MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — A touchdown with 8:14 to play gave Williams College hope of overcoming a 14-0 deficit, but host Wesleyan immediately responded with a 75-yard touchdown bomb to dash those hopes as the Cardinals (7-1) defeated the Ephs (5-3) for the fifth straight meeting, 20-7.
The Williams offense struggled for much of the day on Saturday at Corwin Stadium as its high-octane rushing attack was held to only 72 yards on just 20 attempts (3.6 yards per carry). In his first start of the season, Ephs quarterback Drew Renzella completed 18-of-42 passes for 228 yards but was victimized by four interceptions as the Cardinals secondary made strong plays throughout the day.
Neither team was able to find much offensive momentum in the first half. Renzella threw an interception over the middle to Cardinals linebacker Austin Baker on the Ephs' second drive of the game, setting Wesleyan up with great field position. Three plays later, however, Donte Kelly hauled in a 22-yard throw over the middle, only to fumble the ball away as junior linebacker Luke Mangini pounced on it.
The Cardinals turned the ball over twice more in the first half, the first on a Zakkai Moore interception and the other on another fumbled reception, which was forced by sophomore cornerback Brandt Bickford and recovered by senior lineman Christian Reavis. The Eph defense smothered the Wesleyan ground game in the opening half (1 yard on 16 rushes), imposing its will at the line of scrimmage.
"The defensive line had a dominant effort today," Williams Head Coach Mark Raymond said. "Just a great effort by those guys."
But right before halftime, the Cardinals finally broke the scoreless deadlock. A 13-play drive, featuring a 40-yard Kelly catch over the middle, was capped by a 3-yard touchdown on a designed quarterback run for backup Cooper Tyszko.
Williams finished the half with 61 yards and continued to have issues in the third quarter. After a Wesleyan punt, Renzella's first pass was intercepted on an athletic play near the sideline by Aiden Nelson. The Cardinals would capitalize on the turnover with a Matt Diaz 8-yard touchdown run, taking a 14-0 lead.
Late in the third quarter, the Ephs' passing attack began to click. Renzella found junior tight end Jimmy Montesano twice over the middle and then hit senior Brady Stahelski on a 39-yard deep ball to push Williams into the red zone. The Ephs got as close as the 2-yard line only for Wesleyan's Jack Bronikowski to pick off a pass in the end zone.
"[Our offense] had our chances and we didn't cash in today," Raymond said, noting that his team reached the red zone four times but only scored once.
The passing game found more success to tighten the game in the fourth quarter. After the Ephs' defense forced a Wesleyan punt with back-to-back sacks, Renzella hit junior receiver Zack Falls for gains of 15 and 29 yards. Three plays later, he connected with Montesano — who finished the game with a team-high four catches for 57 yards — over the middle for a 30-yard gain that came up just short of the goal line. Junior Matt Bott then bulled his way forward for that last yard into the end zone, cutting the deficit in half at 14-7.
Wesleyan immediately struck back with the 75-yard pass from Matt Fitzsimons to Sean Cannon, making it a 20-7 game with under eight minutes left. Fitzsimons ultimately threw for 315 yards on 19-of-32 passing, and Cannon wrapped up his day with a game-high 144 yards on six catches, with their biggest connection sealing the 20-7 Cardinals win.
Mangini led the defense with a dozen tackles and had a hand in three of the Ephs' six sacks, while junior Will Baker made 11 stops with four tackles for a loss and a pair of sacks (one solo, two assisted).
Williams ends the 2026 campaign next Saturday against Amherst (7-1), which is coming off a 16-13 loss against undefeated Trinity. The Homecoming game kicks off at Farley-Lamb Field at noon and will be streamed online through the Northeast Sports Network online portal, nsnsports.net.
