbos to just 1.3 yards per rush. 

But two plays into the second quarter of a scoreless game, Weiler was picked off by Tufts' Johnny Ferrelli, who raced 46 yards to the Williams 16. The Jumbos took advantage of the turnover, needing four rushes to reach the end zone, the last a draw play by quarterback Nate Johnson from three yards out, giving Tufts a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Ephs responded by turning to Fabiano, who had missed the past three games after topping 100 yards in each of the first two games this season. The first-year carried the ball six times for 43 yards on the drive after the Jumbos' touchdown, concluding with a 17-yard touchdown run, bouncing off a wall of linemen at the line of scrimmage and racing untouched to the goal line. With Fabiano's touchdown, the score was 7-7, where it remained until halftime. 

The second half started slowly as well, but after back-to-back sacks by junior Eph defensive end Ben Yedid, a Tufts punt went out of bounds at the Jumbos' 32, giving Williams a golden scoring opportunity.

Again, the Ephs turned to Fabiano. After gashing the Jumbos with rushes of 7 and 9 yards, he found a hole and coasted into the end zone for a 16-yard score, making it 14-7. "We blocked well up front, and [Fabiano] put together some really nice runs today," Coach Raymond said.

But Tufts struck right back as running back Christian Shapiro finally found some running room. A 32-yard strike over the middle from Johnson to Matt Rios set the Jumbos up in the red zone, and Shapiro capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown, tying the game again near the end of the third quarter.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Weiler lofted a 3rd-and-6 pass into traffic to junior quarterback-turned-receiver Owen McHugh for a 35-yard gain. McHugh led the Ephs with four catches and 75 yards on the afternoon. Two plays later, Fabiano bounced off of two would-be tacklers and up the left side for a 17-yard touchdown, giving the Ephs a 21-14 advantage with 13:30 to play.

But the Jumbos would not be deterred. Shapiro got the next drive started with a 31-yard burst, and 10 plays and six minutes later, he plunged into the end zone from four yards out to tie the game. The Jumbos then forced a crucial three-and-out on the Ephs' next possession.

Taking over with just over five minutes to play from their own 36, the Jumbos put together the decisive drive. A 23-yard leaping on a 3rd-and-5 play kept the drive alive at the Williams 36. Two plays later, the Ephs' Will Baker flashed around the edge to sack Johnson, setting up a 3rd-and-18 for the Jumbos. A 15-yard catch-and-run for Shapiro set up a 4th-and-3, and following the two-minute timeout, Johnson found Granville Anderson in a tight window for 6 yards to pick up the key first down.

From there, the Ephs burned their remaining timeouts and held the Jumbos short of another first down, setting up Lawlor's game-winner with 32 seconds to play.

After topping 200 passing yards in each of his first two collegiate starts, Weiler was limited to 9-of-22 for 149 yards. For Tufts, Johnson finished the game 13-of-20 for 156 yards with Rios the biggest beneficiary (5 catches, 102 yards). Shapiro piled up 85 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 24 carries to lead the Jumbos' on the ground.

The Ephs will look to bounce back on Halloween with Hamilton (2-4) in town after winning its second straight, a 28-14 decision over Colby. The game will kick off at 1:30 pm at Farley-Lamb Field.