WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Williams College Ephs (4-1) knew that this afternoon’s contest against the Jumbos of Tufts University (2-3) was going to be a physical battle, and the erratic fits of rain throughout the day made it that much more of a challenge. But the purple and gold seemed to grow stronger and more focused as the game went on, as they overwhelmed the Jumbos offense and met the intensity of Tuft’s powerful defensive line en route to a 30-7 win.

Since the disappointing loss in the 4th quarter at Trinity, Williams has strung together 3 victories, outscoring their opponents 98-41. They are now in sole possession of third place in the NESCAC standings behind undefeated Trinity and Amherst.

“I think this was our best effort to date because of the physical challenge that Tufts presented,” determined Eph head coach Mike Whalen. “They definitely have the best defensive line we’ve faced this season and we still had excellent pass protection all game. We also ran the ball well, even when they knew it was coming. That was a big indicator of the kind of ability we have and the physical level we’re playing at right now.”

The Williams quarterback tandem of junior Pat Moffitt and sophomore Matt Coyne put that pass protection to good use, combining for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns against a Jumbo defense that was leading the NESCAC in pass yards allowed per game. Junior Ryan Lupo, who earned offense player of the week honors last Saturday and was leading the NESCAC in yards per game, netted 100 yards on 32 carries. Freshman back Tom Wohlwender also got into the mix today, filling in more than adequately for Lupo in the fourth quarter with 56 yards on 7 carries, as well as the game’s final touchdown.

“Every week it seems we have different guys stepping up on this team,” beamed Whalen, “and today Tommy Wohlwender came up big for us. At that point in the game, they knew we were gonna run it, and he still marched us down the field…made some nice moves out there too. He’s done it in practice and in the JV games so it was great to finally have him out there establishing himself as a physical runner…getting some confidence for later in the season.”

Both stumbled out of the gate a bit, as the offesnes adjusted to the slippery field. The Ephs got rolling on their second drive however, as Moffitt found senior tri-captain Nick Caro and junior Bryce Bennett 20 and 15 yards connections, respectively. But a holding penalty threw Williams out of their rhythm and they settled for three on senior Scott Sobolewski’s 27-yard boot to take the early lead.

“We were a little slow offensively at the start of the game and the guys were telling me they were struggling with their footing and couldn’t hold the blocks as long…so we went to a more blast-oriented running plays and Lupo did a good job of dragging some guys with him for that extra yard. Our offensive line was really outstanding today and more than rose to the occasion.”

The Eph defense was stubborn in the first half to say the least, sacking Jumbo quarterback Tom McManna twice and dropping runningback Pat Bailey in the backfield several times.  Overall, Tufts could not gain any positive yardage in the first thirty minutes.

“It was another great defensive performance by our guys,” praised Whalen. “We were giving ourselves great field position almost every drive and Will Cronin had some great punts to pin them deep. Our offense is too good not to score when we’re given outstanding field position like we were in this game.”

Indeed, Williams found the endzone twice in the first half thanks in large part to incredible field position. A late first-quarter drive that started at the Tufts 32-yard line was kept alive by a Coyne-Bennett slant connection, and was polished off by another 4th down conversion by Coyne, who hammered it in at the goal line to give the Ephs a 10-0 lead.  Later, a personal foul on the punt return set up Williams at midfield with less than two minutes to the half. After Moffitt found sophomore wide-out J.C. Stickney at the sideline for 17 yards, Coyne found Bennett in the corner of the endzone for the score.

Freshman Chris Cameron earned his team-leading fourth sack on the year on the final play of the half. He had two in the game, and sophomore Dylan Schultz complimented that nicely with a team-leading 9 total tackles. Junior Tim Kiely also earned his second sack of the season.

Druing halftime, Williams received their 13th Directors’ Cup emblematic of athletic supremacy in NCAA Division III. The 2008-09 academic year marked the 11th consecutive year the Ephs won the Directors’ Cup and the 13th time in the 14 years it has been presented.

The third half began with much of the same, as Tufts gained a combine-7yards on their first two drives. However, the Jumbos did find the endzone in that quarter for their only score. Tailback Michael Durkin led the charge, rushing for 43 yards on the opening five plays of the series including a 27-yard burst to bring his team into the red zone. That yardage was promptly nullified however, by back-to-back Jumbo penalties, and just when it seemed that Williams had stymied them again, an Eph holding call and a 31-yard reception by a wide-open Steve Cusano brought Tufts to the goal line. Bailey dashed in for the score on a sweep play to bring the Williams lead back to ten, 17-7.

The Ephs wasted no time countering with a touchdown drive of their own, sparked by Bennett’s 31-yard kick return down the Jumbo sideline. With 50-yards to go for the score, the offense handed matters over to Lupo and the offensive line, and they fought and pushed their way into the Tufts red zone. Coyne and Bennett continued their magical 4th-down ways, as Bennett wrestled Coyne’s pass away from a Jumbo defensive back for his second touchdown reception of the game to make it a 24-7 ballgame.

Tufts wasn’t going out easily though, as McManna led the Jumbos to the Eph goal line courtesy of back-to-back completions to Cusano and Billy Mahler for 22 and 14 yards. But the Ephs made sure to close this one out, as they bore down to prevent the touchdown and force a missed field goal. Wohlwender and his shifty feet sealed the victory on the next drive, as Williams took the win 30-7.

Next week, the squad travels to Clinton, NY to take on Hamilton. Whalen emphasized the need to maintain the same level of intensity and physicality that the team displayed this afternoon for the week leading up to the game, as well as for the rest of the year. The action will begin at 1:00PM.