Williams Falls Short in Championship Game Against Amherst
.jpg) The Ephs were just yards away from victory, but couldn't catch archrivals the Lord Jeffs. (Photos courtesy Williams College; see more here. |
An anxious crowd of Eph and Jeff fans alike held their collective breath on the game's deciding play, a 4th-and-3 pass in the flat from Eph junior quarterback Pat Moffitt to junior tight end Jon Carroll that was less than a yard away from a conversion. Amherst ran off the last few seconds off the clock, then stormed the field with fans to celebrate their third undefeated season in program history, as well as their first NESCAC title since 2000 and their first Little Three since 2004.
The stat line read relatively close, as was expected of the matchup between these two top-flight foes. First downs went to Williams, 18-14. Total yards went to Amherst, 368-335. Possession time was split almost evenly at 31:48 Williams, 28:12 Amherst. They even tied for fumbles lost at one each. The determination and the effort was there on both sidelines, but as Eph head coach Mike Whalen recognized after the game, it was that Amherst made more big plays to claim a huge road victory.
"I took note of about 15 to 20 plays during the course of the game that if they went another way probably would have changed the outcome of the game," said Whalen. "Our effort was tremendous and we had opportunities…but you can’t be pretty good against a team like Amherst, you have to be very good. They're an extremely well-coached and talented group and I give them a lot of credit for coming into our place and performing like they did.
"Obviously, the bar is set very high for our program. Coach Farley set it there and we try and reach it every year. When we don't win the NESCAC and the Little Three it's always disappointing ...," he said. "But I'm proud of the effort our men put forth today and I'm proud of the leadership the seniors displayed on the field this afternoon and all year long."
During regulation, the atmosphere was consistently intense, as a healthy crowd turned out for both schools. Amherst got things going right from the kickoff as junior quarterback Alex Vetras and senior running back Aaron Rauh led the charge in the air and on the ground respectively for three consecutive first downs. But timely tackles in the backfield by Eph defensive backs Dan O'Mara, sophomore, and senior Matt Zanedis, as well as defensive lineman Ben Halbower, also a sophomore, forced a long 3rd-and-14 for the Jeffs who had to settle for a field goal and an early 3-0 lead.
But Williams responded with even more offensive intensity on their opening series, as first-year starter Ryan Lupo, who stood atop the NESCAC as the leading rusher for almost the entire season, rumbled into Amherst territory with both carries and catches. Moffitt took control from there, finding dynamic sophomores wide receiver Bryce Bennett for 14 yards and B.J. Griffin, also a sophomore, two plays later for a 24-yard over-the-shoulder touchdown grab to give the Ephs a 7-3 first-quarter advantage.
After a three-and-out for the Jeffs, it looked like Moffitt and the Ephs were heading down the field for another score, as he delivered strikes to Bennet and Griffin again, this time for 18 and 20 yards respectively, moving the chains to Amherst's 34-yard line. But a third deep attempt by Moffitt was read well by Jeff junior defender Nick Edwards who intercepted it in the red zone.
The ensuing drive went nowhere once again for the Amherst offense, as the purple cows forced another three-and-out, and caused problems for an Amherst offense that had a high of 23 points in a single game this season. Two more solid carries by Lupo, and some fancy footwork by Moffitt brought Williams within striking distance for a third straight drive. The Williams crowd reeled with gasping breaths as sophomore quarterback Matt Coyne nearly lost the ball and gave another strong series over to Amherst, but he stayed with it and recovered possession. Moffitt showed his appreciation for his compliment's composure with a 28-yard touchdown toss to Bennett to launch the Ephs out to an 11-point lead.
"I'm almost disappointed we jumped out to an early lead," said Whalen. "It seemed liked they did the same thing to us last year and we came back to win ... . The team that goes down early in this rivalry always hangs around and strikes when it counts, and we knew they weren't going away easily in this one and, of course, they did eventually strike again…we just didn’t respond as well as they did."
The first of said "responses" came at 10:14 in the second quarter, when Vetras hooked up with sophomore Andrew Reed for a 70 touchdown on the second play of the drive to shrink the lead to 14-10. Another score came just four minutes later when a punt snap on a 4th-and-long was botched by the Ephs and recovered by Jeff junior defensive back Nick Edwards, who ran it back 30-yards for another sudden score by Amherst to reclaim the edge 17-14, a score that held steady into halftime.
As in the first half, Williams came out firing in the third quarter, as both Lupo and Griffin added to their yardage totals with big gains and Williams marched into the red zone once more. But a misfire in the trenches left Lupo with nowhere to go but into a wall of Amherst tacklers, as the Ephs were stopped again within the Jeff 20-yard line. Williams returned the defense favor by forcing a third Jeff three-and-out on the subsequent series, but they couldn't turn out the same result on the next drive. Vetras struck big again, this time a 39-yard pass to sophomore Kevin Heller, who followed that up with another reception on 3rd down to move the chains inside the Eph red zone. The cows came were able to stop the bleeding right there though, and the Jeffs only came away with a field goal to make it a 20-14 lead.
Sophomore kicker Matt Rawson was not as fortunate on his next kick, a try from 39 yards out that sailed wide left at the tail end of the third quarter. The final fifteen minutes were plagued by turnovers, the majority going against Williams, starting with a pick by senior defensive back Chris Govey at midfield on another long throw by Moffitt. Vetras wasted no time and on 3rd-and-15, he heaved up another toss, this one landing in the arms of junior Andre Gary for a 54-yard completion to make it 1st-and-goal Jeffs. Fellow junior wide receiver Brian Murphy took care of the rest on the next play to open up a 26-14 advantage with 13:41 on the clock.
In urgent need of a counter-score, the purple and gold brought a stunned Williams audience right back into the game with a clutch drive, capped off with an easy 4-yard touchdown run to the end zone. The Eph crowd was roaring once again as their team had fought their way back to within five. After both teams failed to put anything together on back-to-back drives, Williams finally caused a turnover, and it couldn't have come at a better time. With 3:44 left in regulation, Dan Johnson dove on the loose ball at the Amherst 43-yard line.
With the championship and the season on the line, the offense entrusted the league-leading running back to keep the comeback alive. The gutsy Lupo battled fatigue and a messy field to bring the spot to the Amherst 23-yard line. The season-deciding 4th-and-play elicited timeouts by both coaching staffs, and a jittery stadium stood on edge waiting for the snap of the ball. When the ball was hiked, tight end Carroll received the short pass, but he could not get around the tackle of the Jeff corner. The game ended 26-21, and Amherst celebrated a perfect season on the muddy gridiron.
"There was no quitting by any one of our guys today and that's what I'm most proud of," said an emotional Whalen. "Games like these never come down to one play or player ... it is a collective loss, a disappointing loss especially for our seniors who have been such great leaders all year. We'll need a lot of guys to step up next season, as they did this year ... but we have a solid core of players coming back so I think we're going to be fine down the road."
In many regards, the 2009 season proved to be one the most dominant campaigns in the history of the program, a complete team performance that I'm sure made hall of famer Farley proud. If it weren't for a few unfortunate bounces at critical moments, it might have been a different story for this gutsy crew, but as it stands, the purple cows will have to dust off and try to do it again next season, a season that promises to be another strong one for Williams.
